Study

Publication
Author(s)	Gfellner, B.M.
Title	Perceptions of Health, Abilities, and Life Satisfaction among very Old Adults.
Source	Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1989, Vol. 68, 203 -209
URL	http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2928048
Investigation
Public	80+ aged, hospitalized within 2 years, Canada, 1984
	- 18 Participants were volunteers from local seniors' clubs; 2 who responded to a local newspaper advertisement; 20 were contacted while in the hospital.
Survey name	Unnamed study
Sample	Non-probability purposive sample
Respondents N =	40
	- age: 80-96 years old - 75% are women, 25% are men - 27 alone, 11 with their spouses, 2 with another - all lived in their own homes - 34 resided in a small urban centre 25yr. ; 6 lived in the community 10-25 yr. - 31 with at least one child living within the same city. 9 had children within a distance of 250 miles or less - all of them were middle-class in socioeconomic background - education: 10 yr. of school - there income was adequate to meet their needs - 20 had been hospitalized within 2 yr. and included those recently discharged - 74% were recipients of home-care services
Non Response	Not available
Assesment	Interview: face-to-face
	interview in their homes
General remarks	year of data gatheing not reported. Estimated 1984
Happiness measure(s) used

Full text	Selfreport on single question: Here is a picture of a ladder. Suppose we say that the top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom represents the worst possible life for you. Where on the ladder do you feel you personally stand at the present time? [ 10 ] best possible life [ 9 ] [ 8 ] [ 7 ] [ 6 ] [ 5 ] [ 4 ] [ 3 ] [ 2 ] [ 1 ] [ 0 ] worst possible life Preceded by 1) open questions about what the respondent imagines as the best possible life and the worst possible life. 2) ratings on the ladder of one's life five years ago and where on the ladder one expects to stand five years from now. Name: Cantril's self anchoring ladder rating of life (original)
Classification	C-BW-c-sq-l-11-a
Finding used in nation ranks	Yes

Author's label		Our subject description
Current Functional Abilities	show	Symptoms of bad health
Current Health	show	Global health rating
Current Health Conditions	show	Number of health complaints
Current Instrumental Limitations	show	Current functional health
Current Physical Limitations	show	Current functional health
Expected Functional Abilities	show	Expected health
Expected Health	show	Expected health
Expected Satisfaction	show	In the near future (up to 5 years)
Past Functional Abilities	show	Earlier physical health
Past Health	show	Earlier physical health
Past Satisfaction	show	In recent past