Regular Research ArticlesDeterminants of Successful Aging Using a Multidimensional Definition Among Chinese Elderly in Singapore
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Study Participants
This study formed part of the ongoing Singapore Longitudinal Aging Study (SLAS), a prospective community-based epidemiological cohort study of aging and health, which has been described previously.15 The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of National University of Singapore and participants signed written informed consent. Residents who were physically or mentally incapacitated to give informed consent or participate were excluded. During recruitment and baseline data
RESULTS
We interviewed 1,281 Chinese elderly, aged 65 or older, with mean age of 72.1 year (SD 5.8); 60% were women and 67% had primary education or below. Among them, 61.2% were found to be cognitively and emotionally well functioning; 47.9% were reportedly physically healthy and independent; 78.4% reported high social functioning; and 88.2% reported positive life satisfaction. Overall, 28.6% met the multidimensional criteria for successful aging (Table 1).
Table 2 compares sociodemographic,
DISCUSSION
The data in this study supported the construct and predictive validity of a proposed multidimensional model and operational definition of successful aging in Chinese seniors. It demonstrated good convergent validity with concurrent health status and health care use parameters and predicted subsequent levels of quality of life. By virtue of its broad multidimensional construct, successful aging was shown to be associated with a multiplicity of demographic, environmental, psychosocial, and
CONCLUSION
In contrast to studies based on more restricted biomedical definitions of successful aging that showed a preponderance of health-related determinants, this study identified more demographic, psychosocial, and behavioral determinants including nutrition and spirituality in a multidimensional construct of successful aging among Chinese elderly populations.
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This research was supported by a grant (03/1/21/17/214) from the Biomedical Research Council (BMRC).