[The Longitudinal Ageing Study Amsterdam: a survey of 17 years of research into changes in daily functioning].

In this article, a report is provided of results from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA). LASA is a study on determinants and consequences of changes in daily functioning. In this article, the focus is on changes in physical functioning. From longitudinal data, it is observed that many older people experience function loss, especially at higher ages. A host of factors are associated with function loss, such as chronic diseases, cognitive decline, depressive complaints, socio-economic status, and life style. A few of these factors are causal, others are characteristics of groups with raised chances of function loss. From trend analyses, it is apparent that the prevalence of functional limitations is not fixed, but varies over time. The LASA study shows that this prevalence is increasing. In view of the absolute and relative rise of the number of older people in the population, it is of great importance to realise a lower prevalence of function loss and a delay of function loss to older ages. Based on the findings presented, some suggestions for this are given. Also, some directions for future research are described.