title: Purpose in life over a five-year period: a longitudinal study in a very old population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few studies have specifically examined purpose in life among very old people, and we know of none that has used a prospective approach. The aim of this study was to examine changes in purpose in life over five years in very old men and women and to investigate whether depressed mood, malnutrition, inactivity in daily life, or cognitive impairment increased the risk for developing low purpose in life.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study includes data from 51 participants (42 women and 9 men) living in northern Sweden who completed the Purpose in Life (PIL) Test once at baseline and again five years later.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Purpose in life decreased over five years and the decrease was significantly associated with being a woman (p < 0.001) and having depressed mood (p = 0.009) or depression (p = 0.002) at baseline. There were no differences in baseline PIL scores between depressed and not depressed, but those who had depression had significantly decreased PIL scores after five years (p = 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A strong purpose in life does not seem to prevent very old people from developing depression, and being depressed at baseline and living with depression over five years is associated with a loss of purpose in life.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Pia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hedberg
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brulin
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Aléx
authors.forename: Yngve
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gustafson
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D012649:Self Concept; D012737:Sex Factors; D013548:Sweden; D026712:Value of Life