Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
In today’s advanced world, socio-economic development has slowed population growth and increased life expectancy in the world, so that the world’s elderly population has now grown more than the population as a whole [1]. By 2050, about 21.7 percent of Iran’s population will be elderly [2].
Perception of aging is a measure of each person’s satisfaction with his or her own aging and reflects their adaptation to changes associated with aging [5]. Aging self refers to one’s understanding of the process of aging in the cultural and social structure in which he or she is located. In fact, attention to all aspects of understanding, perception, experiencing, evaluating and interpreting the aging process itself falls within this concept [6, 7].
Much of the research on aging self has come from a variety of scientific and expert perspectives, and limited research has examined this concept from the perspective of the elderly themselves [3, 8, 9]. The description given by the elderly about this stage is undoubtedly their own direct experience of this phenomenon, and many authors believe that nurses and members of the health team can better predict the care needed to maintain the health and independence of seniors [8, 10, 11].
This study used Max Van Manen’s hermeneutic phenomenology to explore the lived experiences of the elderly about the concept of aging. This approach is used to gain a deeper understanding of the perspectives and experiences [12].
Participants were selected based on purposive sampling. Sampling was carried out from June 93 to August 94 and continued until no new data appeared in the participants’ descriptions, and the researcher obtained in-depth and rich data on the phenomenon under study [13].

2. Materials and Methods
Immediately after completing each interview and listening to it several times, the transcripts of the interviews were written on paper and analyzed thematically. In this study, a selective approach was used to extract thematic sentences. In the process of extracting sub-themes and themes, the researcher reviewed each interview several times in order to clarify the themes. After obtaining the sub-themes and themes of each interview, the researcher merged and identified the sub-themes and main themes of the interviews and described the phenomenon of aging in accordance with van Manen’s method [13].

3. Results
In the present study 10 elderly people (five men and five women) with a mean age of 76.9 years participated.
Seven themes were extracted from the findings that included: breathing deterioration fragrance, immersion in vortex of thoughts, lost dignity, deepening of spiritual tendencies, wishing for happiness, transcendentalism, and keeping belongings. Based on these themes and their sub-themes, the concept of the experience of the elderly was explained. The findings are presented in Tables 1 and 2 in the form of the sub-themes and main themes.
4. Conclusion
The experience of aging self depends on the cultural and social context of society in which aging occurs, so it is imperative to understand the phenomenon of aging in different societies [6].
The experience of elderly Iranians about the phenomenon of aging is a unique experience formed by the influence of specific cultural and social factors. The main themes of understanding aging, based on the analysis of the elderly participants in the study, are: «breathing deterioration fragrance, immersion in vortex of thoughts, lost dignity, deepening of spiritual tendencies, wishing for happiness, transcendentalism, and keeping belongings.
The theme of ''breathing deterioration fragrance'' illustrates the conditions that most of the elderly under survey mentioned as their first signs of aging. Although by definition, aging means structural and functional changes that occur over time and are not due to illness or accident [15], however, the elderly in our study identified pain and illness, along with impairments, as the initial features of aging. They mentioned chronic and often unexplained pain or a type of illness that impaired physical and mental capacity (enduring suffering) as well as the decline of physical and mental ability as the onset of aging.
In a Shin et al. (2003) entitled "Study of the Experiences of Aging", the downward spiral theme emerged from the perspective of aging, indicating a gradual change and a decrease in the strength and function of the elderly. Physical changes were also another theme reported in this study that is similar to the themes in the current study [8].
In some studies, aging and disease have been considered equivalent [3, 16, 17] and have shown the association of age-related structural changes with aging as an accepted pattern in the aging experience. The fact that in some of the tools that quantitatively examine perceptions of aging, an important part of the questions point to the presence of pain and illness and impairment of physical and mental ability, confirms this notion [6].
The theme of «Immersion in the Vortex of Thoughts» implies that the elderly are mentally occupied with environmental and family issues and reviewing their past lives and comparing them to the present. Elderly tendency to internalize emotions and thoughts and mental occupations are issues that can be justified by the theory of social withdrawal (Cummings and Henry). The theory states that elderly relationship with others decreases and at the same time they become emotionally withdrawn and turn to internal feelings and thoughts [18, 19].
Also in Ericsson's theory of psychosocial stages, in the elderly phase, whose primary task is Integrity versus Despair, rethinking about the past is justified in that at this age stage, individuals return to the past and (if they find it valuable and are able to find reconciliation between their pleasures and their regrets, and are able to find a meaning to their lives) they review it to avoid disappointment [19, 20].
Understanding aging from the perspective of the elderly who are the immediate experiencers of this concept describes the meaning and concept of aging and its constituents more explicitly, more fully and transparently.
Ethical Considerations
Compliance with ethical guidelines
This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences University in Tehran. The elderly signed the informed consent form to participate in the study and were excluded if they had withdrawn from the study during or after the interview. The principle of confidentiality of elderly information was fully respected.
Funding
This research did not receive any funding from public, private, and non-profit organizations.
Authors' contributions
All authors have contributed to the preparation of this article.
Conflicts of interest
According to the authors, this article has no conflict of interest.