Healthy lifestyle could curtail end-of-life disability period in older adults

American Geriatrics SocietyOct 5 2016

It comes as no surprise that people tend to enjoy a better quality of life when they're able to perform daily activities (eating, dressing, toileting, getting up from a bed or chair, bathing, and walking around the house, for example) without assistance. Recently, researchers studied whether or not having a healthy lifestyle later in life could shorten the period of time before death that older adults spend living with disabilities that limit their independence. Their findings are published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

The research team studied information from 5,888 people 65-years-old and older who were enrolled in the Cardiovascular Health Study. In that study, researchers interviewed, examined, and contacted participants to look at their health and lifestyle habits over a 25-year period.

Based on the Cardiovascular Health Study, researchers reported that male participants experienced a nearly 3-year period of disability at the end-of-life. Women experienced 4.5 years of disability.

The researchers wondered whether or not certain lifestyle habits lengthened or shortened the amount of time people were disabled. The habits the research team considered included:

• Smoking
• Drinking
• Maintaining an appropriate body weight (versus being under or overweight)
• Eating a healthy diet
• Exercising
• Keeping up social connections
• Ensuring appropriate social supports

The researchers learned important new information from their study. They reported that several factors seemed to be associated with a longer period of disability before death among older adults. These activities included:

• Smoking
• Being inactive (Those who walked more city blocks per week experienced fewer years of disability than non-walkers. Each additional 25 blocks people walked slightly lengthened their able-bodied years.)
• Eating an unhealthy diet
• Being underweight or obese

Healthy lifestyle habits can potentially shorten the period of time older adults spend being less independent and more disabled before their death, said the researchers.