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Association of the selected dimensions of eudaimonic well-being with healthy survival to 85 years of age in older women

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2014

Oleg Zaslavsky ,
Eileen Rillamas-Sun ,
Nancy Fugate Woods ,
Barbara B. Cochrane Open the ORCID record for Barbara B. Cochrane [Opens in a new window] ,
Marcia L. Stefanick ,
Hilary Tindle ,
Lesley F. Tinker  and
Andrea Z. LaCroix
Oleg Zaslavsky*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Science and Social Welfare, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
Eileen Rillamas-Sun
Affiliation:
Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA
Nancy Fugate Woods
Affiliation:
School of Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
Barbara B. Cochrane
Affiliation:
Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA School of Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
Marcia L. Stefanick
Affiliation:
Stanford Prevention Research Center, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA
Hilary Tindle
Affiliation:
Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Lesley F. Tinker
Affiliation:
Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA
Andrea Z. LaCroix
Affiliation:
Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA Division of Epidemiology, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, California, USA
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Oleg Zaslavsky, PhD, Faculty of Health Sciences and Social Welfare, Department of Nursing, University of Haifa, Haifa 31905, Israel. Phone: +972-547832536; Fax: +972-48288017. Email: oleg.zaslavsky@fulbrightmail.org.
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Abstract

Background:

Aspects of eudaimonic well-being, such as personal growth (PG) and purpose in life (PL), have been highlighted as important to older adults’ health. We investigated the relationship of PG and PL with patterns of survival to the age of 85 years and older.

Methods:

The sample included 8,880 women from the Women's Health Initiative cohort who reached 85 years of age by December 1, 2013, and for whom data on the PG and PL constructs were available. Women were classified into mutually exclusive outcomes: Healthy, Prevalent, Incident, Disabled, and Deceased. PG and PL were each assessed using a modified seven-item measure derived from the Psychological Well-Being scale.

Results:

Women were most commonly classified as Healthy (38.2%, n = 3,395), followed by Incident (24.4%, n = 2,163), Disabled (19.0%, n = 1,685), Prevalent (14.3%, 1,273), and Deceased (4.1%, n = 364). Women with low PL and PG levels were more likely to have prevalent mobility disability and disease or incident death before the age of 85 years. Specifically, those who reported low levels of PG and PL had a 2.1- and 3.6-fold higher risk, respectively, of death.

Conclusions:

These findings indicate that even among the oldest old, experience of purposeful life engagement and continuing PG may contribute to better health outcomes.

Keywords

women’s healthagingwell-beingfunctioningpurpose in lifepersonal growth
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 26 , Special Issue 12: young onset dementia , December 2014 , pp. 2081 - 2091
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2014 

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