Years of life with good and poor mental and physical function in the elderly

A population of Roman Catholic sisters (nuns) were divided into a high education group (i.e. at least a Bachelor's degree) and a low education group (i.e. less than a Bachelor's degree). Prevalence data on 132, 75-94 year old, sisters indicated that the high-educated had better mobility and hand coordination, stronger handgrip, better distant and near visual acuity, and fewer mental impairments than the low-educated group. Life table analyses on 154 sisters indicated that the high-educated lived an average of 3.28 years longer after age 75 than the low-educated. Years of life with relatively good and poor mental and physical function after age 75 were estimated by a mathematical model that used mortality and prevalence data. According to the model, high-educated sisters lived an average of 3.57 years longer with good function and 0.29 of a year less with poor function than low-educated sisters.