[Trajectories of aging in a sample of elderly people: a longitudinal study].

INTRODUCTION

The present study analyzes variables associated with different trajectories of aging, and the level of cognitive functioning in a sample of older adults.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Although this work is part of a broader investigation where initially 141 people were assessed, this paper only discusses the cognitive functioning and cognitive development of 64 older people who have been followed up four years after the initial assessment, with a mean age of 83.84 years (age range 65 to 99 years). In the initial assessment all the participants were assessed with a psychological battery that included the MEC, the verbal fluency task FVS, a sustained attention task, a working memory test, a Quality of Life Questionnaire, a scale of dependency, and the AVLT-Learning Potential test. In the follow up assessment, participants have been assessed with the MEC, the verbal fluency task FVS, and the verbal memory test AVLT-PA.

RESULTS

the results show relatively stable trajectories of aging and that the variables that better predict cognitive evolution of the elderly are working memory and post-test score in the AVLT-LP.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the time lapse between the two assessments and the age of the participants, older adults have remained relatively stable in their cognitive functioning, which in part contradicts the idea that--especially after 80 years--a general decline of cognitive functioning occurs in old age.