Elderly People With Boosted Morale Tend To Live Longer, Study Says

A Scandinavian study has found that high morale is linked to longer life in the elderly. The study found that older people who have something to look forward to are likely to live longer compared to those who are pessimistic.

In a study published on March 15 in the journal Age and Ageing, researchers followed 646 people aged 89 on average. These people are from Northern Sweden and Western, Reuters reports.

Researchers, headed by Umea University geriatrician Dr Johan Niklasson, followed the participants from 2000 to 2002, and then in 2005 to 2007, asking them questions via phone or in person about aging. They also obtained data from registries to monitor death and illnesses.

In the first part of the interview, 302 participants reported high morale; 203 were categorised to have moderate morale; and 141 belonged to the low-morale category. The study defines morale as “future-oriented optimism.”

The results showed that those who belonged to the high-morale category were much younger, not malnourished, not socially isolated compared to those who belonged to the low- or moderate-morale category.

Within five years of conducting a follow-up study, 55.6 percent of the participants from the high-morale category were found to be still alive, compared to 39.4 percent and 31.9 percent of the moderate- and low-morale category, respectively. Researchers also found that the high-morale group was more likely to live longer even with age, gender and various health factors were taken into consideration.

Previous study on morale and aging has been done, but researchers wanted to study the effect on very old population. The study did not intend to generalise the elderly population as researchers acknowledged that some participants were not able to answer the questions and some have been down with serious illness. However, researchers conclude that the study could increase survival if morale is improved through proper intervention.

According to an email to Reuters, Niklasson said that getting the basic needs is not enough. Boosting the morale is equally important. “My theory here is simply that if you lead a life you want to live, you would want to continue to live it,” he said.

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