The Medical Research Council
Cognitive Function and Ageing Study

(MRC CFAS)

Although originally designed to investigate cognition, MRC CFAS also collects data on physical functioning and health. The longitudinal design of the study allows incidence of disability and other health transitions to be investigated. At present MRC-CFAS is the only means of calculating nationally representative health expectancies such as Healthy Active life Expectancy (HALE) at ages 65 years and above.

Published work on Healthy Active Life Expectancies

Data collected at the screening interviews for the MRC CFAS study in 1991/2 was used to calculate healthy life expectancies. The three areas of health examined were: functional (based on ability to perform essential activities of daily living), cognitive (based on the Mini-Mental state score (MMSE) and physical health problems.

Summary of findings -

• Morbidity increases sharply with age, with a more dramatic rise in women.
• Life expectancy without any morbidity is short at all ages over 64
• As a proportion of remaining life expectancy, the period of time spent with two or more areas affected rises by the age of 90 years to 30% in men and 60% in women.

This study concluded that preventive programmes for the older population should take into account the large differences between the young old, the middle old, and the old old.

Reference

MRC-CFAS. Health and ill-health in the older population in England and Wales. Age and Ageing 2001;30:53-62

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