Association between Obesity and Serum 25(OH)D Concentrations in Older Mexican Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Rontoyanni, Victoria G; Avila, Jaqueline C; Kaul, Sapna; Wong, Rebeca; Veeranki, Sreenivas P

2017-01-31

Vitamin D is essential for maintaining bone mineralization and calcium homeostasis, and prevents falls and fractures in older adults. Mexico is undergoing an epidemiologic and demographic transition with increasing obesity rates. The study's aim was to determine the association of obesity with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations in older Mexican adults. Data from 1772 Mexicans, aged ≥50 years, enrolled in a sub-sample of the 3rd wave of the Mexican Health and Aging Study, were included. Serum 25(OH)D concentrations were used to define vitamin D status, and were categorized into tertiles. Body mass index measures were used to categorize older adults into under/normal weight, overweight, and obese groups. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to assess the relationship, adjusting for potential confounders. Approximately 40% and 37% of older Mexican adults were either overweight or obese, respectively. Compared to under/normal weight older Mexicans, obese adults were 1.78 times (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.27-2.48) and 1.94 times (95% CI 1.40-2.68) more associated with the first and second tertile concentrations of serum 25(OH)D, respectively. Overweight adults were 1.52 times (95% CI 1.12-2.06) more associated with the second tertile of serum 25(OH)D concentration than under/normal weight adults. Overweight/Obesity was found to be significantly associated with low concentrations of serum 25(OH) in older Mexican adults.

Depression in Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

... here Home » Depression In Older Adults: More Facts Depression In Older Adults: More Facts Depression affects more ... combination of both. [8] Older Adult Attitudes Toward Depression: According to a Mental Health America survey [9] ...

Stimulus-independent semantic bias misdirects word recognition in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Rogers, Chad S; Wingfield, Arthur

2015-07-01

Older adults' normally adaptive use of semantic context to aid in word recognition can have a negative consequence of causing misrecognitions, especially when the word actually spoken sounds similar to a word that more closely fits the context. Word-pairs were presented to young and older adults, with the second word of the pair masked by multi-talker babble varying in signal-to-noise ratio. Results confirmed older adults' greater tendency to misidentify words based on their semantic context compared to the young adults, and to do so with a higher level of confidence. This age difference was unaffected by differences in the relative level of acoustic masking.

Older Adults and Alcohol

Science.gov (United States)

... Other Psychiatric Disorders Other Substance Abuse HIV/AIDS Older Adults A national 2008 survey found that about 40 ... of adults ages 65 and older drink alcohol. Older adults can experience a variety of problems from drinking ...

Differences in knowledge of dementia among older adults with normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia: A representative nationwide sample of Korean elders.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jun-Young; Park, Soowon; Kim, Ki Woong; Kwon, Ji Eyon; Park, Joon Hyuk; Kim, Moon Doo; Kim, Bong-Jo; Kim, Jeong Lan; Moon, Seok Woo; Bae, Jae Nam; Ryu, Seung-Ho; Yoon, Jong Chul; Lee, Nam-Jin; Lee, Dong Young; Lee, Dong Woo; Lee, Seok Bum; Lee, Jung Jae; Lee, Chang-Uk; Jhoo, Jin Hyeong; Cho, Maeng Je

2016-01-01

Lack of knowledge about a disease could impede early diagnosis and may lead to delays in seeking appropriate medical care. The aim of this study was to explore knowledge of dementia (KOD) and to find the determinants of KOD among three groups: older adults with normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and dementia. A representative nationwide sample of 6141 Korean elders aged 65 years or older participated in face-to-face interviews and answered 14 questions pertaining to general information, etiology, symptoms, and treatment of dementia. Stepwise multiple regressions and path analyses probed the relationships between various sociodemographic variables and KOD. The percentage of correct responses was only 62%. The item 'A person who remembers things that happened in the past does not have dementia' was answered correctly (false) by only 24.8-27% of the respondents in all groups. Older adults with normal cognition had higher KOD scores than those with MCI or dementia. In the normal-cognition group, KOD scores were higher among highly educated, younger, and literate women with no depression and a family history of dementia. In contrast with the determinants in the normal-cognition group, only the ability to read and write predicted KOD scores in the dementia group. Efforts to enhance KOD in elder adults are needed. Public education regarding the differences between dementia and healthy aging may increase KOD among normal elders and those with MCI. Among elders with dementia, educational materials that do not require literacy may be more helpful in increasing KOD with the aim of preventing treatment delay. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Destination memory in social interaction: better memory for older than for younger destinations in normal aging?

Science.gov (United States)

El Haj, Mohamad; Raffard, Stéphane; Fasotti, Luciano; Allain, Philippe

2018-05-01

Destination memory, a memory component allowing the attribution of information to its appropriate receiver (e.g., to whom did I lend my pen?), is compromised in normal aging. The present paper investigated whether older adults might show better memory for older destinations than for younger destinations. This hypothesis is based on empirical research showing better memory for older faces than for younger faces in older adults. Forty-one older adults and 44 younger adults were asked to tell proverbs to older and younger destinations (i.e., coloured faces). On a later recognition test, participants had to decide whether they had previously told some proverb to an older/younger destination or not. Prior to this task, participants reported their frequency of contact with other-age groups. The results showed lower destination memory in older adults than in younger adults. Interestingly, older adults displayed better memory for older than for younger destinations. The opposite pattern was seen in younger adults. The low memory for younger destinations, as observed in older adults, was significantly correlated with limited exposure to younger individuals. These findings suggest that for older adults, the social experience can play a crucial role in the destination memory, at least as far as exposure to other-age groups is concerned.

Effective communication and counseling with older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Giordano, J A

2000-01-01

Age-sensitive communication skills must be developed to achieve greater effectiveness in assisting older adults. These skills should be guided by research findings on the development changes related to normal aging. A listening-responding technique is presented outlining six principles that can be applied in a wide variety of situations. These principles are governed by the intention to preserve self-esteem and to clarify the needs of elderly clients. By using this approach with the older adult, the practitioner will achieve an effective communication process that generates accurate information, supports self-determination, and achieves a therapeutic process.

A high-glycemic diet is associated with cerebral amyloid burden in cognitively normal older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Matthew K; Sullivan, Debra K; Swerdlow, Russell H; Vidoni, Eric D; Morris, Jill K; Mahnken, Jonathan D; Burns, Jeffrey M

2017-12-01

Background: Little is known about the relation between dietary intake and cerebral amyloid accumulation in aging. Objective: We assessed the association of dietary glycemic measures with cerebral amyloid burden and cognitive performance in cognitively normal older adults. Design: We performed cross-sectional analyses relating dietary glycemic measures [adherence to a high-glycemic-load diet (HGLDiet) pattern, intakes of sugar and carbohydrates, and glycemic load] with cerebral amyloid burden (measured by florbetapir F-18 positron emission tomography) and cognitive performance in 128 cognitively normal older adults who provided eligibility screening data for the University of Kansas's Alzheimer's Prevention through Exercise (APEX) Study. The study began in November 2013 and is currently ongoing. Results: Amyloid was elevated in 26% ( n = 33) of participants. HGLDiet pattern adherence ( P = 0.01), sugar intake ( P = 0.03), and carbohydrate intake ( P = 0.05) were significantly higher in participants with elevated amyloid burden. The HGLDiet pattern was positively associated with amyloid burden both globally and in all regions of interest independently of age, sex, and education (all P ≤ 0.001). Individual dietary glycemic measures (sugar intake, carbohydrate intake, and glycemic load) were also positively associated with global amyloid load and nearly all regions of interest independently of age, sex, and educational level ( P ≤ 0.05). Cognitive performance was associated only with daily sugar intake, with higher sugar consumption associated with poorer global cognitive performance (global composite measure and Mini-Mental State Examination) and performance on subtests of Digit Symbol, Trail Making Test B, and Block Design, controlling for age, sex, and education. Conclusion: A high-glycemic diet was associated with greater cerebral amyloid burden, which suggests diet as a potential modifiable behavior for cerebral amyloid accumulation and subsequent Alzheimer

Obesity Prevention in Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Volpe, Stella Lucia; Sukumar, Deeptha; Milliron, Brandy-Joe

2016-06-01

The number of older adults living in the USA, 65 years of age and older, has been steadily increasing. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2007-2010, indicate that more than one-third of older adults, 65 years of age and older, were obese. With the increased rate of obesity in older adults, the purpose of this paper is to present research on different methods to prevent or manage obesity in older adults, namely dietary interventions, physical activity interventions, and a combination of dietary and physical activity interventions. In addition, research on community assistance programs in the prevention of obesity with aging will be discussed. Finally, data on federal programs for older adults will also be presented.

Timed Up and Go test, atrophy of medial temporal areas and cognitive functions in community-dwelling older adults with normal cognition and mild cognitive impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Kose, Yujiro; Ikenaga, Masahiro; Yamada, Yosuke; Morimura, Kazuhiro; Takeda, Noriko; Ouma, Shinji; Tsuboi, Yoshio; Yamada, Tatsuo; Kimura, Misaka; Kiyonaga, Akira; Higaki, Yasuki; Tanaka, Hiroaki

2016-12-01

This study aimed to ascertain if performance on the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test is associated with indicators of brain volume and cognitive functions among community-dwelling older adults with normal cognition or mild cognitive impairment. Participants were 80 community-dwelling older adults aged 65-89years (44 men, 36 women), including 20 with mild cognitive impairment. Participants completed the TUG and a battery of cognitive assessments, including the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Logical Memory I and II (LM-I, LM-II) subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised; and the Trail Making Test A and B (TMT-A, TMT-B). Bilateral, right- and left-side medial temporal area atrophy as well as whole gray and white matter indices were determined with the Voxel-based Specific Regional Analysis System for Alzheimer's Disease. We divided participants into three groups based on TUG performance: "better" (≤6.9s); "normal" (7-10s); and "poor" (≥10.1s). Worse TMT-A and TMT-B performance showed significant independent associations with worse TUG performance (Pareas were significantly independently associated with worse TUG performance (Parea atrophy in community-dwelling older adults. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Community-Dwelling Adults versus Older Adults: Psychopathology and the Continuum Hypothesis

Science.gov (United States)

Lagana, Luciana; Tramutolo, Carmine; Boncori, Lucia; Cruciani, Anna Clara

2012-01-01

Little empirical evidence is available on older adults regarding the existence of a continuum between "normal" personality traits and DSM-IV-TR Axes I and II disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Given the typical complexity of clinical presentations in advanced age, it is feasible to expect a dimensional conceptualization…

