Dimensions of health and their importance for morale in old age: a multivariate examination.

Numerous researchers have pointed to the centrality of health in personal adaptation in the later years. This investigation examines morale in regard to 16 health indicators. Probability techniques were used to draw a sample of 104 noninstitutionalized people, 65 years of age and older. Product-moment correlations indicated a substantial relatedness among the the health indicators. A principal components factor analysis generated five health dimensions: Assessing and Promoting Own Health, Health Behavior and Facilities, Disease and Its Control, Sensory Abilities, and Source of Care. Morale was bivariately related most to the individual measures of fatigue, comparative health level, visual acuity, and general self-rated health. A multiple regression analysis indicated that morale was reported to be higher among those who felt more rested upon wakening in the morning, who had better visual abilities, and who saw their health level as being at least as good as in the past.