title: Factors associated with active aging in Finland, Poland, and Spain.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Continuous population aging has raised international policy interest in promoting active aging (AA). AA theoretical models have been defined from a biomedical or a psychosocial perspective. These models may be expanded including components suggested by lay individuals. This paper aims to study the correlates of AA in three European countries, namely, Spain, Poland, and Finland using four different definitions of AA.
  
  
  METHODS
  The EU COURAGE in Europe project was a cross-sectional general adult population survey conducted in a representative sample of the noninstitutionalized population of Finland, Poland, and Spain. Participants (10,800) lived in the community. This analysis focuses on individuals aged 50 years old and over (7,987). Four definitions (two biomedical, one psychosocial, and a complete definition including biomedical, psychosocial, and external variables) of AA were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Differences in AA were found for country, age, education, and occupation. Finland scored consistently the highest in AA followed by Spain and Poland. Younger age was associated with higher AA. Higher education and occupation was associated with AA. Being married or cohabiting was associated with better AA compared to being widowed or separated in most definitions. Gender and urbanicity were not associated with AA, with few exceptions. Men scored higher in AA only in Spain, whereas there was no gender association in the other two countries. Being widowed was only associated with lower AA in Poland and not being married was associated with lower AA in Poland and Finland but not Spain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Associations with education, marital status, and occupation suggest that these factors are the most important components of AA. These association patterns, however, seem to vary across the three countries. Actions to promote AA in these countries may be addressed at reducing inequalities in occupation and education or directly tackling the components of AA lacking in each country.
authors.affiliation: Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu,Sant Boi de Llobregat,Barcelona,Spain.
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Perales
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health & Primary Care,Cambridge Institute of Public Health,University of Cambridge,Cambridge,UK.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry,Universidad Autónoma de Madrid,Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM),Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Princesa (IP),Hospital Universitario la Princesa,Madrid,Spain.
authors.forename: Jose Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Ayuso-Mateos
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics and Information Systems,World Health Organization,Geneva,Switzerland.
authors.forename: Somnath
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chatterji
authors.affiliation: Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu,Sant Boi de Llobregat,Barcelona,Spain.
authors.forename: Noe
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Garin
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health and Welfare,Helsinki,Finland.
authors.forename: Seppo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koskinen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology,Public Health and Disability,Italian National Neurological Institute "Carlo Besta" Foundation IRCCS (Istituto di ricovero e cura a carattere scientifico),Milan,Italy.
authors.forename: Matilde
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leonardi
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Salud Carlos III,Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental,CIBERSAM,Madrid,Spain.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miret
authors.affiliation: Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu,Sant Boi de Llobregat,Barcelona,Spain.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Moneta
authors.affiliation: Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu,Sant Boi de Llobregat,Barcelona,Spain.
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Olaya
authors.affiliation: Chair of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine,Department of Medical Sociology,Jagiellonian University Medical College,Krakow,Poland.
authors.forename: Beata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tobiasz-Adamczyk
authors.affiliation: Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu,Sant Boi de Llobregat,Barcelona,Spain.
authors.forename: Josep Maria
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Haro
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005008:Ethnopsychology / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D057187:Independent Living / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009790:Occupations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D012737:Sex Factors; D012919:Social Behavior; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology