Affiliation:
1. Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences and Gerontology Research Center, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Abstract
Abstract
Background
Whether increased life expectancy is accompanied by increased functional capacity in older people at specific ages is unclear. We compared similar validated measures of maximal physical performance in 2 population-based older cohorts born and assessed 28 years apart.
Method
Participants in the first cohort were born in 1910 and 1914 and were assessed at age 75 and 80 years, respectively (N = 500, participation rate 77%). Participants in the second cohort were born in 1938 or 1939 and 1942 or 1943 and were assessed at age 75 and 80 years, respectively (N = 726, participation rate 40%). Participants were recruited using a population register and all community-dwelling persons in the target area were eligible. Both cohorts were interviewed at home and were examined at the research center with identical protocols. Maximal walking speed, maximal isometric grip and knee extension strength, forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) were assessed. Data on non-participation were systematically collected.
Results
Walking speed was on average 0.2–0.4 m/s faster in the later than earlier cohort. In grip strength, the improvements were 5%–25%, and in knee extension strength 20%–47%. In FVC, the improvements were 14–21% and in FEV1, 0–14%.
Conclusions
The later cohort showed markedly and meaningfully higher results in the maximal functional capacity tests, suggesting that currently 75- and 80-year-old people in Finland are living to older ages nowadays with better physical functioning.
Funder
European Research Council
Academy of Finland
Finnish Social Insurance Institution
Finnish Ministry of Education
Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
Association of Finnish Lion Clubs
Scandinavian Red Feather Project
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Subject
Geriatrics and Gerontology,Aging
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