Associations between functional ability and life satisfaction in the oldest old: results from the longitudinal population study Good Aging in Skåne

Figures & data

Table 1 Changes in activities of daily living (ADL) functioning broken down by sex, age, marital status, education, and included subitems

	ADL-function			P-value
	Unchanged (%)	Impaired (%)	Improved (%)
Sex
Male/female	131/236 (58/65)	72/105 (32/29)	21/23 (9/6)	0.209
Age
78–84/87–93 years	309/58 (70/40)	103/74 (23/51)	31/13 (7/9)	<0.001
Marital status
Married/single	152/215 (64/61)	65/111 (28/32)	19/25 (8/7)	0.557
Education
Elementary/high school or universtiy	236/230 (62/63)	117/59 (31/28)	25/19 (7/9)	0.488
ADL items
Cleaning	515 (76)	105 (15)	15 (2)
Grocery shopping	521 (77)	102 (15)	16 (2)
Cooking	515 (76)	92 (14)	30 (4)
Bathing	572 (84)	63 (9)	4 (1)
Dressing	599 (88)	33 (5)	6 (1)
Toileting	593 (87)	41 (6)	5 (1)
Mobility	630 (93)	24 (3)	0
Food intake	641 (94)	5 (1)	0
ADL scale	367 (62)	177 (30)	44 (8)

Note: Differences in proportions tested with chi-squared test.

Abbreviation: ADL, activities of daily living.

Table 2 Comparison of mean Life Satisfaction Index A (LSI-A) value at reexamination for unchanged, impaired, and improved activities of daily living (ADL) stratified by sex, age, marital status and education

ADL	LSI-A value			P-value
	Unchanged	Impaired	Improved
Sex
Male	27.3 (6.6)	24.4 (7.3)	27.6 (7.2)	0.017
Female	25.9 (6.1)	22.0 (6.7)	25.4 (5.5)	<0.001
Age (years)
78–84	26.4 (6.4)	23.5 (7.6)	27.5 (6.0)	<0.001
87–93	26.5 (6.0)	22.2 (6.0)	23.7 (7.3)	0.002
Marital status
Married	27.3 (6.6)	25.6 (6.4)	27.2 (7.1)	0.233
Single	25.7 (6.0)	21.1 (6.9)	25.9 (5.8)	<0.001
Education
Elementary	26.0 (6.3)	22.2 (7.1)	24.6 (5.7)	<0.001
High school/university	27.3 (6.3)	24.3 (6.8)	28.8 (6.7)	0.008

Note: Differences in means tested with analysis of variance, standard deviations in parentheses.

Table 3 Comparison of means of Life Satisfaction Index A (LSI-A, range 0–40) at reexamination and variables at baseline examination

Variables	n	LSI at reexamination	P-value
		Meana/standard deviation
Sex
Men	226	26.3/7.0
Women	346	24.7/6.5	0.006
Age (years)
78–84	430	25.7/6.8
87–93	142	23.8/6.3	0.005
Marital status
Married/cohabiting	246	26.7/6.6
Single/widowed/divorced	323	24.2/6.6	<0.001
Education
Elementary school	364	24.7/6.6
High school/university	203	26.4/6.7	0.003
Walking aids
Yes	161	23.6/6.6
No	410	26.0/6.6	<0.001
Economical sufficiency
Yes	421	25.9/6.5
No	144	23.6/6.9	<0.001
Help from relatives
Yes	112	22.7/6.3
No	426	26.1/6.6	<0.001
Social services
Yes	63	23.6/6.7
No	495	25.6/6.6	0.003
Social activities
Yes	500	25.7/6.6
No	55	22.7/7.0	0.003
Cultural activities
Yes	427	25.9/6.5
No	130	23.8/7.0	0.003
Leisure-time activities
Yes	472	25.8/6.6
No	86	22.9/6.8	<0.001
Depressive mood (comprehensive psychopathological rating scale)
No	507	25.1/6.4
Yes	117	22.2/6.8	<0.001

Notes: Significance tested with Student’s t-test;

a Spearman’s correlation coefficient r (rho).

Table 4 Correlations between LSI-A at reexamination and parameters from baseline examination

	n	Correlation (r)	P-value
Change in activities of daily living scale	537	−0.219a	<0.001
Locus of control
Chance	556	−0.046b	0.276
Power	554	0.134b	0.002
Internal	557	0.210b	<0.001
Number of symptoms	554	−0.366b	<0.001
Depressive mood	534	−0.285a	<0.001

Notes:

a Spearman’s correlation coefficient r;

b Pearson’s correlation coefficient r.

Abbreviations: LSI-A, Life Satisfaction Index A; r, rho.

Table 5 A multiple linear regression model with independent variables from baseline examination and Life Satisfaction Index 3 years later as dependent variable

Variable	B-coefficient	P-value
Sex
Female/male	0.438	0.474
Age	−0.128	0.086
Married/cohabiting vs single	−1.370	0.028
Education elementary/secondary	1.182	0.035
Economical sufficiency, no/yes	1.225	0.054
Depressive mood, yes/no	1.826	0.014
Number of symptoms	−0.336	<0.001
Locus of control, internal	0.239	0.001
Locus of control, power	0.153	0.019
Social activities, no/yes	1.178	0.234
Cultural activities, no/yes	1.155	0.111
Leisure-time activities, no/yes	0.808	0.361
Help from relatives, no/yes	−0.304	0.692
Help from social services, no/yes	−1.942	0.058
Walking aids, no/yes	−1.205	0.099
Change in activities of daily living scale	−1.316	<0.001

Figure 1 Change in Life Satisfaction Index A (LSI-A) from baseline to reexamination depending on change in activities of daily living (ADL) in the same period between the younger and the older group (P = 0.0273).

Note: The correlation between change in LSI-A and changes in ADL for the younger group (81–87 years) was r = 0.207 (P < 0.001).