Although the study, published in JAMA Network Open, cannot show cause and effect, the authors note that the link between age discrimination and health needs to be explored further and taken into account. when designing programs that promote good health and well-being in older adults. Adults.
First author Julie Ober Allen said: “These findings raise the question of whether aging-related health problems reflect the adverse effects of ageism and raise the possibility that Anti-aging efforts could be a strategy to promote the health and well-being of older adults.” PhD, MPH, Department of Health and Exercise Science, University of Oklahoma, Norman.
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Allen conducted the survey during his time as a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Population Studies at UM’s Institute for Social Research.
The team previously published the preliminary findings in a report from the NPHA, based at the UM Institute for Health Care Policy and Innovation and supported by AARP and Michigan Medicine, the Korean medical center. Forest of UM.
But the new analysis goes even further and uses the Daily Ageism Scale developed by the team. That scale, validated and published last year, is based on an individual’s responses to 10 questions about their own experiences and beliefs about the aging process.
In total, 93% of older adults surveyed said they regularly experience at least one of 10 forms of ageism. The most common, experienced by nearly 80%, agree with the statement that “having health problems is part of getting older” – although 83% of those surveyed described their health as good or very good. This type of “internalizing” ageism also includes agreeing with statements that feeling lonely, or feeling depressed, sad, or anxious are part of getting older.
Meanwhile, 65% of older adults said they regularly see, hear or read jokes about elders, or messages that older adults are unattractive or undesirable.
Another class of experiential ageing – what the researchers call interpersonal ageing – was reported to be a frequent occurrence in 45% of respondents. These include experiences involving another person in which older adults feel that they are having difficulty using technology, seeing, hearing, understanding, remembering, or doing something in a certain way. independent – or that they don’t do anything of value.
The researchers calculated an Everyday Ageism score for each one of the more than 2,000 poll respondents, based on their responses to all of the poll’s questions.
The average total score is just over 10. According to one group, 65- to 80-year-olds scored above 11, suggesting that those aged 50-64 experience more age discrimination.
People with lower income or education and those living in rural areas also have higher average age scores than others. Older adults who reported spending four or more hours a day watching television, browsing the internet or reading magazines scored higher than those with less exposure to such media.
The researchers then looked at each person’s individual scores based on what they had said about their own health, including self-assessed physical and mental health, the number of chronic health conditions, and the number of chronic health conditions. and reporting of depressive symptoms.
They found a strong association between higher scores and all four health-related measures. That is, those who reported higher Daily Ageism scores were more likely to have reported that their overall physical health or overall mental health was good or poor. more chronic and depressive symptoms.
Much of this association has to do with measures of intrinsic age discrimination – questions that measure how much a person agrees with statements about health problems, loneliness, and sadness as one. part of growing old. But experience with interpersonal forms of ageism is also related to health-related measurements, as are some aspects of agematism messaging.
The relationship between the experience of aging in older adults’ daily lives and health, special interest poll director and senior author Preeti Malani, MD, professor at Michigan Medicine with knowledge Basic knowledge of elderly care.
“In fact, respondents to our poll who said they felt the most forms of age discrimination were also more likely to say their physical or mental health was good or poor. , or having a chronic condition like diabetes or heart disease, is something that needs further testing,” she said.
Source: Eurekalert
