Subjective physical and cognitive age among community-dwelling older people aged 75 years and older: differences with chronological age and its associated factors

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the associations between self-reported subjective physical and cognitive age, and actual physical and cognitive functions among community-dwelling older people aged 75 years and older.

Method: The sample comprised 275 older adults aged 75–91 years. Two questions were asked regarding subjective age: ‘How old do you feel physically?’ and ‘How old do you feel cognitively?’ To assess physical functions, we measured handgrip strength, knee extension strength, standing balance and walking speed. Tests of attention, executive function, processing speed and memory were performed to assess actual cognitive function.

Results: Subjective physical and cognitive age was associated with performance on all of the physical and cognitive tests, respectively (p < 0.01). We also found that older adults who reported themselves as feeling older than their chronological age had a slower walking speed and lower scores for word-list memory recall than those who did not report themselves as feeling older than their actual age.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that promoting a fast walking speed and good memory function may help to maintain a younger subjective physical and cognitive age in older adults aged 75 years and older.

Keywords:

• perceived age
• memory function
• walking speed
• aging

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Bibai City workers in Hokkaido, for recruiting the participants.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan in 2012 (2- 43).