The latest major report from the ongoing Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health has been released, focussing on the health of older women.

This report focuses on the health of older women from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women‘s Health (ALSWH). The report was developed on the basis of discussions between the ALSWH research team and the staff of the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing and has the broad aim of examining the health of older Australian women.

The ALSWH is a very large longitudinal cohort study funded by the Department of Health and Ageing and conducted by a team of researchers and staff based at the Universities of Newcastle and Queensland. The ALSWH first collected data in 1996, from three cohorts of women then aged 18-23, 45-50 and 70-75. While some descriptive information concerning trends in health from all cohorts is included in the current report, the focus of analyses is on data collected from the oldest cohort, who were born 1921-26.

Women live longer than men and so as the population ages older women will comprise an increasingly larger proportion of the Australian population. Older women who are married may become carers of increasing frail or ill husbands and this may limit their capacity to look after their own health. When the women are widowed they suffer financial disadvantage and may face difficulty maintaining their homes and with transport. Nevertheless, provided they are in good health, they lead more active social lives than older men.

Due to their longer life expectancy, older women make up a majority of the people with dementia, sensory impairment, falls and fractured femurs. They are more likely to need aged care services. Also caring for older women impacts on the lives of middle-aged women, who often become their informal carers, Helping older women to remain healthy and live independently for as long as possible is a most important long term goal.
The life experiences and circumstances of women now in their 70s and 80s have been different from those of their daughters and grand-daughters. Extrapolation across generations is hazardous. Nevertheless, study of the health of older women, and its social and behavioural determinants, may shed light on likely health trajectories and prevention opportunities for younger women, especially the baby boomer generation.

The ALSWH participants were randomly selected from the Medicare database in 1996. They are a national sample of women from all walks of life chosen with intentional over-sampling of women living in rural and remote areas. The ALSWH collects data by mailed surveys at regular intervals. The 1921- 26 cohort completed surveys in 1996, 1999, 2002, 2005 and 2008. Over 12,000 women completed Survey 1 of the 1921-26 cohort, and 5561 of these women completed Survey 5 in 2008. Details can be found on the ALSWH website (www.alswh.org.au).

Other findings include:

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  • only 9% of the women were engaging in high levels of physical activity and another 4% were engaging in very high levels, suggesting that these levels may not be obtainable for most women in this age range
  • moderate and high levels of physical activity were associated with lower risk of falls among women aged 70-75 years
  • very high levels of physical activity were associated with reduced odds of fractures among women aged 70-75 years.

Authors: Julie Byles, Annette Dobson, Nancy Pachana, Leigh Tooth, Deborah Loxton, Janneke Berecki, Richard Hockey, Deirdre McLaughlin and Jenny Powers.

Image: mknobil / flickr