The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) is a large-scale, nationally representative study of people aged 50 and over in Ireland. It is the most ambitious study of ageing ever carried out in Ireland and represents a step-change in terms of data, knowledge and understanding of ageing with which to inform policy and novel research. TILDA is designed to maximise comparability with other well-established international longitudinal studies.
More than 8,000 people aged 50 and over accepted the invitation to participate in the first wave of TILDA, and the majority of these also agreed to undertake a comprehensive health assessment.
key Findings:
• Both cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular diseases are common in older adults with the prevalence of most chronic conditions increasing with age.
• Hypertension, angina, and stroke are more common in men; osteoporosis, arthritis and high cholesterol are more common in women.
• One in five older Irish adults is a current smoker, the highest rates of smoking are seen in the poorest and those with lowest education levels. • Half of those aged 75 years and older report low levels of physical activity.
• Wealthier and better educated adults have the highest physical activity levels.
• Screening for cancer varies significantly by age, education and wealth. Older, poorer, less educated adults are less likely to screen for prostate or breast cancer.
• One in five older adults takes five or more medications (polypharmacy). This proportion rises to almost one in two for those aged 75 years and older. Polypharmacy is more than twice as likely in medical card holders compared with adults without cover or with medical insurance.
• Three-quarters of older Irish adults are objectively overweight or obese. Poorer individuals and those with lower levels of education have the highest levels of obesity.
• There is a significant discrepancy between self-reported disease and objective measure of disease; for example, 58% of men and 49% of women with objective evidence of hypertension are undiagnosed.
Depression is common among older adults in Ireland, with 10% of the population reporting clinically significant depressive symptoms with a further 18% reporting ‘sub-threshold’ levels of depression.
• Anxiety is more common than depression among older adults. Among older adults 13% report clinically significant anxiety symptoms while 29% report subthreshold levels of anxiety.
• There is evidence of under-diagnosis and hence under-treatment of depression and anxiety. Of older adults with objective evidence of depression, 78% do not report a doctor’s diagnosis of depression. Similarly, 85% of older adults with objective evidence of anxiety do not report a doctor’s diagnosis of anxiety.
• Depression is associated with disability. Nearly two-thirds of older adults with depression have a longstanding illness or disability compared to one-third of people who are depression free.
• Depression is associated with increased medication use. Of people aged 75 and over with depression, 56% are taking five or more medications compared to 36% of adults without depression.
• Older adults with depression have extremely low rates of labour force participation. Of adults aged 50-64 without depression, 60% are in employment compared to 30% of older adults with depression.
• Health service is increased utilisation in people with depression. Depressed adults aged 75 and over have an average of 7 visits to their GP in the past year compared to an average of 4 visits among the non-depressed older population.
• Cognitive impairment rises sharply with age. Of adults aged 80 and over, 35% have cognitive impairment compared to 4% of adults aged between 50 and 64.
• There was a high level of memory impairment in the sample, particularly in the older groups. Of adults aged 80 and over, 42% forgot to carry out an action they had earlier been instructed to perform raising concerns about activities such as remembering to take medication, pay bills or take safety precautions.
• The older population as a whole experiences a high quality of life. The mean score for older people on the CASP-19 quality of life scale is 42.7, representing 75% of the total possible score of 57.
• The best quality of life is experienced by older people with the highest asset wealth. • The group of older people who have the lowest quality of life, by a considerable margin, are those who rate their health as fair or poor (scoring 36.3 on CASP-19). 9 Excutive Summary
• Older people on the whole perceive the ageing process positively, believing they have considerable control over the positive experiences of ageing, but less over the negative aspects.
• The most educated have the strongest sense of control over the positive and negative aspects of ageing.
• Older people in the highest wealth category are least aware of the negative aspects of ageing and least aware of the ageing process.
http://www.tara.tcd.ie/bitstream/handle/2262/55417/Fifty%20plus%20in%20Ireland%202011-%20First%20results%20from%20The%20Irish%20Longitudinal%20Study%20on%20Ageing%20%28TILDA%29.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y