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Related Experiment Videos

Functional vs chronologic age.

B J Sharkey

    Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
    |April 1, 1987
    PubMed
    Summary
    This summary is machine-generated.

    Chronologic age is not a reliable indicator of physical work capacity. Evaluating individuals based on functional capabilities, rather than age, is recommended for job performance assessments.

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    Area of Science:

    • Occupational Health
    • Gerontology
    • Human Factors Engineering

    Background:

    • Chronologic age is an unreliable predictor of an individual's capacity for strenuous physical work.
    • Current practices often incorrectly use age as a bona fide occupational qualification, overlooking individual differences.
    • The need for objective measures to assess job performance capabilities is critical.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To discuss the concepts of functional age and physiologic age.
    • To explore methods for determining functional age within a job-specific context.
    • To evaluate the suitability of age-based assessments versus functional assessments for occupational settings.

    Main Methods:

    • Conceptual discussion of physiologic age as a generalized measure of senescence.

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  • Exploration of functional age using marker variables (e.g., VO2max, strength) in a task-specific manner.
  • Analysis of the legal and practical limitations of using age-based measures in employment decisions.

    • Main Results:

    • Physiologic age can serve as a research tool for aging studies.
    • Functional age, while potentially using similar markers, is task-specific.
    • Age-based assessments, including functional age, may face legal challenges due to assumptions about age-related decline.

    Conclusions:

    • Individual functional capabilities, not chronologic age, should determine job suitability.
    • Job-related performance tests are recommended as a legally sound alternative to age-based qualifications.
    • This approach ensures fair and accurate assessments of an individual's ability to perform on the job.