Text as a Supplement to Speech in Young and Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Krull, Vidya; Humes, Larry E

2016-01-01

The purpose of this experiment was to quantify the contribution of visual text to auditory speech recognition in background noise. Specifically, the authors tested the hypothesis that partially accurate visual text from an automatic speech recognizer could be used successfully to supplement speech understanding in difficult listening conditions in older adults, with normal or impaired hearing. The working hypotheses were based on what is known regarding audiovisual speech perception in the elderly from speechreading literature. We hypothesized that (1) combining auditory and visual text information will result in improved recognition accuracy compared with auditory or visual text information alone, (2) benefit from supplementing speech with visual text (auditory and visual enhancement) in young adults will be greater than that in older adults, and (3) individual differences in performance on perceptual measures would be associated with cognitive abilities. Fifteen young adults with normal hearing, 15 older adults with normal hearing, and 15 older adults with hearing loss participated in this study. All participants completed sentence recognition tasks in auditory-only, text-only, and combined auditory-text conditions. The auditory sentence stimuli were spectrally shaped to restore audibility for the older participants with impaired hearing. All participants also completed various cognitive measures, including measures of working memory, processing speed, verbal comprehension, perceptual and cognitive speed, processing efficiency, inhibition, and the ability to form wholes from parts. Group effects were examined for each of the perceptual and cognitive measures. Audiovisual benefit was calculated relative to performance on auditory- and visual-text only conditions. Finally, the relationship between perceptual measures and other independent measures were examined using principal-component factor analyses, followed by regression analyses. Both young and older adults

Comparison of angular frequency contrast sensitivity in young and older adults

OpenAIRE

Santos,N.A.; Simas,M.L.B.; Nogueira,R.M.T.B.L.

2004-01-01

The aim of the present study was to measure contrast sensitivity curves for angular frequencies in the range between 2 and 96 cycles/360º in older human adult volunteers and to compare these measurements with the more usual contrast sensitivity functions for sine-wave gratings. All subjects were free of identifiable ocular disease and had normal acuity. We measured the contrast thresholds for young adults (N = 6; age range, 20-26 years) and older adults (N = 6; age range, 60-67 years) using t...

Effective communication with older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Daly, Louise

2017-06-07

Communication is an essential aspect of life, yet it can be taken for granted. Its centrality to being in the world and in professional practice often becomes evident when nurses and older adults encounter communication difficulties. The factors that can affect nurses' communication with older adults relate to the older adult, the nurse, sociocultural considerations and the environment, and the interactions between these factors. In adopting a person-centred approach to communicating with older adults, it is necessary to get to know the person as an individual and ensure communication meets their needs and abilities. Effective communication is essential in nursing practice and requires professional competence and engagement. This article can be used by nurses to support effective communication with older adults across the continuum of care.

Neurobiological findings associated with high cognitive performance in older adults: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Borelli, Wyllians Vendramini; Schilling, Lucas Porcello; Radaelli, Graciane; Ferreira, Luciana Borges; Pisani, Leonardo; Portuguez, Mirna Wetters; da Costa, Jaderson Costa

2018-04-18

ABSTRACTObjectives:to perform a comprehensive literature review of studies on older adults with exceptional cognitive performance. We performed a systematic review using two major databases (MEDLINE and Web of Science) from January 2002 to November 2017. Quantitative analysis included nine of 4,457 studies and revealed that high-performing older adults have global preservation of the cortex, especially the anterior cingulate region, and hippocampal volumes larger than normal agers. Histological analysis of this group also exhibited decreased amyloid burden and neurofibrillary tangles compared to cognitively normal older controls. High performers that maintained memory ability after three years showed reduced amyloid positron emission tomography at baseline compared with high performers that declined. A single study on blood plasma found a set of 12 metabolites predicting memory maintenance of this group. Structural and molecular brain preservation of older adults with high cognitive performance may be associated with brain maintenance. The operationalized definition of high-performing older adults must be carefully addressed using appropriate age cut-off and cognitive evaluation, including memory and non-memory tests. Further studies with a longitudinal approach that include a younger control group are essential.

Dehydration in the Older Adult.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Hayley J

2015-09-01

Dehydration affects 20% to 30% of older adults. It has a greater negative outcome in this population than in younger adults and increases mortality, morbidity, and disability. Dehydration is often caused by water deprivation in older adults, although excess water loss may also be a cause. Traditional markers for dehydration do not take into consideration many of the physiological differences present in older adults. Clinical assessment of dehydration in older adults poses different findings, yet is not always diagnostic. Treatment of dehydration should focus on prevention and early diagnosis before it negatively effects health and gives rise to comorbidities. The current article discusses what has most thoroughly been studied; the best strategies and assessment tools for evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of dehydration in older adults; and what needs to be researched further. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 41(9), 8-13.]. Copyright 2015, SLACK Incorporated.

Gender differences in nigrostriatal dopaminergic innervation are present at young-to-middle but not at older age in normal adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Ka Kit; Müller, Martijn L T M; Kuwabara, Hiroto; Studenski, Stephanie A; Bohnen, Nicolaas I

2012-01-01

Gender differences in brain dopaminergic activity have been variably reported in the literature. We performed an evaluation for gender effects on striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) binding in a group of normal subjects. Community-dwelling adults (n = 85, 50F/35M, mean age 62.7 ± 16.2 SD, range 20-85) underwent DAT [(11)C]2-β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-fluorophenyl) tropane (β-CFT) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Gender effects for DAT binding were compared using ANCOVA for two subgroups; young-to-middle aged adults and older adults, using an age threshold of 60 years. There were 54 subjects (24M/30F; mean age 72.9 ± 7.3) 60 years and older and 31 (11M/20F; mean age 45.0 ± 11.4) subjects younger than 60. Age-adjusted striatal DAT gender effects were present in the young-to-middle (F = 10.4, P = 0.003) but not in the elderly age group (F = 0.5, ns). Gender differences in nigrostriatal dopaminergic innervation are present, with higher levels of DAT binding in young-to-middle age women compared to men, but not present in the elderly. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Destination memory in social interaction: Better memory for older than for younger destinations in normal aging?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

El Haj, M.; Raffard, S.; Fasotti, L.; Allain, P.

2018-01-01

Destination memory, a memory component allowing the attribution of information to its appropriate receiver (e.g., to whom did I lend my pen?), is compromised in normal aging. The present paper investigated whether older adults might show better memory for older destinations than for younger

Motivations to eat healthily in older Dutch adults--a cross sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Dijkstra, S Coosje; Neter, Judith E; Brouwer, Ingeborg A; Huisman, Martijn; Visser, Marjolein

2014-11-18

To influence dietary behaviors, more insight in food choice motivations is necessary. This study identified what motivations older adults have to eat healthily and investigated to what extent these motivations are particular to specific subgroups according to socio-economic position and other demographic, lifestyle and health characteristics. We used data from 1,050 older Dutch adults who participated in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (65-80 years, independently living, normal cognitive status). Motivations to eat healthily and characteristics were measured with a self-reported questionnaire. We used logistic regression analyses to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% CI for the association between subgroups and motivations to eat healthily. The most reported motivations to eat healthily were: "feeling fit" (51.7%), "current health" (49.7%) and "body weight" (39.2%). Multivariate analyses showed that older adults with chronic diseases (≥2 vs. no chronic disease OR: 4.41, 95% CI: 2.31-8.44) and a poor self-rated health (poor vs. good OR: 2.31, 95% CI: 1.22-3.73) were more likely to report "current disease" as a motivation to eat healthily. Groups from lower socio-economic positions were less likely to report "to prevent diseases" (low income vs. high OR: 0.52, 95% CI: 0.32-0.86, low education vs. high OR: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.27-0.70) and older adults with obesity were less likely to report "current health" (obese vs. normal weight OR: 0.47, 95% CI: 0.32-0.69) as motivations to eat healthily. Multivariate analyses showed that the presence of a disease in older adults is an important motivation for them to eat healthily, which might indicate that older adults with health problems are aware of the link between their disease and nutrition. Older adults from lower socio-economic positions or those with obesity require a specific approach because disease prevention seems to be of lesser importance for these groups, even though a healthy diet could improve their health

Non-native Speech Learning in Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Ingvalson, Erin M; Nowicki, Casandra; Zong, Audrey; Wong, Patrick C M

2017-01-01

Though there is an extensive literature investigating the ability of younger adults to learn non-native phonology, including investigations into individual differences in younger adults' lexical tone learning, very little is known about older adults' ability to learn non-native phonology, including lexical tone. There are several reasons to suspect that older adults would use different learning mechanisms when learning lexical tone than younger adults, including poorer perception of dynamic pitch, greater reliance on working memory capacity in second language learning, and poorer category learning in older adulthood. The present study examined the relationships among older adults' baseline sensitivity for pitch patterns, working memory capacity, and declarative memory capacity with their ability to learn to associate tone with lexical meaning. In older adults, baseline pitch pattern sensitivity was not associated with generalization performance. Rather, older adults' learning performance was best predicted by declarative memory capacity. These data suggest that training paradigms will need to be modified to optimize older adults' non-native speech sound learning success.

