Objectives. The aim of this paper is to estimate the prevalence of successful aging in the elderly in Western Mexico and to analyze its variability by age, sex, education, marital status, and pension. Methods. This study employs data from the Health, Wellbeing, and Aging Study (SABE) in Jalisco and Colima, Mexico. Successful aging was operationalized in accordance with no important disease, no disability, physical functioning, cognitive functioning, and being actively. There were a total of 3116 elderly. Results. 12.6% of older adults were “successful” aging. The old-old is a lower proportion of successful aging people; it ranges from 18.9% among people aged 60–69 years to 3.9% in the 80–89 years and up to 1% in people 90 and older. There were also differences according to sex , with a higher proportion of successful aging men (18.4% compared with 9.2% of women). There were differences in educational level ; those higher with education were found to be more successful aging, and also there were differences in marital status for married people . Discussion. A small number of older adults meet the criteria definition of successful aging, suggesting the need to analyze in depth the concept and the indicators. 1. Introduction The increase in the relative and absolute number of older people in our society has posed a major challenge for both individual and collective levels in the study of aging. It had appeared various contributions, at the individual level, extending the biological perspective of disease and disability with a more positive and comprehensive one, covering the social and behavioral sciences to reduce the risk of adverse events and improve the resilience of the seniors and make changes in their immediate surroundings [1]. At the population level, aging is seen as a challenge that involves, in addition, as stated by Fernandez-Ballesteros [2], challenges such as the double burden of disease, increased risk of disability, having to provide adequate care for the aging population, addressing inequalities, economic challenges, and having a different view of aging and old age. In industrialized countries, demographic and social changes of the population have brought into discussion the approach of public policies on aging related to pensions, employment, health social care, and protection of citizenship. In this context emerges a new paradigm that implies a new vision of aging, a positive vision, called “active aging”. The WHO has considered that Active Ageing is the key if it is wanted to make aging a positive experience and free of disability,
References
[1]
J. W. Rowe and R. L. Kahn, “Successful aging,” The Gerontologist, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 433–440, 1997.
[2]
R. Fernandez-Ballesteros, Active Aging. The Contribution of Psychology, Hogrefe & Huber, G？ttingen, Germany, 2008.
[3]
WHO, Active Aging. A Policy Framework, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 2002.
[4]
A. Walker, “Active ageing in employment: its meaning and potential,” Asia-Pacific Review, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 78–93, 2006.
[5]
A. Walker, “A strategy for active ageing,” International Social Security Review, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 121–139, 2002.
[6]
R. J. Havighurst, “Successful Aging,” The Gerontologist, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 8–13, 1961.
[7]
J. Rowe and R. L. Kahn, “Human aging: usual and successful,” Science, vol. 237, no. 4811, pp. 143–149, 1987.
[8]
J. Rowe and R. L. Kahn, Successful Aging, Pantheon, New York, NY, USA, 1998.
[9]
E. Palmore, “Predictors of successful aging,” The Gerontologist, vol. 19, no. 5, pp. 427–431, 1979.
[10]
P. B. Baltes and M. M. Baltes, “Psychological perspectives on successful aging: the model of selective optimization with compensation,” in Successful Aging: Perspectives from the Behavioral Sciences, P. B. Baltes and M. M. Baltes, Eds., pp. 1–34, Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, USA, 1990.
[11]
N. P. Roos and B. Havens, “Predictors of successful aging: a twelve-year study of Manitoba elderly,” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 81, no. 1, pp. 63–68, 1991.
[12]
L. F. Berkman, T. E. Seeman, M. Albert et al., “High, usual and impaired functioning in community-dwelling older men and women: findings from the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on successful aging,” Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, vol. 46, no. 10, pp. 1129–1140, 1993.
[13]
T. E. Seeman, P. A. Charpentier, L. F. Berkman et al., “Predicting changes in physical performance in a high-functioning elderly cohort: MacArthur studies of successful aging,” The Journals of Gerontology, vol. 49, no. 3, pp. M97–M108, 1994.
