Meaning in life as an important component of functioning in old age.

The purpose was to locate different measures of meaning in life in a multidimensional space of functioning in old age. Fifty-five persons born in 1910 and 1914 participated in laboratory tests, a medical examination, and interviews over a three-year period from 1994 to 1997. Measures of meaning in life included a sense of meaning in life, a sense of coherence, and four indices derived from a life-line drawing (linearity, trend, mean level in the past, and mean level in the future). The other measures of functioning were the number of chronic diseases, functional disability, walking speed, self-rated health, cognitive capacity, provision of social relationships, loneliness, depressive mood, number of activities, life satisfaction, and wisdom. Using a multidimensional scaling method, a two-dimensional model of functioning was arrived at. In the first dimension, "subjective vs. objective," all the measures of meaning in life were located in the subjective half. The location of the measures along the second dimension, "psychosocial vs. physical," varied considerably. Some of the measures of meaning in life (a sense of coherence, life-line trend, and linearity) were located in the physical half, while others (sense of meaning in life, life-line mean level in the past) were in the psychosocial half The life-line mean level in the future was located in the center of the dimension. The space of functioning provided a novel and illustrative approach to functioning as a multifaceted behavioral competence with meaning in life as an integral part of it.

Meaning in life in three samples of elderly persons with high cognitive functioning.

The study examined the relationships between meaning in life and cognitive functioning in three elderly samples. The participants in Sample I were 78 persons aged 82-87, in Sample II 182 persons aged 83-92, and in Sample III 299 persons aged 65-69. The samples took part in interviews and cognitive tests in 1996-1997. Several interview questions together with the Sense of Coherence questionnaire were used to study the degree and content of meaning in life. Cognitive functioning was measured by Digit Span, Digit Symbol, and Word Fluency in Sample I and Mini-D in Samples II and III. Each sample was divided into the group of persons with high cognitive functioning (including those whose results in cognitive tests fell in the top third of their age cohort) and the comparison group (including the rest of the sample). The analysis showed no difference between the groups in the degree of meaning in life in any of the three samples. The content of meaning in life differed in the two groups: human relationships were reported as a reason for meaning in life and a source of strength in life more often by the persons with high cognitive functioning than by the comparison group. Moreover, those with high cognitive functioning reported that they had taken up a new activity (especially one involving social interests) that gave a sense of meaning in life after retirement more often than the comparison group. Death had positive meaning for the majority of the participants and the groups did not differ in meaning of death. The interactions between the various measures of meaning in life showed that having a sense of coherence and zest for life were factors related to the sense of meaningfulness in life. Meaning of death was not related to other measures.

Gender differences in depression: a study of older unlike-sex twins.

Gender differences in depressive symptoms, in the diagnosis of major/minor depression, and in the use of antidepressant medication were investigated. The sample included 249 pairs of unlike-sex twins, who were between 70 and 80 years of age at the initial, baseline assessment. A follow-up, in which both members of 145 twin pairs participated, was carried out four years later. Participants completed the Centre for the Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) for depressive symptoms. Current use of antidepressant medicine was assessed. Medical records of major/minor depression from the period 1985-1998, including a summary of those diagnoses in earlier years, were gathered from several sources. Women had a higher frequency of depressive symptoms and depression diagnoses than their twin brothers. Depressive symptoms and diagnosis of depression increased over time, slightly more among men. The gender difference and increase over time in the depressive symptoms were related to differences in socio-economic status and physical functioning in men and women. No gender difference was found in the use of antidepressant medication.

Association of biochemical values with morbidity in the elderly: a population-based Swedish study of persons aged 82 or more years.

BACKGROUND: Various inter-dependent factors influence serum biochemical values. In the elderly, the impact of these factors may differ compared with younger age groups and therefore population-based studies among older people are needed. The specific morbidity in old age, including also various types of drug therapy, should be observed. METHODS: Various biochemical tests in 349 females and 186 males over 81 years of age were carried out and the associations of biochemical values with morbidity, drug therapy, anthropometry and gender were estimated. RESULTS: Biochemical serum values deviate in various diseases, characterized by increased frequency in the elderly, i.e. congestive heart failure, osteoporosis, hip fractures, depression and dementia. All of these diseases present a tendency to increased homocysteine, usually combined with low folate. Cases with intact cognitive function throughout the six years after sampling are characterized by low homocysteine, which is the opposite of what is found in dementia. Furthermore, congestive heart failure is associated with impaired creatinine clearance and increased urea and urate, and osteoporosis and hip fractures are characterized by low albumin and cholesterol. Increased values for urate and impaired creatinine clearance are found in coronary diseases. In gout, multiple biochemical changes take place. For cases with a history of diabetes, arterial hypertension, peptic ulcer and malignancy, few changes are found compared with the values of the total sample. Furosemide therapy is associated with the same pattern as congestive heart failure, and laxative treatment is characterized by low folate and high homocysteine values.