Abstract

Background: Aging population and life expectancy are increasing globally, to cope with this trend, successful aging attracted the attention of gerontology research. However, the published research concern about successful aging and older adult’s health are sparse in Palestine. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and correlates of successful aging, normal aging and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) among Palestinian older adults. Methodology: The study utilizes cross sectional design. A total of 191 participants were selected by random sampling from five different areas in Hebron governance and included in the final analysis. Successful aging was defined based on the multidimentional model; absence of chronic diseases, normal functional status with complete independency, maintain normal cognitive and psychological function and social engagement. Results: the prevalence of successful aging among older Palestinians was 22%, normal aging 58.9%, MCI 19.1%, with no significant difference between men and women. The most prevalent subdomain is normal cognitive function (81%) and the lowest is the absence of chronic diseases (30.8%).  Successful aging was associated with younger age (<70 years old), still working and well-nourished participants. Conclusion: the results revealed that younger older adults, working and in good nutritional status have more prevalence of successful aging. The results of this study will be a first stone for future research cover other areas of Palestine and utilizing other study designs such as longitudinal studies, and to attract the attention of researcher to design intervention studies to improve the health status of older population.

Key words: successful aging, mild cognitive impairment, prevalence, Palestinian older adults.

Conference Title

The 4th An-Najah National ‎University ‎International Medical Sciences ‎Conference ‎

Conference Country

Palestine

Conference Date

Oct. 27, 2019 - Oct. 28, 2019

Conference Sponsor

An-Najah national university

Additional Info

Conference Website