Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24456831›Full record

ReviewThe Proceedings of the Nutrition Society2014

A life-course approach to healthy ageing: maintaining physical capability.

Diana Kuh, Sathya Karunananthan, Howard Bergman, Rachel Cooper

Open access · hybridAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 105 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
105citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
7.1field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

105 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 201 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Proteomic Markers of Aging and Longevity: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024
    Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Trial
  7. Article
  8. The effects of resistance exercise with blood flow restriction on muscle performance, muscle mass, and function in older adults: a systematic review.European review of aging and physical activity : official journal of the European Group for Research into Elderly and Physical Activity · 2026
    Review
  9. Review
  10. Article
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  13. Shelter to Survival: Unpacking the Health Impacts of Housing Insecurity Across the Life Course.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026
    Review
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
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  19. Review
  20. An Expert Consensus Statement on Biomarkers of Aging for Use in Intervention Studies.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2025
    Article

45 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Diana KuhMRC University Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, 33 Bedford Place, London, UK.
Sathya KarunananthanDepartment of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Howard BergmanDepartment of Family Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Rachel CooperMRC University Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, 33 Bedford Place, London, UK.
McGill University · CAMcGill University Health Centre · CAMRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing · GBUniversity College London · GB

Funding

Medical Research Council G09006861Medical Research Council MC_UU_12019/1Medical Research Council MC_UU_12019/4
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Research on healthy ageing lacks an agreed conceptual framework and has not adequately taken into account the growing evidence that social and biological factors from early life onwards affect later health. We conceptualise healthy ageing within a life-course framework, separating healthy biological ageing (in terms of optimal physical and cognitive functioning, delaying the onset of chronic diseases, and extending length of life for as long as possible) from changes in psychological and social wellbeing. We summarise the findings of a review of healthy ageing indicators, focusing on objective measures of physical capability, such as tests of grip strength, walking speed, chair rises and standing balance, which aim to capture physical functioning at the individual level, assessing the capacity to undertake the physical tasks of daily living. There is robust evidence that higher scores on these measures are associated with lower rates of mortality, and more limited evidence of lower risk of morbidity, and of age-related patterns of change. Drawing on a research collaboration of UK cohort studies, we summarise what is known about the influences on physical capability in terms of lifetime socioeconomic position, body size and lifestyle, and underlying physiology and genetics; the evidence to date supports a broad set of factors already identified as risk factors for chronic diseases. We identify a need for larger longitudinal studies to investigate age-related change and ethnic diversity in these objective measures, the dynamic relationships between them, and how they relate to other component measures of healthy ageing. Robust evidence across cohort studies, using standardised measures within a clear conceptual framework, will benefit policy and practice to promote healthy ageing.

Indexed as

Activities of Daily LivingAgingHealthPhysical FitnessBody SizeHumansLife StyleSocial ClassUnited Kingdom

Identifiers

PMID24456831
PMCPMC3981474
OpenAlexW2112287258

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.