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
Clinical Trial
. 2022 Mar 2;22(1):174.
doi: 10.1186/s12877-022-02755-8.

Prevalence of healthy aging among community dwelling adults age 70 and older from five European countries

Simeon Schietzel  1   2 , Patricia O Chocano-Bedoya  3   4   5 , Angelique Sadlon  6   3 , Michael Gagesch  6   3 , Walter C Willett  7 , Endel J Orav  7 , Reto W Kressig  8 , Bruno Vellas  9   10 , René Rizzoli  11 , José A P da Silva  12   13 , Michael Blauth  14 , John A Kanis  15 , Andreas Egli  6   3 , Heike A Bischoff-Ferrari  6   3   16
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Prevalence of healthy aging among community dwelling adults age 70 and older from five European countries

Simeon Schietzel et al. BMC Geriatr. .

Abstract

Background: To compare the prevalence of healthy aging among adults age 70 and older from 5 European countries recruited for the DO-HEALTH clinical trial. Participants were selected for absence of prior major health events.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of DO-HEALTH baseline data. All 2,157 participants (mean age 74.9, SD 4.4; 61.7% women) were included and 2,123 had data for all domains of the healthy aging status (HA) definition. HA was assessed based on the Nurses` Health Study (NHS) definition requiring four domains: no major chronic diseases, no disabilities, no cognitive impairment (Montreal Cognitive Assessment, MoCA ≥25), no mental health limitation (GDS-5 <2, and no diagnosis of depression). Association between HA and age, BMI, gender, and physical function (sit-to-stand, gait speed, grip strength) was assessed by multivariate logistic regression analyses adjusting for center.

Results: Overall, 41.8% of DO-HEALTH participants were healthy agers with significant variability by country: Austria (Innsbruck) 58.3%, Switzerland (Zurich, Basel, Geneva) 51.2%, Germany (Berlin) 37.6%, France (Toulouse) 36.7% and Portugal (Coimbra) 8.8% (p <0.0001). Differences in prevalence by country persisted after adjustment for age. In the multivariate model, younger age (OR = 0.95, 95% CI 0.93 to 0.98), female gender (OR = 1.36, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.81), lower BMI (OR = 0.94, 95% CI 0.91 to 0.96), faster gait speed (OR = 4.70, 95% CI 2.68 to 8.25) and faster performance in sit-to-stand test (OR = 0.90, 95% CI 0.87 to 0.93) were independently and significantly associated with HA.

Conclusions: Despite the same inclusion and exclusion criteria preselecting relatively healthy adults age 70 years and older, HA prevalence in DO-HEALTH varied significantly between countries and was highest in participants from Austria and Switzerland, lowest in participants from Portugal. Independent of country, younger age, female gender, lower BMI and better physical function were associated with HA.

Trial registration: DO-HEALTH was registered under the protocol NCT01745263 at the International Trials Registry ( clinicaltrials.gov ), and under the protocol number 2012-001249-41 at the Registration at the European Community Clinical Trial System (EudraCT).

Keywords: DO-HEALTH; Healthy Aging; Older; Senior.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
a Crude and adjusted* prevalence of healthy aging status by country. *Adjusted for by age, gender, education, faller status, timed sit-to-stand performance, grip strength, gait speed. Bars show 95% confidence intervals. b Prevalence of healthy agers by country
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
a Healthy aging status by age groups. b Participants (%) meeting requirements of single domains of the healthy aging status definition
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019). World Population Prospects 2019: Volume II: Demographic Profiles.
    1. World Health Organization. Active ageing: a policy framework. World Health Organization. 2002. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/67215. - PubMed
    1. Jackson RD, Shidham S. The role of hormone therapy and calcium plus vitamin D for reduction of bone loss and risk for fractures: lessons learned from the Women's Health Initiative. Curr Osteoporos Rep. 2007;5(4):153–159. - PubMed
    1. European Union 2012. COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL. Taking forward the Strategic Implementation Plan of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing, Brussels 29.02.2012.
    1. Global strategy and action plan on ageing and health. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2017. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

Publication types

Associated data