Functional capacity of men born in 1906-10, 1926-30 and 1946-50. A basic report

This interdisciplinary study aims at describing the functional capacity of men belonging to different generation cohorts. The development of methods for the assessment of functional capacity is also the purpose of the study. Functional capacity is defined as a hierarchy comprising physical, mental and social areas into which individuals can be placed depending on the levels of the assessed functions. The study also aims at analyzing environmental and individual factors which are assumed to cause variation in the levels of functions. The purpose of this first report is to describe the framework of the study, the methods and main results concerning differences between cohorts and occupational groups. The sampling frame consisted of the population register of Jyväskylä town in January 1981. The basic populations were men in three age groups, born in 1946-50, 1926-30 and 1906-10. From each age group a systematic random sample of 250 men was made. Persons who had moved or died by the end of August 1981 or were living in institutions (6 men) were removed from the samples. The sample sizes were further randomly reduced so that the final samples consisted of 183, 188 and 176 men. At the time of the study the ages of the cohorts were 31-35, 51-55 and 71-75. The study included postal questionnaires, interviews and laboratory examinations. The basic questionnaire dealt with the background information, living conditions, life history, occupational history, social contracts and social participation, close human relations, use of time, health status and living habits. The second postal questionnaire dealing with psychic capacity included the following main items: life changes, self-realisation, personal trait anxiety, social fears, coping, self-respect, and the purpose of life. The basic questionnaire was checked in an interview when the subjects came for the laboratory examinations. The entrance interview also included questions about the most important events of previous 24 hours. In addition the subjects filled in a questionnaire on situational anxiety. The laboratory examinations included the following tests: cognitive capacity (4 tests), audiometry, speech understanding, visual tests, vibration threshold, posture control, reaction and movement time, tapping rate, leg extension velocity, anthropometric measurements, skin measurements, bone mineral density, physiotherapist's examination, physician's examination, blood analyses, isometric strength of muscles (5 muscles), anaerobic power, aerobic power and anaerobic threshold.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)