attitudes to ageing in midlife

14
Attitudes to Ageing in Midlife Anna Thorpe, Peter Joyce, John Pearson, Philip Schluter 1

Upload: fawn

Post on 15-Feb-2016

59 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

DESCRIPTION

Attitudes to Ageing in Midlife . Anna Thorpe, Peter Joyce, John Pearson, Philip Schluter. Focus: Attitudes and Health. This study set out to understand more about the relationship between personal attitudes, health and health promoting behaviours. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Attitudes to Ageing in Midlife

Attitudes to Ageing in Midlife

Anna Thorpe, Peter Joyce, John Pearson, Philip Schluter

1

Page 2: Attitudes to Ageing in Midlife

Focus: Attitudes and Health• This study set out to understand more about

the relationship between personal attitudes, health and health promoting behaviours.

• How people feel about their own ageing may influence self-rated health, health related behaviours and even mortality.

• Used the Attitudes to Ageing Questionnaire (AAQ) on a midlife population in New Zealand.

2

1 Levy et al, 2002Laidlaw et al, 2007

1

2

Page 3: Attitudes to Ageing in Midlife

Context: Ageing in New Zealand• NZ population over 65 projected to double by 2051. • Some regions, like Canterbury, doubling will happen 20

years earlier; ¼ of the population will reach 65 by 2031.• Our ageing population means it is more urgent to

understand how to enhance health and wellbeing.

1951 1956 1961 1966 1971 1976 1981 1986 1991 1996 2001 200665

70

75

80

85

90 Non-Māori WomenNon-Māori MenMāori Women

Life expectancy at 50

Statistics New Zealand3

Page 4: Attitudes to Ageing in Midlife

Canterbury Health and Lifecourse study

• CHALICE is a new longitudinal study of midlife health & wellbeing in Canterbury, New Zealand.

• Face-to-face interviews involve blood tests, fundus photos, Echo & ECG, family health history, cognitive testing, mental health screening, food & physical activity diaries, plus attitudes to health & wellbeing.

4

Page 5: Attitudes to Ageing in Midlife

CHALICE design

• Random sample of 49-52 year olds from Canterbury, New Zealand.

• Māori are oversampled, with about 15% Chalice participants being Māori.

• Participants & their GP’s receive results. • Response rates have been about 65%,

despite the Canterbury earthquakes.

5

Page 6: Attitudes to Ageing in Midlife

6

Canterbury Earthquakes

Over 12,000 aftershocks….

Resulting in death, widespread damage, exodus, housing shortages and ongoing stress

Page 7: Attitudes to Ageing in Midlife

7

Health measures & health behaviours

• The common “giants” of NZ ageing: heart disease, stroke, dementia, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, asthma & depression

• The Short Form 36 (SF36)• Smoking• Alcohol use• BMI• GP visits• Health screening

Page 8: Attitudes to Ageing in Midlife

Attitudinal measures used

• Felt age• Ideal age• Subjective life expectancy• Positivity to ageing• Attitudes to ageing questionnaire (AAQ)1 English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA); Evergreen Project; Health & Retirement Study (HRS); Midlife in the US (MIDUS)2 Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ALSA); Berlin Ageing Study; HRS; Aging, Status and the Sense of Control (ASOC)3 ELSA

8

1

2

3

Page 9: Attitudes to Ageing in Midlife

Attitudes to Ageing Questionnaire

• The AAQ is a new self-report scale developed for older people to express their attitudes to the process of ageing.

• Tested in 20 countries with 5,566 participants after extensive pilot-testing with a larger scale.

• 24 item cross-cultural questionnaire with 3 sub-scales:• Psychosocial loss• Physical change• Psychological growth

Laidlaw, Power, Schmidt and the WHOQOL Group, 2007.

9

1

1

Page 10: Attitudes to Ageing in Midlife

10

AAQ results: comparison

2: Matthews, Lindner & Collins, 20073 & 4: Kalfoss, Low & Molzahn, 20105: Laidlaw, Wang, Coelho & Power, 20106: Quinn, Laidlaw & Murray, 2009

Page 11: Attitudes to Ageing in Midlife

11

AAQ with SF36 general health

AAQ

SF36 General Health

70

Male n=87

Female n=11380

90

100

110

12012

70

80

90

100

110

120

4030 50 60 70

Page 12: Attitudes to Ageing in Midlife

12

Does health predict attitudes to ageing?Health condition Beta valueAllergies -.053Asthma -.110Arthritis -.163 *Cancer .035Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease .041Depression – current -.226 **Depression – lifetime -.006Diabetes -.107Heart disease -.052High blood pressure measurement .079Hypertension -.008Stroke .062

SF36 General Health .528 ***

Page 13: Attitudes to Ageing in Midlife

13

Do attitudes predict health behaviours?

Health behaviour Beta value

Alcohol audit -.158 *

BMI -.173 *

GP Visit -.205 **

Health screening -.071

Smoking -.114

Page 14: Attitudes to Ageing in Midlife

14

AAQ: in conclusion• CHALICE sample had more positive physical change &

psychological growth, but lower psycho-social loss.• General health in the SF36 is highly correlated with the

AAQ.• Current depression & arthritis were the 2 health

conditions predicting attitudes to ageing. • Alcohol consumption & BMI mildly influenced by

attitudes to ageing; people with higher AAQ scores had fewer GP visits.