Prevalence of Successful Aging among Turkish Adults, with Particular Focus on Age Groups and Living Space

The older adult population in Türkiye is increasing, paralleling global trends; however, there is a lack of information regarding the prevalence of successful aging in the Turkish context. This study aims to fill this data gap by assessing both the objective and subjective prevalence of successful aging in Turkish adults aged ≥ 50 years. The study included 478 older adults (M = 72.11, SD = 10.43), categorized by age range (50-64, 65-74, 75-84 and ≥ 85 years) and residence status (nursing home residents and community-dwelling adults). Participants were compared based on successful aging criteria defined by Rowe and Kahn's model (1997) and a self-rated successful aging item. Descriptive analyses were conducted to assess the prevalence of successful aging. The overall prevalence of successful aging was found to be 6.3% according to Rowe and Kahn's criteria, while 55.2% of participants self-rated themselves as aging successfully. A significant decreasing trend in the prevalence of successful aging components was observed with increasing age, and community-dwelling older adults exhibited a higher prevalence of successful aging components compared to nursing home residents. The findings indicated that nursing home residency and increased age are inversely related to both objective and subjective successful aging. Furthermore, older adults in Türkiye tend to maintain fewer components of successful aging than their counterparts in other countries.