Feelings of usefulness should be considered with elderly

By: American Geriatrics Society

Seniors who feel useful enjoy better physical functioning than those who don't feel useful, according to research presented May 4 at the American Geriatrics Society's 2007 Annual Scientific Meeting. Bicycle RepairThe research, an analysis of data concerning nearly 900 older adults enrolled in the MacArthur Study of Successful Aging, also found that feeling more useful over time was accompanied by improvements in the adults' "performance-based" physical functioning—which includes coordination, balance, gait, and upper and lower limb strength. The adults in the study, all 70 to 79 years old, underwent physical performance tests and were asked about their feelings of usefulness at the start of the study and during a follow-up exam three years later. "Compared to older adults who frequently felt useful to others at the start of the study, those who never or rarely did had greater declines in physical performance ability," conclude lead researcher Taya C. Varteresian of Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Missouri, and colleagues at UCLA Medical School. "However, increases in feelings of usefulness were also associated with an improvement in physical performance." This was the case even after the researchers took into account other factors that can influence physical functioning. "Previous research with older adults in the MacArthur Study has documented that those with low feelings of usefulness are more likely to show increases in physical disability and to die over a seven-year period," Varteresian adds. "Thus, the associations observed between feelings of usefulness and physical performance ability in this study may play a role in these health outcomes."