Selfie Aging Index: An Index for the Self-assessment of Healthy and Active Aging

Frontiers in Medicine

卷:4

Miguel Fonseca¹  Maria Isabel Gomes¹  Maria-Amália Botelho²  Tomás Teodoro²  Pedro Pita Barros³  Judite Gonçalves⁴ 

[1] Center for Mathematics and Applications, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal;

[2] Chronic Diseases Research Center, Nova Medical School, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal;

[3] Nova Healthcare Initiative Research, Nova School of Business and Economics, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal;

[4] School of Business and Management, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom;

关键词: Selfie Aging Index;    healthy aging;    active aging;    aging index;    multidimensional index;    biopsychosocial assessment model;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fmed.2017.00236

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionGovernments across Europe want to promote healthy and active aging, as a matter of both public health and economic sustainability. Designing policies focused on the most vulnerable groups requires information at the individual level. However, a measure of healthy and active aging at the individual level does not yet exist.ObjectivesThis paper develops the Selfie Aging Index (SAI), an individual-level index of healthy and active aging. The SAI is developed thinking about a tool that would allow each person to take a selfie of her aging status. Therefore, it is based entirely on self-assessed indicators. This paper also illustrates how the SAI may look like in practice.MethodsThe SAI is based on the Biopsychosocial Assessment Model (MAB), a tool for the multidimensional assessment of older adults along three domains: biological, psychological, and social. Indicators are selected and their weights determined based on an ordered probit model that relates the MAB indicators to self-assessed health, which proxies healthy and active aging. The ordered probit model predicts the SAI based on the estimated parameters. Finally, predictions are rescaled to the 0–1 interval. Data for the SAI development come from the Study of the Aging Profiles of the Portuguese Population and the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe.ResultsThe selected indicators are BMI, having difficulties moving around indoors and performing the activities of daily living, feeling depressed, feeling nervous, lacking energy, time awareness score, marital status, having someone to confide in, education, type of job, exercise, and smoking status. The model also determines their weights.ConclusionResults shed light on various factors that contribute significantly to healthy and active aging. Two examples are mental health and exercise, which deserve more attention from individuals themselves, health-care professionals, and public health policy. The SAI has the potential to put the individual at the center of the healthy and active aging discussion, contribute to patient empowerment, and promote patient-centered care. It can become a useful instrument to monitor healthy and active aging for different actors, including individuals themselves, health-care professionals, and policy makers.

【 授权许可】

Unknown