Self-Perception of Aging Among Older Adults and Participation in Prevention

Many older adults do not engage in age-based prevention despite evidence to support reduced health risks and enhanced successful aging. The purpose of this study was to determine whether self-perceived aging (SPA) differed among older adults by age (young-old vs. old-old), participation in healthy lifestyle behaviors, screening, vaccinations, and self-rated health. Community-dwelling older adults (n=204) completed questionnaires reporting their SPA, self-rated health, and participation in recommended preventive healthy lifestyle behaviors, screening, and vaccinations. Our findings indicated that adults who were older and engaged in more preventive health behaviors, yet had lower self-rated health, tended to have better SPA. Prevention was greater in older adults who scored higher on aging well and aging successfully. Old-old (75 years or older) participants scored higher on aging successfully than those who were younger. Self-rated health was inversely related to SPA scores. Reporting poor or fair health did not diminish positive SPA in this sample.