[14]
W. J. Strawbridge, R. D. Cohen, S. J. Shema, and G. A. Kaplan, “Successful aging: predictors and associated activities,” American Journal of Epidemiology, vol. 144, no. 2, pp. 135–141, 1996.
[15]
A. F. Jorm, H. Christiansen, S. Henderson, P. A. Jacomb, A. E. Korten, and A. Mackinnon, “Factors associated with successful ageing,” Australasian Journal of Ageing, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 33–37, 1998.
[16]
A. B. Ford, M. R. Haug, K. C. Stange, A. D. Gaines, L. S. Noelker, and P. K. Jones, “Sustained personal autonomy: a measure of successful aging,” Journal of Aging and Health, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 470–489, 2000.
[17]
G. E. Vaillant and K. Mukamal, “Successful aging,” American Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 158, no. 6, pp. 839–847, 2001.
[18]
M. Von Faber, A. Bootsma-Van Der Wiel, E. Van Exel et al., “Successful aging in the oldest old: who can be characterized as successfully aged?” Archives of Internal Medicine, vol. 161, no. 22, pp. 2694–2700, 2001.
[19]
W. J. Strawbridge, M. I. Wallhagen, and R. D. Cohen, “Successful aging and well-being: self-rated compared with Rowe and Kahn,” The Gerontologist, vol. 42, no. 6, pp. 727–733, 2002.
[20]
A. B. Newman, A. M. Arnold, B. L. Naydeck et al., “Successful aging: effect of subclinical cardiovascular disease,” Archives of Internal Medicine, vol. 163, no. 19, pp. 2315–2322, 2003.
[21]
A. Britton, M. Shipley, A. Singh-Manoux, and M. G. Marmot, “Successful aging: the contribution of early-life and midlife risk factors,” Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, vol. 56, no. 6, pp. 1098–1105, 2008.
[22]
S. J. McLaughlin, C. M. Connell, S. G. Heeringa, L. W. Li, and J. S. Roberts, “Successful aging in the United States: prevalence estimates from a national sample of older adults,” The Journals of Gerontology B, vol. 65, no. 2, pp. 216–226, 2010.
[23]
C. A. Depp and D. V. Jeste, “Definitions and predictors of successful aging: a comprehensive review of larger quantitative studies,” American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 6–20, 2006.
[24]
R. Fernández Ballesteros, M. D. Zamarrón, M. A. Molina, J. Diez Nicolás, and R. Schettini, “Successful aging: definitions and predictors,” Psicothema, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 641–647, 2010 (Spanish).
[25]
M. Peláez, A. Palloni, C. Albala, et al., Survey on Aging, Health and Wellbeing, PAHO, Washington, DC, USA, 2000.
[26]
J. A. Yesavage, T. L. Brink, T. L. Rose, et al., “Development and validation of a geriatric depression screening scale: a preliminary report,” Journal of Psychiatric Research, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 37–49, 1983.
[27]
C. Albala, M. Lebr？o, E. Léon Díaz et al., “The health, well-being, and aging (SABE) survey: methodology applied and profile of the study population,” Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, vol. 17, no. 5-6, pp. 307–322, 2005 (Spanish).
[28]
C. A. Depp and D. V. Jeste, “Definitions and predictors of successful aging: a comprehensive review of larger quantitative studies,” American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 6–20, 2006.
[29]
N. Peel, H. Barttlett, and R. McClure, “Healthy ageing: how is it defined and measured?” Australasian Journal of Ageing, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 115–119, 2004.
[30]
E. D. Arias-Merino, G. G. Ortiz, M. E. Flores-Saiffe et al., “Prevalence of cognitive impairment in Mexican elderly,” in Alzheimer's Disease: New Advances, Iqbal, Ed., pp. 667–671, Medimond, Madrid, Spain, 2006.
[31]
J. Menéndez, A. Guevara, N. Arcia, E. M. León Díaz, C. Marín, and J. C. Alfonso, “Chronic diseases and functional limitation in older adults: a comparative study in seven cities of Latin America and the Caribbean,” Pan American Journal of Public Health, vol. 17, no. 5-6, pp. 353–361, 2005 (Spanish).
