Recent studies suggest that the increase in life expectancy and health-related quality of life is not homogeneous among older adults, and some individuals remains free of disability across the aging process. We currently know that the development of disability is a continuous process and can be divided into three periods: a period of high capacity, a period of decline, and a period of significant loss, requiring external care. In the high-capacity period, physical, mental and hearing functions remain intact. It is of great interest to understand how the deterioration of these function happens and how diet, lifestyles and our social context have an effect in this process.
The general objective of this research proposal is to understand how loss of function happens during aging. The specific objectives are 1) to identify the physical, cognitive, and hearing function impairment observed among the individuals of the UK Biobank study during the years, and how they are related; 2) to understand if healthy dietary patterns may delay this impairment; and 3) to see how other lifestyles and the social context may also have an impact on the loss of function.
We expect to conduct this study in a period of three years, after obtaining permission from the UK-Biobank study. The results of this study will contribute to better understand the effect of diet, other lifestyles and social variables on the development of disability. In addition, they will also help to make public health policies based on scientific evidence to prevent unhealthy aging and disability among the older adults.
The results obtained in this research will be published as scientific manuscripts in journals in the field of General Medicine, Epidemiology, Nutrition, and Public Health. All the results obtained will be communicated to the UK Biobank study.
