Longitudinal Examination of the Functional Status of Older Adults: Successful Aging Within a Representative Canadian Sample Norm O'Rourke, University of Ottawa, Richard MacLennan and Thomas Hadjistavropoulos, University of Regina, and Holly Tuokko, University of Victoria* Palmore, Nowlin, et Wang (1985) proposent un cadre de travail permettant de predire l'etat de sante des aine(e)s dans le temps en fonction des variables sociales, economiques, physiques et mentales. L'etude courante fournit le premier test distinct et empirique du genre base sur des donnees longitudinales tirees d'un echantillonnage representatif d'aine(e)s de la Colombie-Britannique. Les resultats de l'etude soutiennent la structure fondamentale du modele Palmore; cependant, il a fallu effectuer plusieurs revisions pour ameliorer l'adequation des donnees. Les resultats indiquent que les variables demographiques et socio-economiques ont un effet direct sur les capacites fonctionnelles de base. Us font egalement ressortir une uniformite significative des capacites fonctionnelles des aine(e)s dans un intervalle de deux ans. Le texte traite aussi de l'orientation que prendra eventuellement la recherche ainsi que les limites de l'etude en cours. ABSTRACT Palmore, Nowlin, and Wang (1985) posit a theoretical framework in which to predict the health status of older adults over time as a function of social, economic, * The Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CSHA) was funded by the Seniors' Independence Research Program, administered by the National Health Research Development Program (NHRDP) of Health Canada (Project No. 6606-3954 MC(S)). The CSHA was co-ordinated through the University of Ottawa and the federal government's Laboratory Centre for Disease Control. The authors would like to acknowledge all staff across Canada who were involved in the CSHA. Longitudinal data collection was made possible by a grant from the British Columbia Health Research Foundation (BCHRF) awarded to Dr. Tuokko. Special thanks to Dr. Barbara Byrne for her guidance and recommendations. Key Words: Aging, Health, Structural Equation, Modelling. Mots cles: Vieillissement, sante, equation structurelle, modelisation. Manuscript received March 4, 1998; manuscrit regu le 4 mars 1998. Manuscript accepted January 24, 2000; manuscrit accepte le 24 Janvier 2000. Requests for offprints should be sent to:/ Les demandes de tires-a-part doivent etre adressees a: Norm O'Rourke Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center Department of Psychology 1653 West Congress Parkway Chicago, IL 60612-3833 (norourke@istar.ca) Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadiennedu vieillissement / Vol. 19no. 42000,441-455 441