Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-skm99 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T04:25:45.437Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Consistency of Definitions of Successful Aging Provided by Older Men: The Manitoba Follow-up Study*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2009

Robert B. Tate ,
Brenda L. Loewen ,
Dennis J. Bayomi  and
Barbara J. Payne
Robert B. Tate*
Affiliation:
Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba
Brenda L. Loewen
Affiliation:
Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba
Dennis J. Bayomi
Affiliation:
Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba
Barbara J. Payne
Affiliation:
Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba
*
†Correspondence and requests for offprints should be sent to: / La correspondance et les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être adressées à : Robert B. Tate, Ph.D. Manitoba Follow-up Study T148 – 770 Bannatyne Avenue Winnipeg, MB R3E 0W3 (tate@ms.umanitoba.ca)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In the absence of a universally agreed-upon definition of successful aging, researchers increasingly look to older adults for layperson views of aging and definitions of successful aging. To use lay definitions in studies of aging, however, researchers must address the definitions’ consistency. In 2004, surviving members of the Manitoba Follow-up Study male cohort (mean age: 83 years) were asked twice for their definition of successful aging. A consistency category was assigned based on the similarity of themes in each of 654 pairs of definitions. At least half of the main themes were similar in 70 per cent of the definition pairs; 80 per cent of respondents repeated at least one theme. Positive or negative health events in the four-week interval between definitions and specific respondents’ characteristics did not vary across consistency categories. This evidence for consistency supports our continued reliance on lay definitions of successful aging.

Résumé

Sans une définition universellement accepté du vieillissement réussi, chercheurs examiner plus en plus les vues profanes et définitions du vieillissement des personnes âgées. Pour utiliser les définitions non initiés dans les études de vieillissement, cependant, les chercheurs doivent aborder le cohérence de ces définitions. En 2004, les membres survivants de la cohorte mâle du Manitoba Suivi Study (âge moyen : 83 ans) ont été deux fois demandé leur définition du vieillissement réussi. Une échelle de cohérence a été définie, et une catégorie de cohérence a été attribuée sur la base de la similitude des thèmes dans chacune des 654 paires de définitions. Au moins la moitié des thèmes principaux étaient similaire dans 70 pour cent de la définition de paires; 80 pour cent des répondants ont répété au moins un thème. Événements de santé positive ou négative dans l’intervalle de quatre semaines entre les définitions et les caractéristiques spécifiques des répondants n’ont pas variés de catégories. Cette preuve de cohérence confirme notre dépendance continue des définitions du vieillissement réussi.

Keywords

coherencevues profanesvieillardsvieillissement réussiconsistencylay viewsolder mensuccessful aging
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 28 , Issue 4 , December 2009 , pp. 315 - 322
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

The authors sincerely acknowledge the 60-year ongoing contribution of the 3,983 members of the Manitoba Follow-up Study cohort. We gratefully acknowledge the invaluable assistance of the research staff Madge Biddell and Barbara Masterman, and clinical staff Drs. T. Edward Cuddy and Leon Michaels. The Manitoba Follow-up Study is funded by the Manitoba Health Research Council and by an operating grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR - MOP-67019).