Test-retest reliability of sensor-based sit-to-stand measures in young and older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Regterschot, G Ruben H; Zhang, Wei; Baldus, Heribert; Stevens, Martin; Zijlstra, Wiebren

2014-01-01

This study investigated test-retest reliability of sensor-based sit-to-stand (STS) peak power and other STS measures in young and older adults. In addition, test-retest reliability of the sensor method was compared to test-retest reliability of the Timed Up and Go Test (TUGT) and Five-Times-Sit-to-Stand Test (FTSST) in older adults. Ten healthy young female adults (20-23 years) and 31 older adults (21 females; 73-94 years) participated in two assessment sessions separated by 3-8 days. Vertical peak power was assessed during three (young adults) and five (older adults) normal and fast STS trials with a hybrid motion sensor worn on the hip. Older adults also performed the FTSST and TUGT. The average sensor-based STS peak power of the normal STS trials and the average sensor-based STS peak power of the fast STS trials showed excellent test-retest reliability in young adults (intra-class correlation (ICC)≥0.90; zero in 95% confidence interval of mean difference between test and retest (95%CI of D); standard error of measurement (SEM)≤6.7% of mean peak power) and older adults (ICC≥0.91; zero in 95%CI of D; SEM≤9.9%). Test-retest reliability of sensor-based STS peak power and TUGT (ICC=0.98; zero in 95%CI of D; SEM=8.5%) was comparable in older adults, test-retest reliability of the FTSST was lower (ICC=0.73; zero outside 95%CI of D; SEM=14.4%). Sensor-based STS peak power demonstrated excellent test-retest reliability and may therefore be useful for clinical assessment of functional status and fall risk. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Pain management in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Tracy, Bridget; Sean Morrison, R

2013-11-01

Chronic pain is prevalent among older adults but is underrecognized and undertreated. The approach to pain assessment and management in older adults requires an understanding of the physiology of aging, validated assessment tools, and common pain presentations among older adults. To identify the overall principles of pain management in older adults with a specific focus on common painful conditions and approaches to pharmacologic treatment. We searched PubMed for common pain presentations in older adults with heart failure, end-stage renal disease, dementia, frailty, and cancer. We also reviewed guidelines for pain management. Our review encompassed 2 guidelines, 10 original studies, and 22 review articles published from 2000 to the present. This review does not discuss nonpharmacologic treatments of pain. Clinical guidelines support the use of opioids in persistent nonmalignant pain. Opioids should be used in patients with moderate or severe pain or pain not otherwise controlled but with careful attention to potential toxic effects and half-life. In addition, clinical practice guidelines recommend use of oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with extreme caution and for defined, limited periods. An understanding of the basics of pain pathophysiology, assessment, pharmacologic management, and a familiarity with common pain presentations will allow clinicians to effectively manage pain for older adults. © 2013 Elsevier HS Journals, Inc. All rights reserved.

Older Adults and Gambling: A Review

Science.gov (United States)

Ariyabuddhiphongs, Vanchai

2012-01-01

This paper uses the social cognitive theory model to review the literature on older adult gambling, and related personal and environment characteristics. Results show that lottery is the kind of gambling most frequently played by older adults, followed by casino games. Older adults take trips to casinos to socialize, find excitement, and win…

AIDS and the Older Adult.

Science.gov (United States)

Allers, Christopher T.

1990-01-01

Older adults are finding themselves the neighbors of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) patients as well as the primary caregivers of infected adult children. Focuses on roles, issues, and conflicts older adults face in dealing with relatives or neighbors with AIDS. Case management and educational intervention strategies are also offered.…

Major depressive and anxiety disorders in visually impaired older adults

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Aa, H.P.A.; Comijs, H.C.; Penninx, B.W.J.H.; van Rens, G.H.M.B.; van Nispen, R.M.A.

2015-01-01

PURPOSE. We assessed the prevalence of subthreshold depression and anxiety, and major depressive, dysthymic, and anxiety disorders (panic disorder, agoraphobia, social phobia, and general anxiety disorder) in visually impaired older adults and compared these estimates with those of normally sighted

Limbic and Basal Ganglia Neuroanatomical Correlates of Gait and Executive Function: Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment and Intact Cognition.

Science.gov (United States)

McGough, Ellen L; Kelly, Valerie E; Weaver, Kurt E; Logsdon, Rebecca G; McCurry, Susan M; Pike, Kenneth C; Grabowski, Thomas J; Teri, Linda

2018-04-01

This study aimed to examine differences in spatiotemporal gait parameters between older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment and normal cognition and to examine limbic and basal ganglia neural correlates of gait and executive function in older adults without dementia. This was a cross-sectional study of 46 community-dwelling older adults, ages 70-95 yrs, with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (n = 23) and normal cognition (n = 23). Structural magnetic resonance imaging was used to attain volumetric measures of limbic and basal ganglia structures. Quantitative motion analysis was used to measure spatiotemporal parameters of gait. The Trail Making Test was used to assess executive function. During fast-paced walking, older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment demonstrated significantly slower gait speed and shorter stride length compared with older adults with normal cognition. Stride length was positively correlated with hippocampal, anterior cingulate, and nucleus accumbens volumes (P function was positively correlated with hippocampal, anterior cingulate, and posterior cingulate volumes (P older adults with normal cognition, those with amnestic mild cognitive impairment demonstrated slower gait speed and shorter stride length, during fast-paced walking, and lower executive function. Hippocampal and anterior cingulate volumes demonstrated moderate positive correlation with both gait and executive function, after adjusting for age. Complete the self-assessment activity and evaluation online at http://www.physiatry.org/JournalCME CME OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of this article, the reader should be able to: (1) discuss gait performance and cognitive function in older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment versus normal cognition, (2) discuss neurocorrelates of gait and executive function in older adults without dementia, and (3) recognize the importance of assessing gait speed and cognitive function in the clinical management of older

Young Adults' Implicit and Explicit Attitudes towards the Sexuality of Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Ashley E; O'Sullivan, Lucia F; Byers, E Sandra; Shaughnessy, Krystelle

2014-09-01

Sexual interest and capacity can extend far into later life and result in many positive health outcomes. Yet there is little support for sexual expression in later life, particularly among young adults. This study assessed and compared young adults' explicit and implicit attitudes towards older adult sexuality. A sample of 120 participants (18-24 years; 58% female) completed a self-report (explicit) measure and a series of Implicit Association Tests capturing attitudes towards sexuality among older adults. Despite reporting positive explicit attitudes, young people revealed an implicit bias against the sexual lives of older adults. In particular, young adults demonstrated implicit biases favouring general, as compared to sexual, activities and young adults as compared to older adults. Moreover, the bias favouring general activities was amplified with regard to older adults as compared to younger adults. Our findings challenge the validity of research relying on self-reports of attitudes about older adult sexuality.

Working memory capacity and overgeneral autobiographical memory in young and older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Ros, Laura; Latorre, José Miguel; Serrano, Juan Pedro

2010-01-01

The objectives of this study are to compare the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) performance of two healthy samples of younger and older adults and to analyse the relationship between overgeneral memory (OGM) and working memory executive processes (WMEP) using a structural equation modelling with latent variables. The AMT and sustained attention, short-term memory and working memory tasks were administered to a group of young adults (N = 50) and a group of older adults (N = 46). On the AMT, the older adults recalled a greater number of categorical memories (p = .000) and fewer specific memories (p = .000) than the young adults, confirming that OGM occurs in the normal population and increases with age. WMEP was measured by reading span and a working memory with sustained attention load task. Structural equation modelling reflects that WMEP shows a strong relationship with OGM: lower scores on WMEP reflect an OGM phenomenon characterized by higher categorical and lower specific memories.

Sociality and intergenerational transfer of older adults' nostalgia.

Science.gov (United States)

Wildschut, Tim; Sedikides, Constantine; Robertson, Sara

2018-05-03

Interest in nostalgia has blossomed, yet its nature in older adulthood and potential for intergenerational transfer to younger adults has remained neglected. In Experiment 1, we focused on the content of older adults' nostalgic (vs. ordinary) recollections and asked whether older adults' nostalgia could be transferred to younger adults. We showed that nostalgia expressed in older adults' narratives was positively associated with nostalgia reported by young-adult readers. In Experiment 2, undergraduates read a nostalgic or ordinary narrative written by an older adult. Then they rated their own nostalgia as well as their perceived social connectedness, self-continuity, and meaning in life. Exposure to older adults' nostalgic (vs. ordinary) narratives promoted concurrent nostalgia among young adults, along with associated psychological benefits (social connectedness, self-continuity, meaning). The findings illustrate the potential for intergenerational transfer of nostalgia through written narratives, and attest to the universality of nostalgic themes across younger and older adults.

Physical Activity and Heart Rate Variability in Older Adults: The Cardiovascular Health Study

Science.gov (United States)

Soares-Miranda, Luisa; Sattelmair, Jacob; Chaves, Paulo; Duncan, Glen; Siscovick, David S; Stein, Phyllis K; Mozaffarian, Dariush

2014-01-01

Background Cardiac mortality and electrophysiologic dysfunction both increase with age. Heart rate variability (HRV) provides indices of autonomic function and electrophysiology that are associated with cardiac risk. How habitual physical activity (PA) among older adults prospectively relates to HRV, including nonlinear indices of erratic sinus patterns, is not established. We hypothesized that increasing levels of both total leisure-time activity and walking would be prospectively associated with more favorable time-domain, frequency-domain, and nonlinear HRV measures in older adults. Methods and Results We evaluated serial longitudinal measures of both PA and 24-hour Holter HRV over 5 years among 985 older US adults in the community-based Cardiovascular Health Study. After multivariable adjustment, greater total leisure-time activity, walking distance, and walking pace were each prospectively associated with specific, more favorable HRV indices, including higher 24-hour standard-deviation-of-all-normal-to-normal-intervals (SDNN, p-trend=0.009, 0.02, 0.06, respectively) and ultra-low-frequency-power (p-trend=0.02, 0.008, 0.16, respectively). Greater walking pace was also associated with higher short-term-fractal-scaling-exponent (p-trend=0.003) and lower Poincare ratio (p-trend=0.02), markers of less erratic sinus patterns. Conclusions Greater total leisure-time activity, as well as walking alone, were prospectively associated with more favorable and specific indices of autonomic function in older adults, including several suggestive of more normal circadian fluctuations and less erratic sinoatrial firing. Our results suggest potential mechanisms that might contribute to lower cardiovascular mortality with habitual PA later in life. PMID:24799513

Exploring the experiences of older Chinese adults with comorbidities including diabetes: surmounting these challenges in order to live a normal life

Science.gov (United States)

Ho, Hsiu-Yu; Chen, Mei-Hui

2018-01-01

Background Many people with diabetes have comorbidities, even multimorbidities, which have a far-reaching impact on the older adults, their family, and society. However, little is known of the experience of older adults living with comorbidities that include diabetes. Aim The aim of this study was to explore the experience of older adults living with comorbidities including diabetes. Methods A qualitative approach was employed. Data were collected from a selected field of 12 patients with diabetes mellitus in a medical center in northern Taiwan. The data were analyzed by Colaizzi’s phenomenological methodology, and four criteria of Lincoln and Guba were used to evaluate the rigor of the study. Results The following 5 themes and 14 subthemes were derived: 1) expecting to heal or reduce the symptoms of the disease (trying to alleviate the distress of symptoms and trusting in health practitioners combining the use of Chinese and Western medicines); 2) comparing complex medical treatments (differences in physician practices and presentation, conditionally adhering to medical treatment, and partnering with medical professionals); 3) inconsistent information (inconsistent health information and inconsistent medical advice); 4) impacting on daily life (activities are limited and hobbies cannot be maintained and psychological distress); and 5) weighing the pros and cons (taking the initiative to deal with issues, limiting activity, adjusting mental outlook and pace of life, developing strategies for individual health regimens, and seeking support). Surmounting these challenges in order to live a normal life was explored. Conclusion This study found that the experience of older adults living with comorbidities including diabetes was similar to that of a single disease, but the extent was greater than a single disease. The biggest difference is that the elderly think that their most serious problem is not diabetes, but rather, the comorbidities causing life limitations

