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Impact of physical and mental health on life satisfaction in old age: a population based observational study

Overview of attention for article published in BMC Geriatrics, November 2016
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Title
Impact of physical and mental health on life satisfaction in old age: a population based observational study
Published in
BMC Geriatrics, November 2016
DOI 10.1186/s12877-016-0365-4
Pubmed ID
Authors

Thomas Puvill, Jolanda Lindenberg, Antonius J. M. de Craen, Joris P. J. Slaets, Rudi G. J. Westendorp

Abstract

It is widely assumed that poor health lowers life satisfaction when ageing. Yet, research suggests this relationship is not straightforward. This study investigated how older people evaluate their life when facing disease and disabilities. The Leiden 85-plus Study, a prospectively followed cohort of a cohort of a middle-sized city in the Netherlands, all aged 85 years, that was age-representative of the general population, was used. Those with severe cognitive dysfunction were excluded (n = 501). Comorbidities, physical performance, cognitive function, functional status, residual lifespan, depressive symptoms and experienced loneliness were measured during home visits. Life satisfaction was self-reported with Cantril's ladder. All analyses were performed using regression analysis. Participants reported high life satisfaction (median 8 out of 10 points) despite having representative levels of disease and disability. Comorbidity, low cognitive function, and residual lifespan as markers of health were not associated with life satisfaction. Poor physical performance and low functional status were weakly but significantly associated with lower life satisfaction (p < 0.05 respectively p < 0.001), but significance was lost after adjustment for depressive symptoms and perceived loneliness. Depressive symptoms and perceived loneliness were strongly related to lower life satisfaction (both p < 0.001), even after adjustment for physical health characteristics. Poor physical health was hardly related to lower life satisfaction, whereas poor mental health was strongly related to lower life satisfaction. This indicates that mental health has a greater impact on life satisfaction at old age than physical health, and that physical health is less relevant for a satisfactory old age.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 180 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 180 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 26 14%
Student > Ph. D. Student 24 13%
Student > Bachelor 17 9%
Researcher 15 8%
Other 10 6%
Other 33 18%
Unknown 55 31%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Psychology 29 16%
Social Sciences 20 11%
Medicine and Dentistry 18 10%
Nursing and Health Professions 17 9%
Sports and Recreations 4 2%
Other 27 15%
Unknown 65 36%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 28 November 2016.
All research outputs
#18,968,282
of 23,510,717 outputs
Outputs from BMC Geriatrics
#2,747
of 3,192 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#307,220
of 418,991 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Geriatrics
#39
of 42 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,510,717 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 11th percentile – i.e., 11% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 3,192 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 9.9. This one is in the 6th percentile – i.e., 6% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 418,991 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 15th percentile – i.e., 15% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 42 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 4th percentile – i.e., 4% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.