rt (P<0.0001).
- The cognitive composite score was also significantly better (P=0.0003) in the 1915 cohort -- 0.49 versus 0.01.
- There was no consistent difference in scores on the physical performance tests, such as grip strength and gait speed.
- However, the 1915 cohort had significantly better (P<0.0001) activities of daily living scores than did the 1905 cohort -- 2.0 versus 1.8.
While the results seem to support the notion that older people are arriving in their 10th decade in better condition than previously, the researchers cautioned that the findings are limited to one country and two birth cohorts born 10 years apart.
The outcomes may be different in other countries and indeed, the trend might not continue in later cohorts, they added.
Nonetheless, the study is a "a highly relevant contribution" to the debate over the effect of an aging population, argued Marcel Olde Rikkert, MD, PhD, and Rene Melis, MD, both of Radboud University Medical Centre in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
In an accompanying comment article, they noted that some experts anticipate a sharp rise in dementia and other forms of morbidity as the proportion of very elderly people increases.
The Danish finding "challenges these extrapolations," they argued, and implies that "age-related cognitive decline in very elderly people is malleable."
The study had support from the Danish National Research Foundation, the NIH, the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation, and the VELUX Foundation. The journal reported that the authors had declared no conflicts of interest.
The journal also reported that the editorial authors had declared no conflicts of interest.
- Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD Emeritus Professor, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Dorothy Caputo, MA, BSN, RN, Nurse Planner
The LancetSource Reference: Christensen K, et al "Physical and cognitive functioning of people older than 90 years: a comparison of two Danish cohorts born 10 years apart" The Lancet 2013; DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60777-1.
The LancetSource Reference: Marcel G M Olde Rikkert and Rene Melis "Nonagenarians challenge predictions of cognitive decline" The Lancet 2013; DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61220-9.