Exploring the experiences of older Chinese adults with comorbidities including diabetes: surmounting these challenges in order to live a normal life

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ho HY

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Hsiu-Yu Ho,1,2 Mei-Hui Chen,2,3 Meei-Fang Lou1 1School of Nursing, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, 2Department of Nursing, Yuanpei University of Medical Technology, 3National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China Background: Many people with diabetes have comorbidities, even multimorbidities, which have a far-reaching impact on the older adults, their family, and society. However, little is known of the experience of older adults living with comorbidities that include diabetes. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the experience of older adults living with comorbidities including diabetes. Methods: A qualitative approach was employed. Data were collected from a selected field of 12 patients with diabetes mellitus in a medical center in northern Taiwan. The data were analyzed by Colaizzi’s phenomenological methodology, and four criteria of Lincoln and Guba were used to evaluate the rigor of the study. Results: The following 5 themes and 14 subthemes were derived: 1 expecting to heal or reduce the symptoms of the disease (trying to alleviate the distress of symptoms and trusting in health practitioners combining the use of Chinese and Western medicines; 2 comparing complex medical treatments (differences in physician practices and presentation, conditionally adhering to medical treatment, and partnering with medical professionals; 3 inconsistent information (inconsistent health information and inconsistent medical advice; 4 impacting on daily life (activities are limited and hobbies cannot be maintained and psychological distress; and 5 weighing the pros and cons (taking the initiative to deal with issues, limiting activity, adjusting mental outlook and pace of life, developing strategies for individual health regimens, and seeking support. Surmounting these challenges in order to live a normal life was explored. Conclusion: This study found that the experience of older adults

Hypnosis for pain management in the older adult.

Science.gov (United States)

Cuellar, Norma G

2005-09-01

Pain is a physical, emotional and psychologic phenomenon that is often ignored in older adults causing depression and poor quality of life. Older adults report the use of complementary and alternative medicine in some form with 80% of these users reporting improvement in their health conditions. Although physical pain in the older adult is usually managed with pharmacologic interventions, methods that may reduce the use of prescription drugs may decrease adverse effects that can compromise the physiologic state of the older adult. Hypnosis has continued to gain acceptance within mainstream medicine as an appropriate treatment and can be integrated safely with conventional medicine as an effective treatment for a variety of conditions in the older adult. It is an intervention that can be used for relaxation and pain control, especially when conventional pharmacologic regimens have failed. The purpose of this article is to review the concepts related to pain in older adults; the use of complementary and alternative medicine in the older adult; hypnosis and the older adult (i.e., background, definition, benefits, research, mechanism of action, hypnotizability, and the process); and the implications of using hypnosis for pain management in the older adult.

Assistive technology for communication of older adults: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Pedrozo Campos Antunes, Thaiany; Souza Bulle de Oliveira, Acary; Hudec, Robert; Brusque Crocetta, Tania; Ferreira de Lima Antão, Jennifer Yohanna; de Almeida Barbosa, Renata Thais; Guarnieri, Regiani; Massetti, Thais; Garner, David M; de Abreu, Luiz Carlos

2018-02-16

Describe the use of assistive technology to enhance communication opportunities for older adults. A systematic review was conducted in two databases, PubMed and Web of Science, by using two different searches in each. The search was limited to original articles, in English language, including people aged 60 years and older that used any type of assistive technology for communication. The articles found in the initial search were filtered by title, abstracts and the remaining articles were fully read. Eighteen studies were included in this review after the reading of full-texts. Most of the studies included apparently healthy participants with communication limitations due to aging related changes and the others included people with some pathology that prevent them from normal communication. Four categories of assistive technology were identified: assistive technology for people with speech problems; robot or videoconferencing systems; Information and Communication Technologies and, other types of assistive technology for communication, such as hearing aids and scrapbooks. Assistive technology for communication of older adults is not only used by people with disabilities that prevent them from usual communication. They are mostly for older adults without a pathological communication problem.

Suicide in older adults: current perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Conejero, Ismael; Olié, Emilie; Courtet, Philippe; Calati, Raffaella

2018-01-01

Suicidal behavior in older adults (65 years old and over) is a major public health issue in many countries. Suicide rates increase during the life course and are as high as 48.7/100,000 among older white men in the USA. Specific health conditions and stress factors increase the complexity of the explanatory model for suicide in older adults. A PubMed literature search was performed to identify most recent and representative studies on suicide risk factors in older adults. The aim of our narrative review was to provide a critical evaluation of recent findings concerning specific risk factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviors among older people: psychiatric and neurocognitive disorders, social exclusion, bereavement, cognitive impairment, decision making and cognitive inhibition, physical illnesses, and physical and psychological pain. We also aimed to approach the problem of euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide in older adults. Our main findings emphasize the need to integrate specific stress factors, such as feelings of social disconnectedness, neurocognitive impairment or decision making, as well as chronic physical illnesses and disability in suicide models and in suicide prevention programs in older adults. Furthermore, the chronic care model should be adapted for the treatment of older people with long-term conditions in order to improve the treatment of depressive disorders and the prevention of suicidal thoughts and acts. PMID:29719381

Changing Medical Students' Attitudes toward Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzales, Ernest; Morrow-Howell, Nancy; Gilbert, Pat

2010-01-01

Given the growth in the number of older adults and the ageist attitudes many in the health care profession hold, interventions aimed at improving health professionals' attitudes toward older adults are imperative. Vital Visionaries is an intergenerational art program designed to improve medical students' attitudes toward older adults. Participants…

Physiological Parameters Database for Older Adults

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Physiological Parameters Database for Older Adults is available for download and contains physiological parameters values for healthy older human adults (age 60...

Older, wiser, and happier? Comparing older adults' and college students' self-defining memories.

Science.gov (United States)

Singer, Jefferson; Rexhaj, Blerim; Baddeley, Jenna

2007-11-01

The present study compared self-defining memories in adults 50 years of age and older to the self-defining memories of college students. Findings are largely congruent with previous memory and ageing research, but shed additional light on how personal memories are employed to achieve a sense of identity and continuity in older adults. Older adults' self-defining memories, compared to those of younger adults, were more positive in emotional tone, more summarised and less detailed, and more likely to contain integrative meaning. The implications of these findings for assessing normative personal memory in older adults are discussed along with more general observations about narrative identity in older adulthood.

Catastrophic events and older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Cloyd, Elizabeth; Dyer, Carmel B

2010-12-01

The plight of older adults during catastrophic events is a societal concern. Older persons have an increased prevalence of cognitive disorders, chronic illnesses, and mobility problems that limit their ability to cope. These disorders may result in a lack of mental capacity and the ability to discern when they should evacuate or resolve problems encountered during a catastrophe. Some older persons may have limited transportation options, and many of the elderly survivors are at increased risk for abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Recommendations for future catastrophic events include the development of a federal tracking system for elders and other vulnerable adults, the designation of separate shelter areas for elders and other vulnerable adults, and involvement of gerontological professionals in all aspects of emergency preparedness and care delivery, including training of frontline workers. Preparation through preevent planning that includes region-specific social services, medical and public health resources, volunteers, and facilities for elders and vulnerable adults is critical. Elders need to be protected from abuse and fraud during catastrophic events. A public health triage system for elders and other vulnerable populations in pre- and postdisaster situations is useful, and disaster preparedness is paramount. Communities and members of safety and rescue teams must address ethical issues before an event. When older adults are involved, consideration needs to be given to triage decision making, transporting those who are immobile, the care of older adults who receive palliative care, and the equitable distribution of resources. Nurses are perfectly equipped with the skills, knowledge, and training needed to plan and implement disaster preparedness programs. In keeping with the tradition of Florence Nightingale, nurses can assume several crucial roles in disaster preparedness for older adults. Nurses possess the ability to participate and lead community

A Smart-Home System to Unobtrusively and Continuously Assess Loneliness in Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Austin, Johanna; Dodge, Hiroko H; Riley, Thomas; Jacobs, Peter G; Thielke, Stephen; Kaye, Jeffrey

2016-01-01

Loneliness is a common condition in older adults and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, decreased sleep quality, and increased risk of cognitive decline. Assessing loneliness in older adults is challenging due to the negative desirability biases associated with being lonely. Thus, it is necessary to develop more objective techniques to assess loneliness in older adults. In this paper, we describe a system to measure loneliness by assessing in-home behavior using wireless motion and contact sensors, phone monitors, and computer software as well as algorithms developed to assess key behaviors of interest. We then present results showing the accuracy of the system in detecting loneliness in a longitudinal study of 16 older adults who agreed to have the sensor platform installed in their own homes for up to 8 months. We show that loneliness is significantly associated with both time out-of-home ([Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]) and number of computer sessions ([Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]). [Formula: see text] for the model was 0.35. We also show the model's ability to predict out-of-sample loneliness, demonstrating that the correlation between true loneliness and predicted out-of-sample loneliness is 0.48. When compared with the University of California at Los Angeles loneliness score, the normalized mean absolute error of the predicted loneliness scores was 0.81 and the normalized root mean squared error was 0.91. These results represent first steps toward an unobtrusive, objective method for the prediction of loneliness among older adults, and mark the first time multiple objective behavioral measures that have been related to this key health outcome.

Clinical Interviewing with Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Mohlman, Jan; Sirota, Karen Gainer; Papp, Laszlo A.; Staples, Alison M.; King, Arlene; Gorenstein, Ethan E.

