title: Which model of successful ageing should be used? Baseline findings from a British longitudinal survey of ageing.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  there is increasing interest in how to age 'successfully' and in reaching consensus over its definition.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  to assess different models of successful ageing, using a British longitudinal survey of ageing in 2000-1.
  
  
  METHODS
  community settings in Britain.
  
  
  METHODS
  five models of successful ageing were tested on a British cross-sectional population survey of 999 people aged 65+. The models were biomedical, broader biomedical, social, psychological and lay based.
  
  
  RESULTS
  the lay model emerged as the strongest. Respondents who were classified as successfully aged with this model, compared with those not successfully aged, had over five times the odds of rating their quality of life (QoL) as good rather than not good [odds ratio (OR) = 5.493, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 2.655-11.364].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  the lay-based, more multidimensional, model of successful ageing predicted perceived QoL more powerfully than unidimensional models and should be used to evaluate the outcomes of health promotion in older populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Primary Care and Population Sciences, University College London, Hampstead Campus, London NW3 2PF, UK. a.bowling@ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bowling
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iliffe
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011788:Quality of Life; D012931:Social Environment