Higher degrees of optimism may improve physical function for older women as they age, a large cohort study has found.
A team of researchers from throughout the United States sought to determine whether optimism was associated with age-related changes in performance-based measures of physical functioning in post-menopausal women. Prior research has suggested a connection between optimism and improved physical and mental health, but lesser is known about the relationship between optimism and objective physical functioning measures as people age.
The cohort study, which appeared online in JAMA Psychiatry, used data from the Women’s Health Initiative, a long-term national health study focused on disease prevention and health issues for postmenopausal women. Participants in the included 5,930 women, with an average age of 70, who were recruited from 40 clinical centers in the US.
Researchers used the Life Orientation Test-Revised to gauge participants level of optimism at baseline. Physical functioning, including grip strength, timed walk and number of chair stands, were then measured at four points across six years by study staff.
Researchers found that higher optimism was associated with higher grip strength and number of chair stands, but not timed walking at baseline. Higher optimism was also associated with slower rates of decline in timed walk and number of chair stands but not grip strength over time.
“Higher optimism at baseline was associated with maintaining healthier functioning on 2 of the 3 performance measures over time, including less decline in walking speed and in number of chair stands women could perform over six years of follow-up,” the study’s authors wrote.
Researchers said further research is needed to determine the potential benefits of improved optimism on physical function in older adults.
“Given experimental studies suggesting that optimism is modifiable, it may be a promising target for interventions to slow age-related declines in physical functioning,” the authors concluded. “Future work should explore associations of optimism with maintenance of physical functioning in diverse populations.”