2012-01-01

Over the next few decades the older adult population will increase dramatically, and prevalence rates of psychiatric disorders are also expected to increase in the elderly cohort. These demographic projections highlight the need for diagnostic instruments and methods that are specifically tailored to older adults. The current paper discusses the…

A comparative study of negative life events and depressive symptoms among healthy older adults and older adults with chronic disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Han; Gao, Tingting; Gao, Jinglei; Kong, Yixi; Hu, Yueyang; Wang, Ruimei; Mei, Songli

2017-12-01

This study aims to study internal relations and functionary mechanism between social support, coping style, negative life events and depressive symptoms and compare these relations in healthy older adults and older adults with chronic disease. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015. In total, 1,264 older adults with chronic disease and 749 healthy older adults participated in this investigation which consist of socio-demographic characters, negative life events, social support, coping style and depressive symptoms. The path and direction of variable function in healthy older adults were inconsistent with older adults with chronic disease. Older adults with chronic disease had more severe depressive symptoms and negative life events, and lower social support and positive coping style. Negative life events, subjective support, positive coping style and negative coping style were significantly predicted depressive symptoms. Objective support may weaken the influence of negative life events on depressive symptoms in chronic disease group. Utilization of support and positive coping style worsen the effect of negative life events on depressive symptoms in healthy older adults. This study implied that to improve their mental health, attention should be paid to the role of biological, psychological and social stress factors and its inherent law of interaction.

Perceptions of exercise screening among older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Stathokostas, Liza; Petrella, Andrea F M; Blunt, Wendy; Petrella, Robert J

2018-06-01

Prephysical activity screening is important for older adults' participating in physical activity. Unfortunately, many older adults face barriers to exercise participation and thus, may not complete proper physical activity screening. The purpose of this project was to conduct a thematic analysis of perceptions and experiences of community-dwelling older adults regarding prephysical activity screening (i.e., Get Active Questionnaire (GAQ) and a standardized exercise stress test). A convenience sample of adults (male n = 58, female n = 54) aged 75 ± 7 years living in the City of London, Ontario, Canada, was used. Participants completed a treadmill stress test and the GAQ at a research laboratory for community-based referrals. One week later, participants completed the GAQ again and were asked questions by a research assistant about their perceptions of the screening process. Thematic analysis of the responses was conducted. The results indicated that older adults view physical activity screening as acceptable, but not always necessary. Also, the experiences expressed by this sample of older adults indicated that physical activity screening can contribute to continued confidence (through reassurance) and can contribute to increased motivation (through yearly fitness results) in exercise participation. In conclusion, older adults may perceive screening as supportive in exercise adoption, if screening is simple, convenient, and supports older adults' motivation and confidence to exercise.

Suicide in older adults: current perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Conejero I

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Ismael Conejero,1,2 Emilie Olié,1–3 Philippe Courtet,1–3 Raffaella Calati1–3 1Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM, University of Montpellier, Neuropsychiatry: Epidemiological and Clinical Research, Montpellier, France; 2Department of Emergency Psychiatry and Post-Acute Care, Lapeyronie Hospital, Center Hospitalier Universitairere (CHU Montpellier, Montpellier, France; 3FondaMental Foundation, Créteil, France Abstract: Suicidal behavior in older adults (65 years old and over is a major public health issue in many countries. Suicide rates increase during the life course and are as high as 48.7/100,000 among older white men in the USA. Specific health conditions and stress factors increase the complexity of the explanatory model for suicide in older adults. A PubMed literature search was performed to identify most recent and representative studies on suicide risk factors in older adults. The aim of our narrative review was to provide a critical evaluation of recent findings concerning specific risk factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviors among older people: psychiatric and neurocognitive disorders, social exclusion, bereavement, cognitive impairment, decision making and cognitive inhibition, physical illnesses, and physical and psychological pain. We also aimed to approach the problem of euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide in older adults. Our main findings emphasize the need to integrate specific stress factors, such as feelings of social disconnectedness, neurocognitive impairment or decision making, as well as chronic physical illnesses and disability in suicide models and in suicide prevention programs in older adults. Furthermore, the chronic care model should be adapted for the treatment of older people with long-term conditions in order to improve the treatment of depressive disorders and the prevention of suicidal thoughts and acts. Keywords: suicide, attempted suicide, older adults, risk

Physical activity during hospitalization: Activities and preferences of adults versus older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Meesters, Jorit; Conijn, D; Vermeulen, H M; Vliet Vlieland, Tpm

2018-04-16

Inactivity during hospitalization leads to a functional decline and an increased risk of complications. To date, studies focused on older adults. This study aims to compare the physical activities performed by older adult and adult hospitalized patients. Patients hospitalized for >3 days at a university hospital completed a questionnaire regarding their physical activities (% of days on which an activity was performed divided by the length of stay) and physical activity needs during hospitalization. Crude and adjusted comparisons of older adult (>60 years) and adult (≤60 years) patients were performed using parametric testing and regression analyses. Of 524 patients, 336 (64%) completed the questionnaire, including 166 (49%) older adult patients. On average, the patients were physically active on 35% or less of the days during their hospitalization. Linear regression analysis showed no significant associations between being an older adult and performing physical activities after adjusting for gender, length of stay, surgical intervention, and meeting physical activity recommendations prior to hospitalization. Most patients were well informed regarding physical activity during hospitalization; however, the older adult patients reported a need for information regarding physical activities after hospitalization more frequently (odds ratios, 2.47) after adjusting for educational level, gender, and physical therapy during hospitalization. Both older adult and adult patients are physically inactive during hospitalization, and older adult patients express a greater need for additional information regarding physical activity after hospitalization than adult patients. Therefore, personalized strategies that inform and motivate patients to resume physical activities during hospitalization are needed regardless of age.

Spatial vision in older adults: perceptual changes and neural bases.

Science.gov (United States)

McKendrick, Allison M; Chan, Yu Man; Nguyen, Bao N

2018-05-17

The number of older adults is rapidly increasing internationally, leading to a significant increase in research on how healthy ageing impacts vision. Most clinical assessments of spatial vision involve simple detection (letter acuity, grating contrast sensitivity, perimetry). However, most natural visual environments are more spatially complicated, requiring contrast discrimination, and the delineation of object boundaries and contours, which are typically present on non-uniform backgrounds. In this review we discuss recent research that reports on the effects of normal ageing on these more complex visual functions, specifically in the context of recent neurophysiological studies. Recent research has concentrated on understanding the effects of healthy ageing on neural responses within the visual pathway in animal models. Such neurophysiological research has led to numerous, subsequently tested, hypotheses regarding the likely impact of healthy human ageing on specific aspects of spatial vision. Healthy normal ageing impacts significantly on spatial visual information processing from the retina through to visual cortex. Some human data validates that obtained from studies of animal physiology, however some findings indicate that rethinking of presumed neural substrates is required. Notably, not all spatial visual processes are altered by age. Healthy normal ageing impacts significantly on some spatial visual processes (in particular centre-surround tasks), but leaves contrast discrimination, contrast adaptation, and orientation discrimination relatively intact. The study of older adult vision contributes to knowledge of the brain mechanisms altered by the ageing process, can provide practical information regarding visual environments that older adults may find challenging, and may lead to new methods of assessing visual performance in clinical environments. © 2018 The Authors Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics © 2018 The College of Optometrists.

Attitudes of neurology specialists toward older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Seferoğlu, Meral; Yıldız, Demet; Pekel, Nilüfer Büyükkoyuncu; Güneş, Aygül; Yıldız, Abdülmecit; Tufan, Fatih

2017-08-01

Attitude of healthcare providers toward older people is very important in the aging world. Neurologists contact older adults very frequently. We aimed to investigate the attitudes of neurologists toward older adults. We recorded participants age; sex; duration of clinical practice in neurology; existence of older adult relatives; and history of geriatrics education, nursing home visits, older adult patient density in their clinical practice, and participation in voluntary public activities. UCLA Geriatrics Attitude Scale was used to evaluate participants' attitudes. A total of 100 neurologists participated in this study. Seventy-seven percent had positive, 3 % had neutral, and 20 % had negative attitudes. Twenty-seven percent of the participants had history of geriatrics education, and these participants tended to have a higher rate of positive attitudes. Neurologists with positive attitudes tended to be older than those with negative attitudes. Participants with history of living with older adult relatives had lower rates of positive attitudes. The most common diagnoses of the patients the participants encountered were stroke and dementia. Independent factors associated with positive attitudes were history of geriatrics education and older age. History of living with older relatives tended to have a negative effect. Most of the negative items of the attitude scale were associated with the natural course and behavior of the common diseases in neurology practice. Generalization of geriatrics education may translate into a better understanding and improved care for older patients. Development of instruments and implementation of qualitative studies to assess attitudes of neurologists toward older adults are needed.

Resilience in Rural Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Wells, Margaret

2009-01-01

Context: Identifying ways to meet the health care needs of older adults is important because their numbers are increasing and they often have more health care issues. High resilience level may be one factor that helps older adults adjust to the hardships associated with aging. Rural community-dwelling older adults often face unique challenges such…

Multitasking in older adults with type 2 diabetes: A cross-sectional analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Rucker, Jason L; McDowd, Joan M; Mahnken, Jonathan D; Burns, Jeffrey M; Sabus, Carla H; Britton-Carpenter, Amanda J; Utech, Nora B; Kluding, Patricia M

2017-01-01

Deficits in the ability to multitask contribute to gait abnormalities and falls in many at-risk populations. However, it is unclear whether older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) also demonstrate impairments in multitasking. The purpose of this study was to compare multitasking performance in cognitively intact older adults with and without DM and explore its relationship to measures of gait and functional ability. We performed a cross-sectional analysis of 40 individuals aged 60 and older with type 2 DM and a matched group of 40 cognitively intact older adults without DM. Multitasking was examined via the ambulatory Walking and Remembering Test (WART) and seated Pursuit Rotor Test (PRT). Self-selected normal and fast walking speed and stride length variability were quantitatively measured, and self-reported functional ability was assessed via the Late Life Function and Disability Index (LLFDI). Participants with DM walked slower and took more steps off path when multitasking during the WART. No between-group differences in multitasking performance were observed on the PRT. Multitasking performance demonstrated little correlation with gait and functional ability in either group. Older adults with DM appear to perform poorly on an ambulatory measure of multitasking. However, we analyzed a relatively small, homogenous sample of older adults with and without type 2 DM and factors such as peripheral neuropathy and the use of multiple comparisons complicate interpretation of the data. Future research should explore the interactions between multitasking and safety, fall risk, and function in this vulnerable population. Clinicians should recognize that an array of factors may contribute to gait and physical dysfunction in older adults with type 2 diabetes, and be prepared to assess and intervene appropriately.

