Heterogeneity of health characteristics in aging

Older adults are different from their younger counterparts. Older adults have more chronic conditions, more medications, and more complex care needs. It is unknown, however, whether older adults are more different within themselves, compared to younger adults within themselves. In this research, we describe and explore the variation in multiple health characteristics (for example, heart rate, weight, walking speed, sodium level, daily activities) in Canadian adults. In particular, using CLSA data we will investigate whether this variation in health characteristics changes (decreases or increases) with age.

Older adults are increasingly diverse (heterogeneous) as they age based on health-related characteristics. The increasing heterogeneity is not uniform across all health-related characteristics and does not occur in a constant manner with time.