Is lifestyle change around retirement associated with better physical performance in older age?: insights from a longitudinal cohort
Is lifestyle change around retirement associated with better physical performance in older age?: insights from a longitudinal cohort
A growing evidence base links individual lifestyle factors to physical performance in older age, but much less is known about their combined effects, or the impact of lifestyle change. In a group of 937 participants from the MRC National Survey of Health and Development, we examined their number of lifestyle risk factors at 53 and 60–64 years in relation to their physical performance at 60–64, and the change in number of risk factors between these ages in relation to change in physical performance. At both assessments, information about lifestyle (physical activity, smoking, diet) was obtained via self-reports and height and weight were measured. Each participant’s number of lifestyle risk factors out of: obesity (body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m
2); inactivity (no leisure time physical activity over previous month); current smoking; poor diet (diet quality score in bottom quarter of distribution) was determined at both ages. Physical performance: measured grip strength, chair rise and standing balance times at both ages and conditional change (independent of baseline) in physical performance outcomes from 53 to 60–64 were assessed. There were some changes in the pattern of lifestyle risk factors between assessments: 227 (24%) participants had fewer risk factors by age 60–64; 249 (27%) had more. Reductions in risk factors were associated with better physical performance at 60–64 and smaller declines over time (all p < 0.05); these associations were robust to adjustment. Strategies to support reduction in number of lifestyle risk factors around typical retirement age may have beneficial effects on physical performance in early older age.
Ageing, Lifestyle, Physical function, Prevention, Retirement
513-521
Robinson, Sian
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Westbury, Leo
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Ward, Kate
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Syddall, Holly Emma
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Cooper, Rachel
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Cooper, Cyrus
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Sayer, Avan Aihie
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December 2021
Robinson, Sian
6ada395c-a5e4-484b-b3a8-6760db7a48e4
Westbury, Leo
5ed45df3-3df7-4bf9-bbad-07b63cd4b281
Ward, Kate
39bd4db1-c948-4e32-930e-7bec8deb54c7
Syddall, Holly Emma
a0181a93-8fc3-4998-a996-7963f0128328
Cooper, Rachel
24a4a55a-ccc1-4961-9b76-b89aa4eb2fdf
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Sayer, Avan Aihie
22ab6f4d-9d83-4272-9f56-1c2787598509
Robinson, Sian, Westbury, Leo, Ward, Kate, Syddall, Holly Emma, Cooper, Rachel, Cooper, Cyrus and Sayer, Avan Aihie
(2021)
Is lifestyle change around retirement associated with better physical performance in older age?: insights from a longitudinal cohort.
European Journal of Ageing, 18 (4), .
(doi:10.1007/s10433-021-00607-9).
Abstract
A growing evidence base links individual lifestyle factors to physical performance in older age, but much less is known about their combined effects, or the impact of lifestyle change. In a group of 937 participants from the MRC National Survey of Health and Development, we examined their number of lifestyle risk factors at 53 and 60–64 years in relation to their physical performance at 60–64, and the change in number of risk factors between these ages in relation to change in physical performance. At both assessments, information about lifestyle (physical activity, smoking, diet) was obtained via self-reports and height and weight were measured. Each participant’s number of lifestyle risk factors out of: obesity (body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m
2); inactivity (no leisure time physical activity over previous month); current smoking; poor diet (diet quality score in bottom quarter of distribution) was determined at both ages. Physical performance: measured grip strength, chair rise and standing balance times at both ages and conditional change (independent of baseline) in physical performance outcomes from 53 to 60–64 were assessed. There were some changes in the pattern of lifestyle risk factors between assessments: 227 (24%) participants had fewer risk factors by age 60–64; 249 (27%) had more. Reductions in risk factors were associated with better physical performance at 60–64 and smaller declines over time (all p < 0.05); these associations were robust to adjustment. Strategies to support reduction in number of lifestyle risk factors around typical retirement age may have beneficial effects on physical performance in early older age.
Text
NSHD_EurJAgeing_15jan clean version
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 3 February 2021
Published date: December 2021
Additional Information:
Funding
The NSHD is funded by the UK Medical Research Council (programme code MC_UU_00019/1). These analyses were undertaken with support from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Newcastle University and the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton. The sponsors did not have any role in the study.
Keywords:
Ageing, Lifestyle, Physical function, Prevention, Retirement
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 447325
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/447325
ISSN: 1613-9372
PURE UUID: 431245bf-8e99-49bf-8a92-a703b3cec3ff
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Date deposited: 09 Mar 2021 17:32
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 05:04
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Author:
Sian Robinson
Author:
Rachel Cooper
Author:
Avan Aihie Sayer
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