Neuroimaging Characteristics of Small-Vessel Disease in Older Adults with Normal Cognition, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Alzheimer Disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alberto Mimenza-Alvarado

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Cerebral small-vessel disease (SVD represents the most frequent type of vascular brain lesions, often coexisting with Alzheimer disease (AD. By quantifying white matter hyperintensities (WMH and hippocampal and parietal atrophy, we aimed to describe the prevalence and severity of SVD among older adults with normal cognition (NC, mild cognitive impairment (MCI, and probable AD and to describe associated risk factors. Methods: This study included 105 older adults evaluated with magnetic resonance imaging and clinical and neuropsychological tests. We used the Fazekas scale (FS for quantification of WMH, the Scheltens scale (SS for hippocampal atrophy, and the Koedam scale (KS for parietal atrophy. Logistic regression models were performed to determine the association between FS, SS, and KS scores and the presence of NC, MCI, or probable AD. Results: Compared to NC subjects, SVD was more prevalent in MCI and probable AD subjects. After adjusting for confounding factors, logistic regression showed a positive association between higher scores on the FS and probable AD (OR = 7.6, 95% CI 2.7–20, p < 0.001. With the use of the SS and KS (OR = 4.5, 95% CI 3.5–58, p = 0.003 and OR = 8.9, 95% CI 1–72, p = 0.04, respectively, the risk also remained significant for probable AD. Conclusions: These results suggest an association between severity of vascular brain lesions and neurodegeneration.

Stumbling over obstacles in older adults compared to young adults

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schillings, AM; Mulder, T; Duysens, J

Falls are a major problem in older adults. Many falls occur because of stumbling. The aim of the present study is to investigate stumbling reactions of older adults and to compare them with young adults. While subjects walked on a treadmill, a rigid obstacle unexpectedly obstructed the forward sway

Association between sleep duration and sarcopenia among community-dwelling older adults: A cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Xiaoyi; Jiang, Jiaojiao; Wang, Haozhong; Zhang, Lei; Dong, Birong; Yang, Ming

2017-03-01

Both sleep disorders and sarcopenia are common among older adults. However, little is known about the relationship between these 2 conditions.This study aimed to investigate the possible association between sleep duration and sarcopenia in a population of Chinese community-dwelling older adults.Community-dwelling older adults aged 60 years or older were recruited. Self-reported sleep duration, anthropometric data, gait speed, and handgrip strength were collected by face-to-face interviews. Sarcopenia was defined according to the recommended algorithm of the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS).We included 607 participants aged 70.6 ± 6.6 years (range, 60-90 years) in the analyses. The prevalence of sarcopenia in the whole study population was 18.5%. In women, the prevalence of sarcopenia was significantly higher in the short sleep duration group (hours) and long sleep duration group (>8 hours) compared with women in the normal sleep duration group (6-8 hours; 27.5%, 22.2% and 13.9%, respectively; P = .014). Similar results were found in men; however, the differences between groups were not statistically significant (18.5%, 20.6%, and 13.0%, respectively; P = .356). After adjustments for the potential confounding factors, older women having short sleep duration (OR: 4.34; 95% CI: 1.74-10.85) or having long sleep duration (OR: 2.50; 95% CI: 1.05-6.99) had greater risk of sarcopenia compared with women having normal sleep duration. With comparison to men with normal sleep duration, the adjusted OR for sarcopenia was 2.12 (0.96-8.39) in the short sleep duration group and 2.25 (0.88-6.87) in the long sleep duration group, respectively.A U-shape relationship between self-reported sleep duration and sarcopenia was identified in a population of Chinese community-dwelling older adults, especially in women.

Tricks of the Trade: Motivating Sales Agents to Con Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

DeLiema, Marguerite; Yon, Yongjie; Wilber, Kathleen H

2016-04-01

Financial fraud is estimated to cost consumers approximately $50 billion annually. To examine how new hires are trained to engage in fraud, this study analyzed a sales training transcript from Alliance for Mature Americans (Alliance). In 1996, Alliance was charged with using deception and misrepresentation to sell more than $200 million worth of living trusts and annuities to 10,000 older adults in California. Transcribed recordings from a 2-day Alliance sales training seminar were analyzed using NVivo10, coded inductively, and examined to identify emergent themes. Predominant themes were as follows: (a) indoctrination using incentives and neutralization techniques and (b) training on persuasion tactics targeted at older adults. Findings suggest that sales training focuses on establishing the company's legitimacy, normalizing unethical sales practices, and refining trainees' knowledge about how to influence older consumers. Predatory and fraudulent businesses peddling ill-suited products threaten the economic security of older Americans. Improved insights into sales manipulation strategies can guide the development of protective policies including educational approaches to help older adults detect scams and resist purchasing fraudulent products. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Bridging the digital divide in older adults: a study from an initiative to inform older adults about new technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Ya-Huei; Damnée, Souad; Kerhervé, Hélène; Ware, Caitlin; Rigaud, Anne-Sophie

2015-01-01

In a society where technology progresses at an exponential rate, older adults are often unaware of the existence of different kinds of information and communication technologies (ICTs). To bridge the gap, we launched a 2-year project, during which we conducted focus groups (FGs) with demonstrations of ICTs, allowing older adults to try them out and to share their opinions. This study aimed at investigating how participants perceived this kind of initiative and how they reacted to different kinds of ICTs. In total, 14 FGs were conducted with community-dwelling older adults, with a frequency of two FGs on the same topic once per trimester. Twenty-three older adults (four men and 19 women) attended at least one FG but only nearly half of them were regular attendants (ten participating in at least five sessions). Age of participants ranged from 63 years to 88 years, with a mean of 77.1 years. All of them had completed secondary education. The analyses of the data were performed according to inductive thematic analysis. Four overarching themes emerged from the analysis. The first concerned participants' motivation for and assessment of the project. The second theme identified the underlying factors of the "digital divide" between the younger and the older generations. The third theme concerned the factors of technology adoption among older adults. The fourth one identified participants' attitudes toward assistive ICTs, designed specifically for older adults ("gerontechnologies"). This project encouraging older adults to be informed about different kinds of ICTs was positively rated. With regard to ICTs, participants perceived a digital divide. The underlying factors are generation/cohort effects, cognitive and physical decline related to aging, and negative attitudes toward technologies. However, more and more older adults adopt different kinds of ICTs in order to fit in with the society. Concerning assistive ICTs, they manifested a lack of perceived need and usefulness

Coping and health in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Yancura, Loriena A; Aldwin, Carolyn M

2008-02-01

Although coping has been shown to influence physical health in younger populations, whether coping affects health in older adults appears to depend upon how coping and health are conceptualized. This article reviews recent literature on coping and health in older adults in three areas. First, we discuss coping's distinct relevance to health in older adults. Second, we describe ways in which coping may differ between older and younger populations. Third, we detail recent and notable findings of coping's specific effects on biomedical health and health in general. The recent literature suggests that coping may be a developmental and multifaceted process. Positive coping strategies may have positive and even protective effects on health, whereas negative strategies may have negative effects.

Dietary intake and nutritional status in cancer patients; comparing adults and older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez Valiente da Silva, Henyse; Fonseca de Andrade, Camila; Bello Moreira, Annie Seixas

2014-04-01

Evaluate the nutrient intake and nutritional status of food in cancer patients admitted to a university hospital, with comparison of adult and older adult age category. Cross-sectional study. This study involved cancer patients admitted to a hospital in 2010. Dietary habits were collected using a Brazilian food frequency questionnaire. Participants were divided in two groups: adults or older adults and in 4-cancer category: hematologic, lung, gastrointestinal and others. Body Mass Index evaluated nutritional status. A total of 86 patients with a mean age of 56.5 years, with 55% males and 42% older adults were evaluated. The older adult category had a higher frequency of being underweight (24.4% vs 16.3%, p cancer, nor with nutritional status. The food intake, macro and micronutrients ingestion is insufficient among cancer individuals. Food intake of older adults was inferior, when compared to the adult category. There was a high prevalence of BMI excess in the adult group and a worst nutritional status in the older adult category. Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.

Leukocyte count, systemic inflammation, and health status in older adults: a narrative review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chmielewski Piotr

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Epidemiological and clinical studies suggest that elevated leukocyte count within the normal range can predict cardiovascular and total mortality in older adults. These findings are remarkable because this simple and common laboratory test is included in routine medical check-ups. It is well known that chronic systemic inflammation (inflammaging is one of the hallmarks of aging and an important component of obesity-associated insulin resistance that can lead to type 2 diabetes and other health problems in both overweight individuals and elderly people. To understand the molecular mechanisms linking increased systemic inflammation with aging-associated diseases and elevated leukocyte counts in the elderly is to unravel the multiplicity of molecular factors and mechanisms involved in chronic low-grade systemic inflammation, the gradual accumulation of random molecular damage, age-related diseases, and the process of leukopoiesis. There are several possible mechanisms through which chronic low-grade systemic inflammation is associated with both higher leukocyte count and a greater risk of aging-associated conditions in older adults. For example, the IL-6 centric model predicts that this biomediator is involved in chronic systemic inflammation and leukopoiesis, thereby suggesting that elevated leukocyte count is a signal of poor health in older adults. Alternatively, an increase in neutrophil and monocyte counts can be a direct cause of cardiovascular events in the elderly. Interestingly, some authors assert that the predictive ability of elevated leukocyte counts with regard to cardiovascular and allcause mortality among older adults surpass the predictive value of total cholesterol. This review reports the recent findings on the links between elevated but normal leukocyte counts and the increased risks of all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality. The possible molecular mechanisms linking higher but normal leukocyte counts with increased

The role of chiropractic care in older adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dougherty Paul E

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract There are a rising number of older adults; in the US alone nearly 20% of the population will be 65 or older by 2030. Chiropractic is one of the most frequently utilized types of complementary and alternative care by older adults, used by an estimated 5% of older adults in the U.S. annually. Chiropractic care involves many different types of interventions, including preventive strategies. This commentary by experts in the field of geriatrics, discusses the evidence for the use of spinal manipulative therapy, acupuncture, nutritional counseling and fall prevention strategies as delivered by doctors of chiropractic. Given the utilization of chiropractic services by the older adult, it is imperative that providers be familiar with the evidence for and the prudent use of different management strategies for older adults.

