Data from: Are they half as strong as they used to be? An experiment testing whether age-related social comparisons impair older people's hand grip strength and persistence

OBJECTIVE: To assess how age-related social comparisons, which are likely to arise inadvertently or deliberately during assessments, may affect older people's performance on tests that are used to assess their needs and capability. DESIGN: The study randomly assigned participants to a comparison with younger people or a no comparison condition and assessed hand grip strength and persistence. Gender, education, type of residence, arthritis and age were also recorded. SETTING: Age UK centres and senior's lunches in the South of England. PARTICIPANTS: An opportunity sample of 56 adults, with a mean age of 82.25 years. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: Hand grip strength measured using a manual hand dynamometer and persistence of grip measured using a stopwatch. RESULTS: Comparison caused significantly worse performance measured by both strength (comparison =6.85 kg, 95% CI 4.19 kg to 9.5 kg, control group =11.07 kg, 95% CI 8.47 kg to 13.68 kg, OR =0.51, p=0.027) and persistence (comparison =8.36 s, 95% CI 5.44 s to 11.29 s; control group =12.57 s, 95% CI 9.7 s to 15.45 s, OR =0.49, p=0.045). These effects remained significant after accounting for differences in arthritis, gender, education and adjusting for population age norms. CONCLUSIONS: Due to the potential for age comparisons and negative stereotype activation during assessment of older people, such assessments may underestimate physical capability by up to 50%. Because age comparisons are endemic, this means that assessment tests may sometimes seriously underestimate older people's capacity and prognosis, which has implications for the way healthcare professionals treat them in terms of autonomy and dependency.

研究目的：评估在评估过程中可能有意或无意出现的年龄相关社会比较，会对老年人在用于评估其需求与能力的测试中的表现产生何种影响。研究设计：本研究将参与者随机分为与年轻人进行社会比较组与无社会比较对照组，并测试其握力与握力持续时长；同时记录参与者的性别、受教育程度、居住类型、关节炎患病情况及年龄。研究场景：英格兰南部的Age UK（英国老年慈善机构）中心及老年人联谊午餐会现场。研究对象：采用便利抽样法招募的56名成年人，平均年龄为82.25岁。主要结局指标：采用手动握力计测量握力，使用秒表测量握力持续时长。研究结果：社会比较显著降低了参与者的两项表现指标：握力方面，社会比较组为6.85kg，95%置信区间[4.19kg, 9.5kg]，对照组为11.07kg，95%置信区间[8.47kg, 13.68kg]，优势比（OR）=0.51，p=0.027；握力持续时长方面，社会比较组为8.36s，95%置信区间[5.44s, 11.29s]，对照组为12.57s，95%置信区间[9.7s, 15.45s]，OR=0.49，p=0.045。在校正关节炎、性别、受教育程度的差异，并结合人群年龄标准进行调整后，上述效应仍具有统计学显著性。研究结论：在对老年人进行评估时，可能出现年龄社会比较并激活负面刻板印象，此类评估可能会低估老年人的身体能力达50%之多。鉴于年龄社会比较现象普遍存在，评估测试有时会严重低估老年人的实际能力与预后情况，这将对医护人员在自主性与依赖性相关的诊疗决策中产生影响。