Table 1.

German-speaking studies targeting the quality of life in the very old population

Study title	Age span (years)	Quality of life (selection of indicators)	Methodology	Reference
Berlin Aging Study (BASE I)	70+	Broad range of objective and subjective indicators	N = 516 (intensive protocol), random sample of West-Berlin residents, stratified by age and gender (1990/93)	[15]
Generali Hochaltrigenstudie (Interview study)	85–99	Themes of life (Daseinsthemen)	N = 400 In-depth biographical interviews, ad hoc sample (2013)	[7]
Heidelberg Centenarian Study I	100	Four aspects of quality of life: cognitive status, functional capacity, mental health, subjective well-being	N = 91, Local random sample (2000/01)	[25]
Heidelberg Centenarian Study II	100	Life satisfaction, meaning in life	N = 112, Local random sample (n = 95) (2011/13)	[12]
Austrian Interdisciplinary Study on the Oldest Old (ÖIHS)	80–85	Objective indicators: e. g. health, care, standard of living (quantitative study part); subjective indicators: e. g. life satisfaction, opinions (qualitative study part)	N = 410, Styria (150) and Vienna (260), local random sample; 40 qualitative interviews; (2013/14)	[27]
Quality of Life in the Elderly – Standardization of the WHOQOL-OLD	60+	Subjective quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF), six facets of the WHOQOL-OLD	N = 1133, German random sample, additional sample 80+ (N = 309) (2012)	[3, 4]
Enabling Autonomy, Participation, and Well-Being in Old Age: The Home Environment as a Determinant for Healthy Aging (EnableAge)	80–89	Home environment and housing, objective and subjective health, life satisfaction, affect	N = 450, German local random sub-sample (2002)	[9]
Longitudinal Analysis of Subjective Well-being in Very Old Age (LateLine)	87–97	Hedonic well-being (e. g. life satisfaction, affect), eudaemonic well-being (e. g. autonomy, purpose in life), mental distress	N = 124 (Baseline), German EnableAge follow up, seven measurement occasions from 2009/13	[31]