| Title |
A European perspective on quality of life in old age
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
European Journal of Ageing, March 2005
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s10433-005-0500-0 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Alan Walker |
| Abstract |
This article focuses on the scientific study of quality of life in old age and summarises, on the one hand, what we know and, on the other, what further research is needed. It consists of three main parts, with an extended introduction charting the recent evolution of a European perspective on ageing. First of all, it emphasises the amorphous, multidimensional and complex nature of quality of life and the high level of inconsistency between scientists in their approach to this subject. Secondly, the article summarises the main areas of consensus about quality of life in old age-its dynamic multifaceted nature, the combination of life course and immediate influences, the similarities and differences in the factors determining quality of life between younger and older people, the most common associations with quality of life and the likely variations between groups, and the powerful role of subjective self-assessment. Thirdly, the main research priorities and gaps in knowledge are outlined, together with the key methodological issues which must be tackled if comparative, interdisciplinary research on quality of life is to develop further. The main sources for the article are two European Framework Programme projects-the one a small five-country comparison and the other a large multidimensional project which, among other things, has been developing recommendations for research on quality of life in old age and included an extensive literature review on this topic. The article also draws on the recently completed UK Growing Older Programme of research on extending quality of life. |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 143 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 2 | 1% |
| Portugal | 1 | <1% |
| Switzerland | 1 | <1% |
| Italy | 1 | <1% |
| Ireland | 1 | <1% |
| Spain | 1 | <1% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 135 | 94% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 22 | 15% |
| Researcher | 20 | 14% |
| Student > Master | 13 | 9% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 13 | 9% |
| Student > Bachelor | 11 | 8% |
| Other | 32 | 22% |
| Unknown | 32 | 22% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Social Sciences | 36 | 25% |
| Psychology | 19 | 13% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 7 | 5% |
| Economics, Econometrics and Finance | 7 | 5% |
| Environmental Science | 7 | 5% |
| Other | 29 | 20% |
| Unknown | 38 | 27% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 9. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 01 March 2021.
All research outputs
#3,625,063
of 24,529,782 outputs
Outputs from European Journal of Ageing
#99
of 365 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#7,887
of 73,758 outputs
Outputs of similar age from European Journal of Ageing
#3
of 6 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 24,529,782 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 84th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 365 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 11.5. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 71% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 73,758 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 85% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 6 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has scored higher than 3 of them.