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THURSDAY, Jan. 16, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Ageism predicts significantly worse health outcomes, according to a review published online Jan. 15 in PLOS ONE<\/i>.<\/p>\n
E-Shien Chang, from Yale School of Public Health in New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues conducted a systematic review to examine how ageism occurring at the structural level and individual level impacts the health of older persons. A total of 13,691 papers were extracted for screening, 638 were fully reviewed, and 422 studies were included in the analyses.<\/p>\n
The researchers found that in 95.5 percent of the studies and 74.0 percent of all 1,159 ageism-health associations examined, ageism led to significantly worse health outcomes. Ageism effects were reported in all 45 countries, 11 health domains, and 25 years studied; over time, the prevalence of significant findings increased. Compared with more-developed countries, less-developed countries had a greater prevalence of significant ageism-health findings. Adverse health effects of ageism were particularly likely among older persons who were less educated. Ageism was observed across age, sex, and race\/ethnicity of the persons perpetrating ageism.<\/p>\n
“In conclusion, the current findings underscore ageism as a social determinant of health,” the authors write. “Initiatives to improve population health would benefit from taking ageism into account.”<\/p>\n