Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2009 Jun;71(5):574-9.
doi: 10.1097/PSY.0b013e3181a5a7c0. Epub 2009 May 4.

Purpose in life is associated with mortality among community-dwelling older persons

Patricia A Boyle  1 , Lisa L Barnes, Aron S Buchman, David A Bennett
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Purpose in life is associated with mortality among community-dwelling older persons

Patricia A Boyle et al. Psychosom Med. 2009 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: To assess the association between purpose in life and all-cause mortality in community-dwelling elderly persons.

Methods: We used data from 1238 older persons without dementia from two longitudinal cohort studies (Rush Memory and Aging Project and Minority Aging Research Study) with baseline evaluations of purpose in life and up to 5 years of follow-up to test the hypothesis that greater purpose in life is associated with a reduced risk of mortality among community-dwelling older persons.

Results: The mean +/- standard deviation score on the purpose in life measure at baseline was 3.7 +/- 0.5 (range = 2-5), with higher scores indicating greater purpose in life. During the 5-year follow-up (mean = 2.7 years), 151 of 1238 persons (12.2%) died. In a proportional hazards model adjusted for age, sex, education, and race, a higher level of purpose in life was associated with a substantially reduced risk of mortality (hazard ratio = 0.60, 95% Confidence Interval = 0.42, 0.87). Thus, the hazard rate for a person with a high score on the purpose in life measure (score = 4.2, 90th percentile) was about 57% of the hazard rate of a person with a low score (score = 3.1, 10th percentile). The association of purpose in life with mortality did not differ among men and women or whites and blacks. Further, the finding persisted after the addition of terms for several potential confounders, including depressive symptoms, disability, neuroticism, the number of chronic medical conditions, and income.

Conclusion: Greater purpose in life is associated with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality among community-dwelling older persons.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cumulative hazard of mortality for participants with high versus low purpose in life.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Gruenwald TL, Karlamangla SA, Greendale GA, Singer BH, Seeman TE. Feelings of usefulness to others, disability, and mortality in older adults: the MacArthur study of successful aging. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2007;62:P28–37. - PubMed
    1. Menec VH. The relation between everyday activities and successful aging: a 6-year longitudinal study. J Geronotol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2003;58:S74–82. - PubMed
    1. Okamoto K, Tanaka Y. Subjective usefulness and 6-year mortality risks among elderly persons in Japan. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2004;59:P246–49. - PubMed
    1. Pitkala KH, Laakkonen ML, Strandberg TE, Tilvis RS. Positive life orientation as a predictor of 10-year outcome in an aged population. J Clin Epidemiol. 2004;57:409–14. - PubMed
    1. Ryff CD, Singer BH, Dienberg Love G. Positive health: connecting well-being with biology. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2004;359:1383–94. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types