Positive ageing: Objective, subjective, and combined outcomes

Positive ageing and other related terms (optimal, healthy, successful, active, productive ageing) are viewed as scientific concepts, most of them operationally described by a broad set of bio-psycho-social factors, assessed through objective and subjective indicators, as well as being closely related to lay concepts reported cross-culturally by older persons. From a semantic perspective most of these terms emphasize a diversity of positive conditions across the ageing process and during old age, such as physical fitness and health, optimal cognitive functioning, positive emotional states, and social involvement. Three important methodological issues emerge from the field: (1) although it is generally considered a multidimensional concept there are also researchers who reduce positive ageing to just one of its components, (2) moreover, those components can be assessed by objective and/or subjective indicators; and, finally, (3) this conceptual and methodological diversity determines that the prevalence of positive ageing reported is extremely broad. Since empirical definition of any scientific concept requires consensus, this paper discusses several definitions of ageing well with reference to the results yielded by the ELEA Study (Longitudinal Study of Active Ageing). Results support a multidimensional concept of positive ageing, composed of objective and subjective measures, with a similar structure to well considered definitions of positive ageing: health, cognition, activity, positive affect, and physical fitness are the major domains for ageing well and this structure is not affected by age or gender. Also, when prevalence of ageing well is calculated through simple and multi-domain measure assessed by objective and subjective indicators, multi-domain measures show more realistic results.