New study reveals when 'old age' officially starts

Sometimes, with all the best will in the world, scientific research can just confirm what everyone already knows.

A new study from the American Psychological Association has this year proved that people's perception of the ageing process changes as they themselves age.

The data it collected confirmed that middle-aged and older adults think that old age begins later in their lives than younger people do, but also that this has shifted further over time.

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The team surveyed some 14,056 German residents as part of the study, and had participants respond to the same survey eight times over the years to see how their perceptions might change.

When the oldest people in the group, those born in 1911, were 65 years old, they estimated that old age begins at 71 on average.

However, when those born in 1956 took the same question at the age of 65, they instead said that old age begins at 74.

So, it's clear that something about our society and the way it approaches age has shifted, with people assuming that you can live a full and 'younger' life until your mid-seventies instead of your early seventies.

The acceleration of these differences in perception has slowed, though - people don't keep putting off old age forever, with the gap to their new estimates seemingly shrinking as they get older.

At the age of 64, the average participant thought that old age started at 74.7. However, when they were then 74, they said old age started at 76.8.

Interestingly, women on the whole thought that old age started later than men did, with a difference of years in most cases.

Slightly depressingly, the study also indicated that those who feel lonely often or suffer from ill health, generally thought that old age started sooner than those with healthy and sociable lifestyles.

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While the results are certainly interesting, it's always funny when science confirms something that most people would probably guess - we all know that aging is a complicated process that can often leave you confused by your younger self's attitude to older people.

As the study's author, Dr Markus Wettstein, commented: "Perhaps the onset of old age is postponed because people consider being old to be an undesirable state."

It's very much true that you'd struggle to find many people who actively look forward to the process of getting older - at least we can take comfort in knowing everyone is going through the same thing.