Highlights
- •In a sample of middle-class, community-dwelling adults aged over 60 years, limited cognitive function was more common than limited physical function.
- •Physical function may play a larger role in life satisfaction than cognitive function.
- •Impairment of physical function was associated with life satisfaction.
- •Impairment of cognitive function was not associated with life satisfaction.
- •More women than men had impairment of cognitive and physical functions.
Abstract
Objectives
This study examines the cross-sectional associations of cognitive and physical function
with life satisfaction in middle-class, community-dwelling adults aged 60 and older.
Study design
Participants were 632 women and 410 men who had cognitive function tests (CFT) and
physical function tasks (PFT) assessed at a clinic visit between 1988 and 1992, and
who responded in 1992 to a mailed survey that included life satisfaction measures.
Cognitive impairment was defined as ≤24 on MMSE, ≥132 on Trails B, ≤12 on Category
Fluency, ≤13 on Buschke long-term recall, and ≤7 on Heaton immediate recall. Physical
impairment was defined as participants’ self-reported difficulty (yes/no) in performing
10 physical functions. Multiple linear regression examined associations between life
satisfaction and impairment on ≥1 CFT or difficulty with ≥1 PFT.
Main outcome measures
The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; range:0–26) and Life Satisfaction Index-Z
(LSI-Z; range:5–35).
Results
Participants’ average age was 73.4 years (range = 60–94). Categorically defined cognitive impairment was present in 40% of men and 47%
of women. Additionally, 30% of men and 43% of women reported difficulty performing
any PFT. Adjusting for age and impairment on ≥1 CFT, difficulty performing ≥1 PFT
was associated with lower LSI-Z and SWLS scores in men (β = −1.73, −1.26, respectively, p< 0.05) and women (β = −1.79, −1.93, respectively, p< 0.01). However, impairment on ≥ 1 CFT was not associated with LSI-Z or SWLS score
after adjusting for age and difficulty with ≥1 PFT.
Conclusions
Limited cognitive function was more common than limited physical function; however,
limited physical function was more predictive of lower life satisfaction. Interventions
to increase or maintain mobility among older adults may improve overall life satisfaction.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 11, 2016
Accepted:
April 8,
2016
Received in revised form:
April 4,
2016
Received:
January 26,
2016
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
