The Subjective Age As a Predictor of Vital Functions of Elder People

The article is devoted to the description of the theoretical and empirical potential of the category of subjective age which is necessary to understand the ways of improvements in subjective well-being of elderly patients. The article particularizes the concept of subjective age and its contrast to the chronological age. It introduces the concept of positive and negative illusion of age. The article presents the system of mental representations which provides an assessment of one’s own age. Reviews of foreign studies have shown that elderly and old patients’ scores of their subjective ages vary. It is possible to observe an identical assessment of participants’ chronological age, but also the tendency for its understatement or overstatement. It is shown that a subjective rating of the age can be a useful tool for the early identification of persons with an increased risk of adverse outcomes of aging with a view to the application of early prevention and treatment strategies that affect the various components of health

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