Study finds slowing of age-related declines in older adults

A new study from the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center at the Mailman School of Public Health reveals significant improvements in the health of older adults in England when compared to previous generations. Rather than considering health through the presence or absence of disease, the study, published in Nature Aging, applied a new approach that examined trends in people’s functioning – their cognitive, locomotor, psychological, and sensory capacities.

Using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging, the study found that older adults today experience higher levels of physical and mental functioning than previous generations did at the same age.

“These improvements were large,” said John Beard, MBBS, PhD, Irene Diamond Professor of Aging in Health Policy and Management in the Butler Columbia Aging Center of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and author of the study. For example, a 68-year-old born in 1950 had a similar capacity to a 62-year-old born a decade earlier, and those born in 1940 had better functioning than those born in 1930 or 1920. Beard noted, “If we had compared someone born in 1950 with someone born in 1920, we would have likely observed even greater improvements.”

Beard and his colleagues undertook similar analyses in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS).  They found similar trends, although this analysis was limited by the much shorter follow-up period in the Chinese study compared to the English study. 

Beard says that improvements in education, nutrition, and sanitation over the course of the twentieth century are likely to have played a key role.  Medical advances—such as joint replacements and better treatments for chronic conditions—were also likely to be contributing factors. The researchers caution, however, that their observations are for a specific period and in a single country.  The same trends may not have been seen in the US, or across the whole of the population.

“We were surprised by just how large these improvements were, particularly when comparing people born after World War Two with earlier-born groups.” said Beard. “But there is nothing to say we will continue to see the same improvements moving forward, and changes such as the increasing prevalence of obesity may even see these trends reverse.  It is also likely that more advantaged groups will have experienced greater gains than others.  But overall, the trends were very strong and suggest that, for many people, 70 really may be the new 60.”

Aging expert Jay Olshansky of the University of Illinois praised the study, stating, “This is a powerful article. It shows that intrinsic capacity—what really matters to people as they age—is inherently modifiable. With this evidence, we see that medical science can enhance intrinsic capacity, providing a hopeful message for the future.”

Co-authors are Katja Hanewald and Yafei Si, UNSW Business School, Sydney, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Aging Research (CEPAR), Australia; Jotheeswaran Amuthavalli Thiyagarajan, Department of Maternal, Child, Adolescent Health and Aging, World Health Organization, Geneva; and Dario Moreno-Agostino, UCL Social Research Institute, University College London, and ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health, King’s College London.

The research was supported by the ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR, project CE170100005) at the University of New South Wales (UNSW); Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Centre for Society and Mental Health at King’s College London [ES/S012567/1]; and the National Social Science Foundation of China (23AZD091). Funding was also provided by the National Institute on Aging (R01 AG030153, RC2 AG036619, R03 AG043052), and (R01 AG030153, RC2 AG036619, and R03 AG043052).

The Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center

Bringing together the campus-wide resources of a top-tier research university, the Robert N. ButlerColumbia Aging Center approach to aging science is an innovative, multidisciplinary one with an eye to practical and policy implications.  Its mission is to add to the knowledge base needed to better understand the aging process and the societal implications of our increased potential for living longer lives. For more information about this center which is based at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, please visit: aging.columbia.edu.

Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Founded in 1922, the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health pursues an agenda of research, education, and service to address the critical and complex public health issues affecting New Yorkers, the nation and the world. The Columbia Mailman School is the third largest recipient of NIH grants among schools of public health. Its nearly 300 multi-disciplinary faculty members work in more than 100 countries around the world, addressing such issues as preventing infectious and chronic diseases, environmental health, maternal and child health, health policy, climate change and health, and public health preparedness. It is a leader in public health education with more than 1,300 graduate students from 55 nations pursuing a variety of master’s and doctoral degree programs. The Columbia Mailman School is also home to numerous world-renowned research centers, including ICAP and the Center for Infection and Immunity. For more information, please visit www.mailman.columbia.edu.