Positive life orientation in old age: a 15-year follow-up

Positive life orientation (PLO) is considered an important dimension of successful aging.

To investigate how self-reported PLO changed among home-dwelling people from age 70 to 80 and 85 years.

A prospective, population-based 15-year follow-up study of the age cohort of 70-year-olds living in the city of Turku, Finland.

The data were collected in 1991 by a postal questionnaire that was sent to all residents of Turku, Finland, born in 1920 (N=1530). Follow-ups using the same procedure were conducted in 2001 and 2006. PLO was assessed with the following items: life satisfaction, feeling needed, having plans for the future, having zest for life, feeling depressed, and suffering from loneliness. We created a PLO score from the answers to these questions, where 1 represented the best PLO and 0 the poorest.

At baseline, the participants showed rather high levels of positive life orientation (PLO total score 0.83). PLO declined markedly after the 70-year-old participants reached the age of 80 and 85 years (p<.001). However, depressive feelings remained quite stable. The decrease was similar among men and women except for the items suffering from loneliness and feeling needed. At age 70 and 80 years women suffered more from loneliness than men, while men experienced feeling needed more than women.

Positive life orientation declines during old age, especially from age 70 to 80 years. Thereafter the decline is less steep except for changes in future plans and feeling needed.