Sustained high enjoyment of life on three occasions was associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality compared to no high enjoyment (HR 0.76; 95% CI 0.64-0.89).
Observational (n=9,365)
Does sustained enjoyment of life reduce mortality in older adults?
Sustained enjoyment of life over a four-year period is associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality in older adults.
Hazard Ratio: 0.76 (95% CI 0.64–0.89)
OBJECTIVE: To test whether the number of reports of enjoyment of life over a four year period is quantitatively associated with all cause mortality, and with death from cardiovascular disease and from other causes. DESIGN AND SETTING: Longitudinal observational population study using the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), a nationally representative sample of older men and women living in England. PARTICIPANTS: 9365 men and women aged 50 years or older (mean 63, standard deviation 9.3) at recruitment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Time to death, based on mortality between the third phase of data collection (wave 3 in 2006) and March 2013 (up to seven years). RESULTS: Subjective wellbeing with measures of enjoyment of life were assessed in 2002 (wave 1), 2004 (wave 2), and 2006 (wave 3). 2264 (24%) respondents reported no enjoyment of life on any assessment, with 1833 (20%) reporting high enjoyment on one report of high enjoyment of life, 2063 (22%) on two reports, and 3205 (34%) on all three occasions. 1310 deaths were recorded during follow-up. Mortality was inversely associated with the number of occasions on which participants reported high enjoyment of life. Compared with the no high enjoyment group, the hazard ratio for all cause mortality was 0.83 (95% confidence interval 0.70 to 0.99) for two reports of enjoyment of life, and 0.76 (0.64 to 0.89) for three reports, after adjustment for demographic factors, baseline health, mobility impairment, and depressive symptoms. The same association was observed after deaths occurring within two years of the third enjoyment measure were excluded (0.90 (0.85 to 0.95) for every additional report of enjoyment), and in the complete case analysis (0.90 (0.83 to 0.96)). CONCLUSIONS: This is an observational study, so causal conclusions cannot be drawn. Nonetheless, the results add a new dimension to understanding the significance of subjective wellbeing for health outcomes by documenting the importance of sustained wellbeing over time.
Zaninotto et al. (Tue,) reported a observational. High enjoyment of life vs. No high enjoyment of life was evaluated on Time to death (all cause mortality) (HR 0.76, 95% CI 0.64-0.89). Sustained high enjoyment of life on three occasions was associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality compared to no high enjoyment (HR 0.76; 95% CI 0.64-0.89).