SENECA Investigators: Schroll M (1), Schlettwein D (2), van Staveren W (3), Schlienger JL(4)

1. Dept Geriatric Medicine, H:S Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen University, Denmark
2. Socinstrasse 32. CH-4051 Basel. Switzerland
3. Dept Human Nutrition and Epidemiology, Wageningen Agricultural University, The Netherlands
4. Centre Hospitalier Régional et Universitaire, Strasbourg, France

Reprints: Marianne Schroll, Prof., Dr. med., Klinikchef, Klinik G, Med. Centre, H:S Bispebjerg Hospital, Bispebjerg Bakke 23, DK 2400 NV Copenhagen, Denmark
PH: 45+ 3531 2723, Fax 45+ 3531 3975, E:mail: MS09@bbh.hosp.dk

This paper describes health related quality of life in 81-85 year old participants of the SENECA study and relates outcome to health and physical performance .
Design: SENECA is a mixed-longitudinal study in birth-cohorts, 1913-1918, with baseline measurements in 1988/1989 repeated in 1993 and 1999. Nine towns collected data in 1999. The study population consisted of 445 survivors

Methods:
Health related quality of Life was measured by The Nottingham Health Profile (NHP)
Percentages of answers (yes/no) to 38 items were used for scoring different dimen-sions. Self-perceived health was measured by a global question with five answer categories and chronic diseases as presence or absence of any chronic reported disease. For functional ability, a standardised Activity of Daily Living (ADL) questionnaire was used with 16 questions on a 4-point scale. Functional limitations were measured by a sum-score of objective simple functions tests (PPT).
Results: Average scores in the different sections were: Energy:46, pain:55, emotional reactions:58, sleep:64, social integration:47 and physical mobility:70 11% had no problems in any of the sections. All health and physical performance measures were significantly associated with, not only physical mobility, but also affective and social components of quality of life, age 81-85.
Conclusion: The Nottingham Health Profile was a useful instrument to measure health related quality of life in physical, affective and social dimensions across birth cohorts, gender and culturally different towns in Europe. The answers apparently mirrored the subjective disadvantage of impairment-related functional limitations and may therefore be used as end point for further analyses of SENECA data.

Keywords: Health related quality of life, Nottingham Health Profile (NHP), Selfreported Health, Activities of daily living (ADL), Physical Performance Test (PPT)