Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34334727›Full record

ArticlePsychosomatic medicine2021

Dispositional Optimism and All-Cause Mortality in Older Adults: A Cohort Study.

Heather Jayne Craig, Joanne Ryan, Rosanne Freak-Poli, Alice Owen, John McNeil, Robyn Woods, Stephanie Ward, Carlene Britt, Danijela Gasevic

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Psychosomatic medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 33% 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

3 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Public Perceptions of Multiple Long-Term Conditions: An Analysis of Mass Observation Accounts.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026
    Article
  2. Physical frailty, self-rated health, and all-cause mortality: implications for understanding resilience in aging.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
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

9 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Heather Jayne CraigFrom the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine (Craig, Ryan, Freak-Poli, Owen, McNeil, Woods, Ward, Britt, Gasevic), Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Department of Epidemiology (Freak-Poli), Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; PSNREC, Univ Montpellier, INSERM (Ryan), Montpellier, France; and Usher Institute (Gasevic), University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Joanne Ryan
Rosanne Freak-Poli
Alice Owen
John McNeil
Robyn Woods
Stephanie Ward
Carlene Britt
Danijela Gasevic
Université de Montpellier · FRMonash University · AUErasmus University Rotterdam · NL

Funding

ASPirin in Reducing Events in the ElderlyU01AG029824 · NIA · HENNEPIN HEALTHCARE RESEARCH INSTITUTE · PI MCNEIL, JOHN JAMES, MURRAY, ANNE M · 2009 to 2018
$64.6M
Main Administrative CoreU19AG062682 · NIA · HENNEPIN HEALTHCARE RESEARCH INSTITUTE · PI CHAN, ANDREW T, MCNEIL, JOHN JAMES · 2019 to 2023
$42.9M
NIA NIH HHS U01 AG029824NIA NIH HHS U19 AG062682
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveOptimism is modifiable and may be associated with healthy aging. We aim to investigate whether dispositional optimism is associated with all-cause mortality in adults 70 years and older.

methodsBetween 2010 and 2014, older adults free of serious cardiovascular disease and dementia were recruited through primary care physicians and enrolled in the Aspirin Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) clinical trial. Australian ASPREE participants were invited to participate in the ASPREE Longitudinal Study of Older Persons (ALSOP) that was running in parallel to ASPREE. Optimism was assessed at baseline using the Life Orientation Test-Revised. The association between optimism, divided into quartiles, and all-cause mortality was assessed using Cox proportional hazards models.

resultsA total of 11,701 participants (mean [standard deviation] age = 75.1 [4.24] years; 46.6% men) returned the ALSOP Social questionnaire and completed the Life Orientation Test-Revised. During a median follow-up of 4.7 years, 469 deaths occurred. The fully adjusted model was not significant (hazard ratio = 0.78, 95% confidence interval = 0.58-1.06). There was evidence that age was an effect modifier of the association between optimism and longevity. Higher optimism was associated with lower mortality risk in the oldest individuals only (77+ years; hazard ratio = 0.61, 95% confidence interval = 0.39-0.96).

conclusionsWe observed no independent relationship between optimism and all-cause mortality in the total sample, although optimism seemed to be associated with lower risk among the oldest old (adults 77 years and older).

Indexed as

OptimismPersonalityAgedAged, 80 and overAustraliaCohort StudiesFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMale

Identifiers

PMID34334727
PMCPMC8490272
OpenAlexW3190230977

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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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.