Multitasking in older adults with type 2 diabetes: A cross-sectional analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jason L Rucker

Full Text Available Deficits in the ability to multitask contribute to gait abnormalities and falls in many at-risk populations. However, it is unclear whether older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM also demonstrate impairments in multitasking. The purpose of this study was to compare multitasking performance in cognitively intact older adults with and without DM and explore its relationship to measures of gait and functional ability.We performed a cross-sectional analysis of 40 individuals aged 60 and older with type 2 DM and a matched group of 40 cognitively intact older adults without DM. Multitasking was examined via the ambulatory Walking and Remembering Test (WART and seated Pursuit Rotor Test (PRT. Self-selected normal and fast walking speed and stride length variability were quantitatively measured, and self-reported functional ability was assessed via the Late Life Function and Disability Index (LLFDI.Participants with DM walked slower and took more steps off path when multitasking during the WART. No between-group differences in multitasking performance were observed on the PRT. Multitasking performance demonstrated little correlation with gait and functional ability in either group.Older adults with DM appear to perform poorly on an ambulatory measure of multitasking. However, we analyzed a relatively small, homogenous sample of older adults with and without type 2 DM and factors such as peripheral neuropathy and the use of multiple comparisons complicate interpretation of the data. Future research should explore the interactions between multitasking and safety, fall risk, and function in this vulnerable population. Clinicians should recognize that an array of factors may contribute to gait and physical dysfunction in older adults with type 2 diabetes, and be prepared to assess and intervene appropriately.

Older Adults' Acceptance of Information Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lin; Rau, Pei-Luen Patrick; Salvendy, Gavriel

2011-01-01

This study investigated variables contributing to older adults' information technology acceptance through a survey, which was used to find factors explaining and predicting older adults' information technology acceptance behaviors. Four factors, including needs satisfaction, perceived usability, support availability, and public acceptance, were…

Emergency Department and Older Adult Motor Vehicle Collisions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lotfipour, Shahram

2013-11-01

Full Text Available In 2009, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported there were 33 million licensed drivers 65 years and older in the U.S. This represents a 23 percent increase from 1999, number that is predicted to double by 2030. Although, motor vehicle collisions (MVC-related to emergency department (ED visits for older adults are lower per capita than for younger adults, the older-adults MVCs require more resources, such as additional diagnostic imaging and increased odds of admission. Addressing the specific needs of older-adults could lead to better outcomes yet not enough research currently exists. It is important to continue training emergency physicians to treat the increasing older-patient population, but its also imperative we increase our injury prevention and screening methodology. We review research findings from the article: Emergency Department Visits by Older Adults for Motor Vehicle Collisions: A Five-year national study, with commentary on current recommendation and policies for the growing older-adult driving population. [West J Emerg Med.2013;14(6:582–584.

Effects of a Forgiveness Intervention for Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Allemand, Mathias; Steiner, Marianne; Hill, Patrick L.

2013-01-01

The authors' aim in the present study was to examine the effects of a brief forgiveness intervention for older adults. The psychoeducational group intervention consists of (a) established core components of previous forgiveness interventions and (b) additional components considering specific needs of older adults. Seventy-eight older adults (mean…

Improving associative memory in older adults with unitization.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad, Fahad N; Fernandes, Myra; Hockley, William E

2015-01-01

We examined if unitization inherent preexperimentally could reduce the associative deficit in older adults. In Experiment 1, younger and older adults studied compound word (CW; e.g., store keeper) and noncompound word (NCW; e.g., needle birth) pairs. We found a reduction in the age-related associative deficit such that older but not younger adults showed a discrimination advantage for CW relative to NCW pairs on a yes-no associative recognition test. These results suggest that CW compared to NCW word pairs provide schematic support that older adults can use to improve their memory. In Experiment 2, reducing study time in younger adults decreased associative recognition performance, but did not produce a discrimination advantage for CW pairs. In Experiment 3, both older and younger adults showed a discrimination advantage for CW pairs on a two-alternative forced-choice recognition test, which encourages greater use of familiarity. These results suggest that test format influenced young adults' use of familiarity during associative recognition of unitized pairs, and that older adults rely more on familiarity than recollection for associative recognition. Unitization of preexperimental associations, as in CW pairs, can alleviate age-related associative deficits.

Visual function affects prosocial behaviors in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Teoli, Dac A; Smith, Merideth D; Leys, Monique J; Jain, Priyanka; Odom, J Vernon

2016-02-01

Eye-related pathological conditions such as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and age-related macular degeneration commonly lead to decreased peripheral/central field, decreased visual acuity, and increased functional disability. We sought to answer if relationships exist between measures of visual function and reported prosocial behaviors in an older adult population with eye-related diagnoses. The sample consisted of adults, aged ≥ 60 years old, at an academic hospital's eye institute. Vision ranged from normal to severe impairment. Medical charts determined the visual acuities, ocular disease, duration of disease (DD), and visual fields (VF). Measures of giving help were via validated questionnaires on giving formal support (GFS) and giving informal support; measures of help received were perceived support (PS) and informal support received (ISR). ISR had subscales: tangible support (ISR-T), emotional support (ISR-E), and composite (ISR-C). Visual acuities of the better and worse seeing eyes were converted to LogMAR values. VF information converted to a 4-point rating scale of binocular field loss severity. DD was in years. Among 96 participants (mean age 73.28; range 60-94), stepwise regression indicated a relationship of visual variables to GFS (p T (p prosocial behavior in older adults.

Population Health Management for Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Tkatch, Rifky; Musich, Shirley; MacLeod, Stephanie; Alsgaard, Kathleen; Hawkins, Kevin; Yeh, Charlotte S.

2016-01-01

Background: The older adult population is expanding, living longer, with multiple chronic conditions. Understanding and managing their needs over time is an integral part of defining successful aging. Population health is used to describe the measurement and health outcomes of a population. Objectives: To define population health as applied to older adults, summarize lessons learned from current research, and identify potential interventions designed to promote successful aging and improved health for this population. Method: Online search engines were utilized to identify research on population health and health interventions for older adults. Results: Population health management (PHM) is one strategy to promote the health and well-being of target populations. Interventions promoting health across a continuum tend to be disease, risk, or health behavior specific rather than encompassing a global concept of health. Conclusion: Many existing interventions for older adults are simply research based with limited generalizability; as such, further work in this area is warranted. PMID:28680938

Piloting the older adult financial exploitation measure in adult safeguarding services.

Science.gov (United States)

Phelan, A; Fealy, G; Downes, C

Financial abuse is arguably the most complex form of elder abuse as it may occur remote to the older person and it is impacted by issues such as cultural values, perpetrator intent and family expectations. Financial abuse may not be recognised by either the older person or the perpetrator, thus, its prevention, early identification and amelioration are important. The (Irish) National Centre for the Protection of Older People undertook a study to determine the appropriateness of the Older Adult Financial Exploitation Measure for use by the national safeguarding older person services. Findings from a small pilot study involving 16 safeguarding staff's use of the Older Adult Financial Exploitation Measure with 52 community dwelling older people referred to their service demonstrate a higher suspicion of financial abuse as well as identifying multiple instances of possible financial exploitation in a single individual. Thus, the Older Adult Financial Exploitation Measure is considered appropriate to assist safeguarding personnel's assessment of older people related to a suspicion of financial abuse. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Association between statin use and physical function among community-dwelling older Japanese adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawai, Hisashi; Ihara, Kazushige; Kera, Takeshi; Hirano, Hirohiko; Fujiwara, Yoshinori; Tanaka, Masashi; Kojima, Motonaga; Obuchi, Shuichi

2018-04-01

Statin-associated muscle symptoms (SAMS) are the muscle-related side-effects of statins, but the association between statin use and physical function among community-dwelling older adults is unclear. The objective of the present study was to examine the association between statin use and physical function among community-dwelling older Japanese adults by considering the risk factors of statin-associated muscle symptoms. The participants were 1022 community-dwelling older adults aged 65-88 years, who participated in comprehensive health checkups from 2013 to 2015. Statin use in the participants (381 men and 559 women) was verified by using data from their medicine notebooks. The differences between statin use (users and non-users) and physical functions (grip strength, knee extension torque, normal and maximum gait speed, Timed Up & Go test, one-legged stance, quadriceps muscle thickness and echo intensity) were analyzed using the t-test. Multiple regression analyses were also carried out to examine the association between statin use and physical function. A total of 93 men (24.4%) and 154 women (27.5%) were statin users. Grip strength, normal gait speed and one-legged stance declined significantly in statin users compared with the non-users. In multiple regression analysis while controlling for the risk factors of statin-associated muscle symptoms, including age, sex, body mass index and number of medicines, no independent association, between statin use and the reduction of physical functions, was observed. Statin use was not associated with the decline of physical function in community-dwelling older Japanese adults. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2018; 18: 623-630. © 2017 Japan Geriatrics Society.

Alcohol and prescription drug safety in older adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zanjani F

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Faika Zanjani,1,2 Aasha I Hoogland,1 Brian G Downer11Department of Gerontology, 2Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USABackground: The objectives of this study were to investigate older adults' knowledge of prescription drug safety and interactions with alcohol, and to identify pharmacists' willingness to disseminate prescription drug safety information to older adults.Methods: The convenience sample consisted of 48 older adults aged 54–89 years who were recruited from a local pharmacy and who completed surveys addressing their alcohol consumption, understanding of alcohol and prescription drug interactions, and willingness to change habits regarding alcohol consumption and prescription drugs. To address pharmacist willingness, 90 pharmacists from local pharmacies volunteered and answered questions regarding their willingness to convey prescription drug safety information to older adults.Results: Older adults reported low knowledge of alcohol and prescription drug safety, with women tending to be slightly more knowledgeable. More importantly, those who drank in the previous few months were less willing to talk to family and friends about how alcohol can have harmful interactions with prescription drugs, or to be an advocate for safe alcohol and prescription drug use than those who had not had a drink recently. Pharmacists reported that they were willing to convey prescription drug safety information to older adults via a variety of formats, including displaying or distributing a flyer, and directly administering a brief intervention.Conclusion: In this study, older adults were found to have inadequate knowledge of prescription drug safety and interactions with alcohol, but pharmacists who regularly come in contact with older adults indicated that they were ready and willing to talk to older adults about prescription drug safety. Future research should focus on interventions

How retellings shape younger and older adults' memories.

Science.gov (United States)

Barber, Sarah J; Mather, Mara

2014-04-01

The way a story is retold influences the way it is later remembered; after retelling an event in a biased manner people subsequently remember the event in line with their distorted retelling. This study tested the hypothesis that this should be especially true for older adults. To test this, older and younger adults retold a story to be entertaining, to be accurate, or did not complete an initial retelling. Later, all participants recalled the story as accurately as possible. On this final test younger adults were unaffected by how they had previously retold the story. In contrast, older adults had better memory for the story's content and structure if they had previously retold the story accurately. Furthermore, for older adults, greater usage of storytelling language during the retelling was associated with lower subsequent recall. In summary, retellings exerted a greater effect on memory in older, compared with younger, adults.

