Background and objectives

Despite the rapid growth in the proportion of 80 and over 80-year-olds in the overall population (Federal Statistical Office, 2016), there is still little knowledge about this population group. Although there are thematically, methodologically and regionally specific studies, there is no representative survey of the living situation and quality of life of this age group for Germany as a whole. However, a good data situation is necessary: On the one hand, in order to be able to better meet the special support needs of old age in the future and, on the other, to be able to develop solutions for socio-political challenges, such as social security in old age, and with regard to intergenerational justice.

The state-wide, representative survey of the very old population in North Rhine-Westphalia NRW80+ has shown that most very old people are satisfied with their lives. Nevertheless, there are differences in the quality of life in old age, for example between men and women or people in private households and in care homes. In order to establish a nationwide database, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ) funded a representative survey of the population aged 80+ in Germany (D80+) for three years.

The D80+ study combines various disciplines (sociology, psychology, medicine and gerontology), which are located at ceres, and is based on the interdisciplinary framework model for explaining quality of life in old age (CHAPO model), which was developed for the NRW80+ study.

Methods

The extension of the survey on the quality of life of people in old age to the whole of Germany was carried out in cooperation with the German Centre of Gerontology (DZA). A key objective was to ensure connectivity with the German Ageing Survey (DEAS) conducted at the DZA. This made it possible to combine findings on middle age with those for old age.

The D80+ study is based on the study protocol and instruments developed in the NRW80+ study of the very old. In the D80+ study, too, people living in care homes were targeted and people who were no longer able to provide information were included where possible via interviews with people close to them (proxy interviews). For the first time, the study enables valid statements to be made specifically for the group of very old people for the whole of Germany.

Compared to the implementation in NRW, however, pandemic-related changes had to be made to the design, as the planned face-to-face survey with a planned start in March 2020 could not be carried out. Instead, a written survey was carried out first, followed by an additional telephone survey. In the first step, questionnaires were sent to over 40,000 randomly selected very old people. The content of the questionnaire was kept as identical as possible to the existing instruments used in the NRW80+ study. However, not all questions were suitable for a written survey (e.g. cognitive tests and complex filters). Participation in an additional telephone interview was therefore requested. This supplements the written survey with additional content and therefore represents an important gain in information. It was also possible to answer the questionnaire by telephone in order to take into account the various preferences and health restrictions (e.g. visual impairments) of the participants and to include as many groups as possible in the survey. We received usable questionnaire responses from a total of 10,578 people, 10,360 of whom responded in writing and 218 by telephone. This means that more than one in four of the people contacted took part in the survey. An additional 3,233 very old people took part in the telephone interview with further questions.

We would like to thank all respondents for their participation in the D80+ study. The first results of the study have been published in recent months in the form of 10 short thematic reports. These can be downloaded on the right-hand side. The short reports will soon be published with accompanying information on the D80+ study in the form of an anthology on the project. Information on this will be made available here shortly.