NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Even at an advanced age, men and women who stay active and don't smoke still reap health benefits, new research shows.

The study of elderly residents of a retirement community found that exercise, in particular, was associated with a lower risk of death, less disability and an overall better outlook on life--well into old age.

Dr. Eva Kahana, of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio and her colleagues report the findings in the May/June issue of the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

Over 8 years, the researchers tracked the physical and mental well-being of 357 study participants, who were an average age of 78 at the outset. The investigators found that while, over time, participants' well-being tended to decline, higher exercise levels at the start of study appeared to mitigate this decline.

Specifically, exercise was linked to a lower death risk, fewer physical limitations, a more positive mood and greater feelings of "meaning in life," Kahana's team reports. This was true even when the researchers accounted for medical conditions that existed at the study's start and other health factors.

In addition, participants who were smoking at the study's start were more than twice as likely to die as those who never smoked. Former smokers also faced a higher death risk, though it was much lower than that of current smokers, the findings indicate.

According to the researchers, their study is among the first to show the long-term and "multidimensional" benefits of exercise for the very old. The authors note, however, that because participants chose to live among active peers in a retirement community, they may not represent the US elderly population in general.

In fact, Kahana and colleagues add, their participants reported exercise levels "considerably higher" than those that have been found for older Americans at large.

Nonetheless, the researchers conclude, the study shows that "health-promoting efforts, even when engaged in late in life, continue to have important long-range benefits."

SOURCE: Psychosomatic Medicine 2002;64:382-394.

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