Cohort trends in intrinsic capacity in England and China.
Abstract
To understand how the health of older adults today compares to that of previous generations, we estimated intrinsic capacity and subdomains of cognitive, locomotor, sensory, psychological and vitality capacities in participants of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. Applying multilevel growth curve models, we found that more recent cohorts entered older ages with higher levels of capacity, while subsequent age-related declines were somewhat compressed compared to earlier cohorts. Trends were most evident for the cognitive, locomotor and vitality capacities. Improvements were large, with the greatest gains being in the most recent cohorts. For example, a 68-year-old participant of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing born in 1950 had higher capacity than a 62-year-old born 10 years earlier. Trends were similar for men and women and were generally consistent across English and Chinese cohorts. Possible causes include broad societal influences and improvements in medical care.
The following analysis is generated by AI and may contain errors. It is separate from the authors’ abstract and is not peer review.
Research summary
The paper is relevant to longevity research as it examines intrinsic capacity in older adults, which is a key aspect of healthy aging. It provides insights into how the health and functional abilities of older generations are changing over time, which can inform strategies for improving longevity and quality of life. However, while the findings are solid and contribute to our understanding of aging trends, they do not present groundbreaking advancements or solutions to the root causes of aging, thus limiting their overall impact.
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