Maintaining goals lowers chances of dying earlier

Older adults who hold a belief that life itself is meaningful and maintain a focus on goals late into life have a reduced chance of dying earlier, according to new research.

A study conducted by researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine concluded that the elderly who possess a greater purpose in their life benefit from longer life in as much as they lower the probability that they will die earlier than they might otherwise.
 
Dr Patricia Boyle and her colleagues from the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, studied 1,238 community-dwelling seniors from two ongoing research studies, the Rush Memory and Aging Project and the Minority Ageing Research Study.

None had dementia. Data from baseline evaluations of purpose in life and up to five years of follow-up were used to test the hypothesis that greater purpose in life is associated with a reduced risk of mortality among community-dwelling older adults.
 
“The finding that purpose in life is related to longevity in older persons suggests that aspects of human flourishing – particularly the tendency to derive meaning from life’s experiences and possess a sense of intentionality and goal-directedness – contribute to successful ageing,” said Dr Boyle.
 
Significant associations with mortality were found with three specific items on the purpose of life questionnaire to determine the study participants’ agreement with the following statements:

• “I sometimes feel as if I’ve done all there is to do in life;”
• “I used to set goals for myself, but that now seems like a waste of time;” and
• “My daily activities often seem trivial and unimportant to me.”

“We are excited about these findings because they suggest that positive factors such as having a sense of purpose in life are important contributors to health,” she said.
 
The researchers determined that linking the relationship of purpose of life with other demographic characteristics is limited and future studies are needed to examine whether the association of purpose of life with mortality might be modified by other variables not measured in this study, such as how religious a participant may be.

In addition, researchers suggest that future studies should examine whether purpose in life can be enhanced in older persons with interventions.
 
“Although we think that having a sense of purpose in life is important across the lifespan, measurement of purpose in life in older persons in particular may reveal an enduring sense of meaningfulness and intentionality in life that somehow provides a buffer against negative health outcomes,” said Dr Boyle.