Years of life with good and poor mental and physical function in the elderly.
A population of Roman Catholic sisters (nuns) were divided into a high education group (i.e. at least a Bachelor's degree) and a low education group (i.e. less than a Bachelor's degree). Prevalence data on 132, 75-94 year old, sisters indicated that the high-educated had better mobility and hand coordination, stronger handgrip, better distant and near visual acuity, and fewer mental impairments than the low-educated group. Life table analyses on 154 sisters indicated that the high-educated lived an average of 3.28 years longer after age 75 than the low-educated. Years of life with relatively good and poor mental and physical function after age 75 were estimated by a mathematical model that used mortality and prevalence data. According to the model, high-educated sisters lived an average of 3.57 years longer with good function and 0.29 of a year less with poor function than low-educated sisters.
Snowdon
D A
DA
Division of Epidemiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455.
Ostwald
S K
SK
Kane
R L
RL
Keenan
N L
NL
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy; D015993:Life Tables; D008606:Mental Processes; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D010809:Physical Fitness; D011788:Quality of Life; D014792:Visual Acuity