Amit Shrira1, Oleg Zaslavsky2, Andrea Z LaCroix3, Rebecca Seguin4, Stephen Post5, Hilary Tindle6, Melanie Hingle7, Nancy Woods8, Barbara Cochrane8, Lorena Garcia9, Eliezer Schnall10, Eileen Rillamas-Sun3, Yuval Palgi11. 1. Interdisciplinary Department of Social Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel. 2. The Cheryl Spencer Department of Nursing, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel. 3. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Public Health Sciences, Seattle, WA, USA. 4. College of Human Ecology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. 5. Center for Medical Humanities, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA. 6. Division of Internal Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburg, PA, USA. 7. College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA. 8. School of Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. 9. Department of Public Health Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, USA. 10. Yeshiva College, Yeshiva University, New York, NY, USA. 11. Department of Gerontology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: the factors that moderate decline in physical functioning as death approaches are understudied. This study aimed to assess death-related decline in global quality of life (QoL) and physical functioning and to test whether baseline QoL moderates terminal decline in physical functioning. METHODS: four thousand six hundred and fifty-one decedents from the Women's Health Initiative Study (WHI) rated QoL and physical functioning each year throughout 5 years of follow-up. RESULTS: both QoL and physical functioning showed a steeper decline as a function of years to death than as a function of chronological age. Moreover, decedents with higher QoL at baseline showed a less steep decline in physical functioning as death approached than those with lower QoL at baseline. CONCLUSION: although QoL strongly decreases across the terminal years, its beneficial influence on physical functioning is evident till the very end of life.
BACKGROUND: the factors that moderate decline in physical functioning as death approaches are understudied. This study aimed to assess death-related decline in global quality of life (QoL) and physical functioning and to test whether baseline QoL moderates terminal decline in physical functioning. METHODS: four thousand six hundred and fifty-one decedents from the Women's Health Initiative Study (WHI) rated QoL and physical functioning each year throughout 5 years of follow-up. RESULTS: both QoL and physical functioning showed a steeper decline as a function of years to death than as a function of chronological age. Moreover, decedents with higher QoL at baseline showed a less steep decline in physical functioning as death approached than those with lower QoL at baseline. CONCLUSION: although QoL strongly decreases across the terminal years, its beneficial influence on physical functioning is evident till the very end of life.
Authors: Jeanet W Blom; Steven P Lemmens; Willem J J Assendelft; Just A H Eekhof; Jacobijn Gussekloo Journal: Age Ageing Date: 2012-05-04 Impact factor: 10.668
Authors: Helena Karppinen; Marja-Liisa Laakkonen; Timo E Strandberg; Reijo S Tilvis; Kaisu H Pitkälä Journal: Age Ageing Date: 2012-07-04 Impact factor: 10.668
Authors: Nancy Fugate Woods; Barbara B Cochrane; Andrea Z LaCroix; Rebecca A Seguin; Oleg Zaslavsky; Jingmin Liu; Jeannette M Beasley; Robert L Brunner; Mark A Espeland; Joseph S Goveas; Dorothy S Lane; JoAnn E Manson; Charles P Mouton; Jennifer G Robinson; Lesley F Tinker Journal: J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci Date: 2012-04-19 Impact factor: 6.053
Authors: Caroline E Dale; Ann Bowling; Joy Adamson; Hannah Kuper; Antoinette Amuzu; Shah Ebrahim; Juan P Casas; Eveline Nüesch Journal: Age Ageing Date: 2013-03-28 Impact factor: 10.668