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Carol Jagger, Commentary: Filling in the Jigsaw? Advancing a General Theory of Population Aging, The Journals of Gerontology: Series A, Volume 59, Issue 6, June 2004, Pages M615–M616, https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/59.6.M615
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At the start of the 21st century, developing countries are experiencing the fall in infectious diseases and fertility and the increasing numbers of older people that developed countries were experiencing a century before. If these were the only factors that determined the aging of a population, it would be easy to project the future and plan accordingly. Unfortunately, the factors that impact on the process of aging are complex and multifarious. Disease experience, lifestyle, habits, sociodemography, as well as geography, culture, wealth, and health service delivery and infrastructure all contribute, both positively and negatively, to aging.
Loss of functional capacity and disability is a prime concern with population aging, in terms of demands on health and social care services, family, and indeed the older person himself or herself. Robine and Michel (1) focus on this aspect in their proposal for a general theory of population aging and this would seem a good starting point, given that many of the factors described as contributing to general aging are implicated in functional decline at older ages both in theoretical models of disablement (2) and in systematic reviews of evidence (3).
