Having Plans for the Future in Very Old People

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Public Health
• Sociology

Background:

• Understanding future planning in the oldest old is crucial for well-being.
• Few studies have investigated the prevalence and correlates of future planning in centenarians and near-centenarians.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of future planning among individuals aged 85 and older.
• To identify factors associated with having future plans in this demographic.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal population-based study with home visits in Sweden and Finland.
• Inclusion of participants aged 85, 90, and ≥95 years.
• Multivariate logistic regression and Cox proportional-hazards regression models with up to 5-year follow-up.

Main Results:

• The prevalence of having future plans was 18.6%.
• Factors associated with future planning included speaking Swedish, having natural teeth (dentate), and living in the community.
• Gender and country of residence (Sweden vs. Finland) also showed differences in future planning prevalence.

Conclusions:

• Future planning is present in a minority of the very old population.
• Sociodemographic and health-related factors influence the likelihood of having future plans in advanced age.
• While not statistically significant in multivariate analysis, future planning showed a univariate association with increased survival.