The cross-domain correlates of subjective age in Chinese oldest-old

Abstract

Objectives: This study examined subjective age and its cross-domain correlates in Chinese oldest-old.

Method: We conducted a secondary data analysis using cross-sectional data drawn from the 2006 Sample Survey on the Aged Population in Urban/Rural China, which consisted of a sample of 860 community-dwelling Chinese older adults aged 85 years and above.

Results: A small percentage (8%) of the oldest-old participants reported that they did not feel old. Binary logistic regression analyses revealed that urban living, better physical and self-reported cognitive functioning and mental health were all related to not feeling old, whereas chronological age was found to have no association with subjective age when controlling for indicators of physical and self-reported cognitive functioning.

Conclusion: The findings revealed the key roles of functional limitations and mental health in the construction of subjective age in Chinese oldest-old. The possible cross-cultural similarity in the links of subjective age to mental health and physical functioning in later life suggests that maintaining a youthful subjective age may have adaptive value for the oldest-old and contribute to their successful aging.

Keywords:

• depressive symptoms
• physical functioning
• self-perceived forgetfulness
• cross-cultural similarity

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Dr. Kee-Lee Chou and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. The author also thanks the China National Committee on Ageing (CNCA) and the China Research Center on Aging (CRCA) for making the data available for analysis.