Wanting a Longer Life Correlates with Achieving a Modestly Longer Life
Researchers here suggest that lifestyle choices mediate an observed association between desired length of life, as assessed in middle-age, and actual length of life. Those people who want to live longer will do at least something to help achieve that goal, such as avoiding obesity and lack of exercise. Or perhaps those people already suffering from a more rapid pace of aging are, on balance, disenchanted at the thought of a future decline that seems more profound - though the researchers here claim to have controlled for that contribution, given the existence of health data at the time of survey.
Desired longevity represents how strongly people esteem possible extensions of their own lifetime. The association between desired longevity and mortality risk has been reported in only one prospective study, which examined a small sample of older participants. We aimed to examine the hypothesis that desired longevity at middle-age predicted long-term survival.
In the prospective cohort study, residents aged 40-64 years were asked how long they would like to live and asked to choose one from three options: longer than, as long as, or shorter than the life expectancy. 39,902 residents were recruited to the study. Risk of all-cause mortality was significantly higher in the "shorter than" group (hazard ratio 1.12). The association was independent of sex, age, marital status, education, medical history, and health status. Regarding cause of death, mortality risk of cancer (hazard ratio 1.14) and suicide (hazard ratio 2.15) were also higher in the "shorter than" group. The unhealthy lifestyle mediated this association with all-cause mortality by 30.4%.
In conclusion, shorter desired longevity was significantly associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality, and mortality from cancer and suicide. Lifestyle behaviors particularly mediated this association.