An Observational Study on the Factors of Successful Aging in a Sample of Nonagenarian Patients in a Rehabilitation Hospital Complex

Abstract

The number of individuals aged sixty and older is expected to increase from 605 million in 2000 to over two billion in 2050. As a consequence the number of elderly medicare beneficiaries likely to be frail will triple. Our study explored the factors of successful aging in a sample of nonagenarians with no cognitive impairment, temporarily admitted to a rehabilitation hospital complex, with regard to quality of life, mood, clinical and cognitive conditions and personality traits. It was a descriptive study with forty nonagenarians of both genders, with no cognitive impairment, no psychiatric diseases and forty two younger patients with similar diseases and socio-demographic conditions, but aged <90. The sample was recruited randomly among patients temporarily admitted to Beata Vergine Consolata Rehabilitation Hospital Complex from 2009 to 2015. The nonagenarians examined showed common personality traits, better mood, Population Ageing