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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Aging
Sec. Interventions in Aging
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fragi.2024.1440661

Attitudes towards geroprotection: measuring willingness, from lifestyle changes to drug use

Provisionally accepted
Sam J. Brouwers Sam J. Brouwers 1*Georges Janssens Georges Janssens 2,3Tali Spiegel Tali Spiegel 1
  • 1 Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
  • 2 Laboratory Genetic Metabolic Diseases, Academic Medical Center (AMC), Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 3 Amsterdam Gastroenterology Endocrinology and Metabolism, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Geroprotection is an emerging field of research focused on devising strategies for combating the mechanisms of ageing. This study held three aims: 1) to explore the willingness to utilise five different geroprotective measures (i.e. exercise, supplements, intermittent fasting, metformin, and rapamycin use), 2) to explore whether the willingness differs based on respondents' sociodemographic characteristics and 3) to explore the association between trust in medical institutions and willingness to utilise different geroprotective measures.A questionnaire was used to assess the attitudes of a sample of the Dutch population by way of both convenience and snowball sampling (final N= 178). Descriptive data and bivariate correlations were used in the analyses.Results: Relatively high social acceptance of both exercise (66%) and supplements (82%) was found, whereas intermittent fasting (30%), metformin (26%), and rapamycin (10%) were less supported. Males were significantly more likely to be open to exercise and women to supplement use. Trust in medical institutions correlated significantly with the willingness to start metformin.Discussion: exploratory research can only provide a first step in understanding the social acceptance of geroprotection measures. Nevertheless, this study clearly illustrates more well-known measures promoted by public health policy are also more accepted and used. Public health campaigns could consider the sex differences in the uptake of exercise and supplements, and future research may want to delve deeper into the role of facilitating trust relations between medical institutions and the public in promoting the use of geroprotective drugs.

    Keywords: Exercise, Supplements, intermittent fasting, Metformin, rapamycin, prevention, Healthy Ageing, Geroprotection

    Received: 29 May 2024; Accepted: 30 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Brouwers, Janssens and Spiegel. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Sam J. Brouwers, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.