Predicting the Subjective Health Experience of Older Adults: A Modelling Approach

As people age, they increasingly face physical and cognitive decline, which can negatively affect their subjective health experience. To improve subjective health experience among older adults, it is crucial to understand its key predictors. Current literature points to frailty and vitality from geriatric research as well as acceptance and control from psychological science as key predictors. However, until now, they have never been incorporated in one composite model. Therefore, this study aims to develop, validate and differentiate a composite model integrating these predictors.

An online questionnaire covering sample characteristics and instruments on frailty, vitality, acceptance, control and subjective health experience was distributed among a sample of 753 older adults recruited from a research panel. Data were analysed using descriptive, reliability, validity and model statistics.

Frailty shows modest to moderate negative relationships with acceptance, control and subjective health experience and a stronger negative relationship with vitality. Vitality relates moderately positively to control and subjective health experience and modestly to acceptance. Control has a strong positive relationship with acceptance and a modest one with subjective health experience. Acceptance shows a moderate positive relationship with subjective health experience. Frailty has a moderate significant negative indirect relationship with subjective health experience, through several modest but significant pathways involving vitality, acceptance and control combined or alone. Pathways with control alone are modest and nonsignificant. The models explain 41.5%-52.6% of the variance in subjective health experience.

It might be worthwhile to consider deploying the key concepts of the model, such as frailty, vitality, acceptance or control, as starting points for the development of future interventions concerning the subjective health experience of older adults. Such interventions may target frailty and promote vitality through tailored support, while aligning delivery with older adults' needs for control and acceptance.