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Factors associated with active aging in Finland, Poland, and Spain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2014

Jaime Perales ,
Steven Martin ,
Jose Luis Ayuso-Mateos ,
Somnath Chatterji ,
Noe Garin ,
Seppo Koskinen ,
Matilde Leonardi ,
Marta Miret ,
Victoria Moneta  and
Beatriz Olaya
...Show all authors
Jaime Perales
Affiliation:
Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
Steven Martin
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health & Primary Care, Cambridge Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Jose Luis Ayuso-Mateos
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Princesa (IP), Hospital Universitario la Princesa, Madrid, Spain
Somnath Chatterji
Affiliation:
Department of Health Statistics and Information Systems, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
Noe Garin
Affiliation:
Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
Seppo Koskinen
Affiliation:
National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland
Matilde Leonardi
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Public Health and Disability, Italian National Neurological Institute “Carlo Besta” Foundation IRCCS (Istituto di ricovero e cura a carattere scientifico), Milan, Italy
Marta Miret
Affiliation:
Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Madrid, Spain Department of Psychiatry, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Hospital Universitario de La Princesa, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Princesa (IP), Madrid, Spain
Victoria Moneta
Affiliation:
Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
Beatriz Olaya
Affiliation:
Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
Beata Tobiasz-Adamczyk
Affiliation:
Chair of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Department of Medical Sociology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland
Josep Maria Haro*
Affiliation:
Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Madrid, Spain
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Josep Maria Haro, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain. Phone: +34 93 600 26 85. Email: jmharo@pssjd.org.
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Abstract

Background:

Continuous population aging has raised international policy interest in promoting active aging (AA). AA theoretical models have been defined from a biomedical or a psychosocial perspective. These models may be expanded including components suggested by lay individuals. This paper aims to study the correlates of AA in three European countries, namely, Spain, Poland, and Finland using four different definitions of AA.

Methods:

The EU COURAGE in Europe project was a cross-sectional general adult population survey conducted in a representative sample of the noninstitutionalized population of Finland, Poland, and Spain. Participants (10,800) lived in the community. This analysis focuses on individuals aged 50 years old and over (7,987). Four definitions (two biomedical, one psychosocial, and a complete definition including biomedical, psychosocial, and external variables) of AA were analyzed.

Results:

Differences in AA were found for country, age, education, and occupation. Finland scored consistently the highest in AA followed by Spain and Poland. Younger age was associated with higher AA. Higher education and occupation was associated with AA. Being married or cohabiting was associated with better AA compared to being widowed or separated in most definitions. Gender and urbanicity were not associated with AA, with few exceptions. Men scored higher in AA only in Spain, whereas there was no gender association in the other two countries. Being widowed was only associated with lower AA in Poland and not being married was associated with lower AA in Poland and Finland but not Spain.

Conclusions:

Associations with education, marital status, and occupation suggest that these factors are the most important components of AA. These association patterns, however, seem to vary across the three countries. Actions to promote AA in these countries may be addressed at reducing inequalities in occupation and education or directly tackling the components of AA lacking in each country.

Keywords

active agingold agesuccessful agingaging wellgeriatrics
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 26 , Issue 8 , August 2014 , pp. 1363 - 1375
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2014 

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