Behavioral & Social Sciences : If I only had a good health”: A study of relationships between life satisfaction and medical diagnoses in the oldest-old.

• People often claim that health makes the difference for life-satisfaction and well-being in late life. It is, however, typically found that self-report is the health measure that makes a difference in these outcomes, rather than medically based measures. Noteworthy, few studies have so far included a comprehensive set of common diagnoses based on medical records. The present study investigated the relationship between life satisfaction and medical diagnoses among 412 non-demented individuals drawn from the Swedish OCTO-Twin study. Analysis of covariance showed that when gender and age were controlled for, only 6 out of 50 diagnoses were related to lower life satisfaction. These were (prevalence in parenthesis) sleeping problems (65%), dizziness (64%), rheumatoid arthritis (3%), stroke (20%), and urine incontinence (51%). The study provides support for a relationship in diseases that affect everyday life functioning among a substantial proportion of the oldest old. Benefits and Learning Objectives • The relationship between life satisfaction and a range of common medical diagnoses in the oldest-old.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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