Ayala García, AlbaCalderón-Larrañaga, AmaiaBeridze, GiorgiTeixeira, LaetitiaAraújo, LiaRojo-Pérez, FerminaFernández-Mayoralas, GloriaRodríguez-Rodríguez, VicenteQuirós-González, VíctorZorrilla Muñoz, VanesaAgulló Tomás, María SilveriaRibeiro, OscarForjaz, Maria João2021-10-272021-10-272021-04-02Ayala, A., Rodríguez-Blázquez, C., Calderón-Larrañaga, A., Beridze, G., Teixeira, L., Araújo, L., Rojo-Pérez, F., Fernández-Mayoralas, G., Rodríguez-Rodríguez, V., Quirós-González, V., Zorrilla-Muñoz, V., Agulló-Tomás, M. S., Ribeiro, O. & Forjaz, M. J. (2021). Influence of Active and Healthy Ageing on Quality of Life Changes: Insights from the Comparison of Three European Countries. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(8), 4152.1660-4601https://hdl.handle.net/10016/33494This article belongs to the Special Issue Health and Wellbeing on Aging.This study aimed to analyze the determinants of quality of life (QoL) in older people in three European countries (Portugal, Spain and Sweden). A sample of 7589 participants in waves 4 (2011) and 6 (2015) of the Survey on Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) project, aged 50 and over and living in Portugal, Spain and Sweden, was included. The CASP-12 scale was used to measure QoL. A principal component analysis was performed to group preselected variables related to active and healthy ageing into the dimensions of health, social participation, and lifelong learning. A linear regression model was built using the change in CASP-12 scores over the 4-year follow-up as the dependent variable, including the interactions between country and each independent variable in the model. After four years, the average QoL increased in Portugal (difference = 0.8, p < 0.001), decreased in Spain (−0.8, p < 0.001), and remained constant in Sweden (0.1, p = 0.408). A significant country-participation component interaction (p = 0.039) was found. In Spain, a higher participation (β = 0.031, p = 0.002) was related to a higher QoL improvement at 4 years, but not in Sweden or Portugal. Physical health and emotional components (β = 0.099, p < 0.001), functional ability (β = 0.044, p = 0.023), and cognitive and sensory ability (β = 0.021, p = 0.026) were associated with QoL changes over time in all countries. The country-specific associations between health, social participation and QoL should be taken into account when developing public health policies to promote QoL among European older people.13eng© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.Atribución 3.0 EspañaQuality of lifeAgingParticipationCross-nationalLongitudinalShare projectresearch articleBiología y BiomedicinaEstadísticahttps://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18084152open access41528International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health18AR/0000028419