Cohort differences in disease and disability in the young-old: Findings from the MRC Cognitive Function and Ageing Study (MRC-CFAS)

Jagger, Carol; Matthews, Ruth J.; Matthews, Fiona E.; Spiers, Nicola A.; Nickson, Judith; Paykel, Eugene S.; Huppert, Felicia A.; Brayne, Carol

Abstract

Background. Projections of health and social care need are highly sensitive to assumptions about cohort trends in health and disability. We use a repeated population-based cross-sectional study from the Cambridgeshire centre of the UK Medical Research Council Cognitive Function and Ageing Study to investigate trends in the health of the young-old UK population. Methods. Non-overlapping cohorts of men and women aged 65-69 years in 1991/2 (n = 689) and 1996/7 (n = 687) were compared on: self-reported diseases and conditions; self-rated health; mobility limitation; disability by logistic regression and four-year survival by Cox Proportional Hazards Regression models, with adjustments for differences in socio-economic and lifestyle factors. Results. Survival was similar between cohorts (HR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.62 to 1.32). There was a significant increase in the number of conditions reported between cohorts, with more participants reporting 3 or more conditions in the new cohort (14.2% vs. 10.1%). When individual conditions were considered, there was a 10% increase in the reporting of arthritis and a significant increase in the reporting of chronic airways obstruction (OR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.04 to 1.78). Conclusion. This study provides evidence of rising levels of ill-health, as measured by the prevalence of self-reported chronic conditions, in the newer cohorts of the young-old. Though changes in diagnosis or reporting of disease cannot, as yet, be excluded, to better understand whether our findings reflect real increases in ill-health, investment should be made into improved population-based databases, linking self-report and objective measures of health and function, and including those in long-term care. © 2007 Jagger et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Citation

Jagger, C., Matthews, R. J., Matthews, F. E., Spiers, N. A., Nickson, J., Paykel, E. S., Huppert, F. A., & Brayne, C. (2007). Cohort differences in disease and disability in the young-old: Findings from the MRC Cognitive Function and Ageing Study (MRC-CFAS). BMC public health, 7, https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-7-156

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Aug 20, 2007
• Deposit Date: Dec 8, 2023
• Journal: BMC Public Health
• Print ISSN: 1471-2458
• Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Volume: 7
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-7-156
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4455419