Negative outlook on ageing ‘can impact health in later years’

People with a negative view on ageing are more likely to experience poor health in their later years, according to a new study.

The Trinity College Dublin research drew insights from the Irish Longitudinal Study on ageing, finding that negative attitudes to ageing can affect both physical and cognitive health adversely, while the opposite was true for people with positive views on getting older.

Older adults with poor attitudes towards ageing generally had slower walking speeds and worse cognitive abilities two years later, even after taking medication use, mood, life circumstances and other health changes into account.

It was also shown that frail participants with negative attitudes towards ageing had worse cognition compared to those who were not frail, whereas frail participants with positive attitudes to ageing had the same level of cognitive ability as non-frail peers.

Lead researcher Dr Deirdre Robertson said: "Everyone will grow older and if negative attitudes towards ageing are carried throughout life, they can have a detrimental, measurable effect on mental, physical and cognitive health."