References

Baltes, P.B., & Baltes, M.M. (1990). Psychological perspectives on successful aging: The model of selective optimization with compensation. In Baltes, P.B. & Baltes, M.M. (Eds.), Successful aging: Perspectives from the behavioral sciences (pp. 1–34). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bassett, R., Bourbonnais, V., & McDowell, I. (2007). Living long and keeping well: Elderly Canadians account for success in aging. Canadian Journal on Aging, 26, 113–126.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowling, A. (2006). Which model of successful ageing should be used? Baseline findings from a British longitudinal survey of ageing. Age and Ageing, 35, 607–614.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowling, A. (2007). Aspirations for older age in the 21st century. What is successful aging? International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 64, 263–297.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cernin, P.A. (2006). A comparison of self-rated and objectively measured successful aging in an urban sample of African American older adults (January 1, 2006). ETD Collection for Wayne State University. Paper AAI1433366. http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/dissertations/AAI1433366 Accessed May 4, 2009.Google Scholar
Charbonneau-Lyons, D.L., Mosher-Ashley, P.M., & Stanford-Pollock, M. (2002). Opinions of college students and independent-living adults regarding successful aging. Educational Gerontology, 28, 823–833.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Depp, C.A., & Jeste, D.V. (2006). Definitions and predictors of successful aging: A comprehensive review of larger quantitative studies. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 14, 6–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Duay, D.L., & Bryan, V.C. (2006). Senior adults’ perceptions of successful aging. Educational Gerontology, 32, 423–445.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guse, L.W., & Masesar, M.A. (1999). Quality of life and successful aging in long-term care: Perceptions of residents. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 20, 527–539.Google ScholarPubMed
Hsu, H. (2007). Exploring elderly people’s perspectives on successful ageing in Taiwan. Ageing & Society, 27, 87–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, S., Ford, A.B., Moskowitz, R.W., Jackson, B.A., & Jaffe, M.W. (1963). Studies of illness in the aged. The index of ADL: A standardized measure of biological and psychosocial function. Journal of the American Medical Association, 185, 914–919.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kleinspehn-Ammerlahn, A., Kotter-Gruhn, D., & Smith, J. (2008). Self-perceptions of aging: Do subjective age and satisfaction with aging change during old age? Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 63B, P377–P385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knight, T., & Ricciardelli, L.A. (2003). Successful aging: Perceptions of adults aged between 70 and 101 years. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 56, 223–245.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mathewson, F.A.L., Manfreda, J., Tate, R.B., & Cuddy, T.E. (1987). The University of Manitoba Follow-up Study—An investigation of cardiovascular disease with 35 years of follow-up (1948–1983). Canadian Journal of Cardiology, 3, 378–382.Google ScholarPubMed
Montross, L.P., Depp, C., Daly, J., Reichstadt, J., Golshan, S., Moore, D., et al. . (2006). Correlates of self-rated successful aging among community dwelling older adults. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 14, 43–51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Phelan, E.A., Anderson, L.A., Lacroix, A.Z., & Larson, E.B. (2004) Older adults’ views of “successful aging”—How do they compare with researchers’ definitions? Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 52, 211–216.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Phelan, E.A., & Larson, E.B. (2002). “Successful aging”—Where next? Journal of the American Geriatric Society, 50, 1306–1308.Google ScholarPubMed
Reichstadt, J., Depp, C.A., Palinkas, L.A., Folsom, D.P., & Jeste, D.V. (2007). Building blocks of successful aging: A focus group study of older adults’ perceived contributors to successful aging. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 15, 194–201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Strawbridge, W.J., Wallhagen, M.I., & Cohen, R.D. (2002). Successful aging and well-being: Self-rated compared with Rowe and Kahn. The Gerontologist, 42, 727–733.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tate, R.B., Lah, L., & Cuddy, T.E. (2003). Definition of successful aging by elderly Canadian males: The Manitoba Follow-up Study. The Gerontologist, 43, 735–744.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tate, R.B., Loewen, B., & Bayomi, D. (2009). Development of a coding system for self-definitions of successful aging: The Manitoba Follow-up Study. International Journal of Aging and Human Development. Paper under review.Google Scholar
von Faber, M., Bootsma-van der Wiel, A., van Excel, E., Gussekloo, J., Lagaay, A.M., van Dongen, E., et al. . (2001). Successful aging in the oldest old. Who can be characterized as successfully aged? Archives of Internal Medicine, 161, 2694–2700.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ware, J.E., & Sherbourne, C.D. (1992). The MOS 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36): I. Conceptual framework and item selection. Medical Care, 30, 473–483.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed