Executive functioning independently predicts self-rated health and improvement in self-rated health over time among community-dwelling older adults

Abstract

Objectives: Self-rated health, as distinct from objective measures of health, is a clinically informative metric among older adults. The purpose of our study was to examine the cognitive and psychosocial factors associated with self-rated health.

Methods: 624 participants over the age of 60 were assessed at baseline, and of these, 510 were contacted for a follow-up two years later. Measures of executive function and self-rated health were assessed at baseline, and self-rated health was assessed at follow-up. We employed multiple linear regression analyses to investigate the relationship between executive functioning and self-rated health, while controlling for demographic, psychosocial and biological variables.

Results: Controlling for other relevant variables, executive functioning independently and solely predicted self-rated health, both at a cross-sectional level, and also over time. Loneliness was also found to cross-sectionally predict self-rated health, although this relationship was not present at a longitudinal level.

Conclusion: Older adults' self-rated health may be related to their executive functioning and to their loneliness. Self-rated health appeared to improve over time, and the extent of this improvement was also related to executive functioning at baseline. Self-rated health may be a judgement made of one's functioning, especially executive functioning, which changes with age and therefore may be particularly salient in the reflections of older adults.

Keywords:

• older adults
• executive functioning
• self-rated health
• functional status
• longitudinal

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the participants and staff of the TRIL centre at St James's Hospital in Dublin. This work was supported by Intel Ireland, G.E. Healthcare and IDA Ireland as part of the TRIL (Technology Research for Independent Living) grant.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Intel Ireland, G.E. Healthcare and IDA Ireland as part of the TRIL (Technology Research for Independent Living) grant.