Interference from previous distraction disrupts older adults' memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Biss, Renée K; Campbell, Karen L; Hasher, Lynn

2013-07-01

Previously relevant information can disrupt the ability of older adults to remember new information. Here, the researchers examined whether prior irrelevant information, or distraction, can also interfere with older adults' memory for new information. Younger and older adults first completed a 1-back task on pictures that were superimposed with distracting words. After a delay, participants learned picture-word paired associates and memory was tested using picture-cued recall. In 1 condition (high interference), some pairs included pictures from the 1-back task now paired with new words. In a low-interference condition, the transfer list used all new items. Older adults had substantially lower cued-recall performance in the high- compared with the low-interference condition. In contrast, younger adults' performance did not vary across conditions. These findings suggest that even never-relevant information from the past can disrupt older adults' memory for new associations.

Health Literacy and Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Chesser, Amy K.; Keene Woods, Nikki; Smothers, Kyle; Rogers, Nicole

2016-01-01

Objective: The objective of this review was to assess published literature relating to health literacy and older adults. Method: The current review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta Analyses. Results: Eight articles met inclusion criteria. All studies were conducted in urban settings in the United States. Study sample size ranged from 33 to 3,000 participants. Two studies evaluated health-related outcomes and reported significant associations between low health literacy and poorer health outcomes. Two other studies investigated the impact of health literacy on medication management, reporting mixed findings. Discussion: The findings of this review highlight the importance of working to improve health care strategies for older adults with low health literacy and highlight the need for a standardized and validated clinical health literacy screening tool for older adults. PMID:28138488

Changing Students' Stereotypes of Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Wurtele, Sandy K.; Maruyama, LaRae

2013-01-01

Research suggests that university students tend to hold negative attitudes about older adults. However, there is some evidence to suggest that these ageist attitudes can be challenged and changed through curricular intervention. The current study was designed to determine whether the "Activities of Older Adults" exercise as part of a…

Feasibility of Wii Fit training to improve clinical measures of balance in older adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bieryla KA

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Kathleen A Bieryla, Neil M DoldBiomedical Engineering Department, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, USABackground and purpose: Numerous interventions have been proposed to improve balance in older adults with varying degrees of success. A novel approach may be to use an off-the-shelf video game system utilizing real-time force feedback to train older adults. The purpose of this study is to investigate the feasibility of using Nintendo's Wii Fit for training to improve clinical measures of balance in older adults and to retain the improvements after a period of time.Methods: Twelve healthy older adults (aged >70 years were randomly divided into two groups. The experimental group completed training using Nintendo's Wii Fit game three times a week for 3 weeks while the control group continued with normal activities. Four clinical measures of balance were assessed before training, 1 week after training, and 1 month after training: Berg Balance Scale (BBS, Fullerton Advanced Balance (FAB scale, Functional Reach (FR, and Timed Up and Go (TUG. Friedman two-way analysis of variance by ranks was conducted on the control and experimental group to determine if training using the Wii Balance Board with Wii Fit had an influence on clinical measures of balance.Results: Nine older adults completed the study (experimental group n = 4, control group n = 5. The experimental group significantly increased their BBS after training while the control group did not. There was no significant change for either group with FAB, FR, and TUG.Conclusion: Balance training with Nintendo's Wii Fit may be a novel way for older adults to improve balance as measured by the BBS.Keywords: older adults, balance, training

Sexuality in Older Adults (65+)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Træen, Bente; Carvalheira, Ana; Kvalem, Ingela Lundin

2017-01-01

with their bodies than men, particularly in sexual contexts, older women appear to be less vulnerable to body-related dissatisfaction than younger women. Despite the age-specific dynamics of sexual satisfaction and sexual well-being, which parallel age-related decrease in the frequency of sexual activity, research...... findings from different countries show that substantial proportions of aging men and women are satisfied with their sex life. There is some limited evidence that this proportion may be increasing across cohorts. Gender differences in factors that influence sexual satisfaction among older adults appear...... marginal. Conclusion: Older age can affect sexual satisfaction on individual, interpersonal, and culture-related levels. Future research in older adults' sexuality should focus on sexual well-being in women who are without partners, sexual satisfaction among aging lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender...

Implementing reverse mentoring to address social isolation among older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Breck, Bethany M; Dennis, Cory B; Leedahl, Skye N

2018-07-01

Reverse mentoring is a means to address the social work Grand Challenge of social isolation. Among older adults, reverse mentoring can improve social connection by increasing the digital competence of older adults so they can use technology for social benefit, and by facilitating intergenerational connections with young adult mentors. In this paper, reverse mentoring is examined within an intergenerational program that serves older adults and utilizes the native technological knowledge and skills of young adults who mentor older adult participants. Qualitative data were collected through young adult mentor logs of each session, and through open-ended questions on the post-surveys collected from older adults and young adult mentors. Qualitative analysis revealed three themes related to social connection: (1) an increased sense of self-efficacy for older adults as they build confidence in technological use, and for young adults as they develop leadership skills through mentoring, (2) the breaking down of age-related stereotypes, and (3) intergenerational engagement and connection. The findings demonstrate that reverse mentoring can be used in various settings to decrease the social isolation of older adults by developing intergenerational connections and increasing older adult usage of technology.

Age and Gender Effects on Wideband Absorbance in Adults with Normal Outer and Middle Ear Function

Science.gov (United States)

Mazlan, Rafidah; Kei, Joseph; Ya, Cheng Li; Yusof, Wan Nur Hanim Mohd; Saim, Lokman; Zhao, Fei

2015-01-01

Purpose: This study examined the effects of age and gender on wideband energy absorbance in adults with normal middle ear function. Method: Forty young adults (14 men, 26 women, aged 20-38 years), 31 middle-aged adults (16 men, 15 women, aged 42-64 years), and 30 older adults (20 men, 10 women, aged 65-82 years) were assessed. Energy absorbance…

Exploring Life Satisfaction Among Older Adults in Dakar.

Science.gov (United States)

Macia, Enguerran; Duboz, Priscilla; Montepare, Joann M; Gueye, Lamine

2015-12-01

Studies on correlates of subjective well-being of older adults are virtually non-existent in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, understanding and improving the well-being of older adults should be a focal point of research and policy directed at this fast growing population. The aim of this study was to assess the links between socio-demographic factors, economic conditions, health, social relations, and the life satisfaction of older adults in Dakar. To this end, a survey was conducted on a sample of 500 dwellers of the Senegalese capital, aged 50 to 100, using the quota method for greater representativeness. Results revealed that with advancing age older adults expressed greater life satisfaction, and that older women were more satisfied than older men. As well, economic conditions were a main predictor of life satisfaction, along with good social relations. In contrast to findings with Western populations, neither self-rated health nor physical disabilities were associated with aging adults' life satisfaction. Findings suggest a number of avenues for future research.

Lateral step initiation behavior in older adults

OpenAIRE

Sparto, Patrick J; Jennings, J Richard; Furman, Joseph M; Redfern, Mark S

2013-01-01

Older adults have varied postural responses during induced and voluntary lateral stepping. The purpose of the research was to quantify the occurrence of different stepping strategies during lateral step initiation in older adults and to relate the stepping responses to retrospective history of falls. Seventy community-ambulating older adults (mean age 76 y, range 70–94 y) performed voluntary lateral steps as quickly as possible to the right or left in response to a visual cue, in a blocked de...

Domestic violence and mental health in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Knight, Lucy; Hester, Marianne

2016-10-01

Domestic violence affects every age group and is present throughout the life span, but, while the mental health impact of domestic violence is clearly established in working age adults, less is known about the nature and impact of domestic violence among older adults. This review, therefore, aimed to synthesize findings on the prevalence, nature, and impact of domestic violence among older adults, and its identification and management. Electronic searches were conducted of Medline, PsycINFO, Cinahl, and Embase to identify studies reporting on the mental health and domestic violence in older adults. Findings suggested that, although prevalence figures are variable, the likely lifetime prevalence for women over the age of 65 is between 20-30%. Physical abuse is suggested to decrease with age, but rates of emotional abuse appear to be stable over the lifespan. Among older adults, domestic violence is strongly associated with physical and mental health problems, and the scarce research comparing the impact of domestic violence across the age cohorts suggests that the physical health of older victims may be more severely affected than younger victims. In contrast, there is evidence that older victims may experience less psychological distress in response to domestic violence than younger victims. Internationally, evidence on the management of domestic violence in older adults is sparse. Findings suggest, however, that identification of domestic violence is poor among older adults, and there are very limited options for onwards referral and support.

Suicide in older adults: a comparison with middle-aged adults using the Queensland Suicide Register.

Science.gov (United States)

Koo, Yu Wen; Kõlves, Kairi; De Leo, Diego

2017-03-01

Globally, suicide rates increase with age, being highest in older adults. This study analyzed differences in suicides in older adults (65 years and over) compared to middle-aged adults (35-64 years) in Queensland, Australia, during the years 2000-2012. The Queensland Suicide Register was utilized for the analysis. Annual suicide rates were calculated by gender and age group, and odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were examined. In Queensland, the average annual rate of suicides for older adults was 15.27 per 100,000 persons compared to 18.77 in middle-aged adults in 2000-2012. There were no significant changes in time trends for older adults in 2002-2012. Suicide methods differed between gender and age groups. Older adults who died by suicide were more likely to be male, widowed, living alone or in a nursing home, and out of the work force. The prevalence of untreated psychiatric conditions, diagnosed psychiatric disorders, and consultations with a mental health professional three months prior to death was lower in older adults than middle-aged adults. Somatic illness, bereavement, and attention to suicide in the media were more common among older adults than middle-age adults. Older females were particularly more likely to pay attention to suicide in the media. Our findings show older adults who died by suicide were more likely to experience somatic illnesses, bereavement, and pay attention to suicide in the media compared to middle aged. Preventing suicide in older adults would therefore require holistic and comprehensive approaches.

Pilot testing a digital pet avatar for older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Chi, Nai-Ching; Sparks, Olivia; Lin, Shih-Yin; Lazar, Amanda; Thompson, Hilaire J; Demiris, George

Social isolation in older adults is a major public health concern. An embodied conversational agent (ECA) has the potential to enhance older adults' social interaction. However, little is known about older adults' experience with an ECA. In this paper, we conducted a pilot study to examine the perceived acceptance and utility of a tablet-based conversational agent in the form of an avatar (termed "digital pet") for older adults. We performed secondary analysis of data collected from a study that employed the use of a digital pet in ten older adults' homes for three months. Most of the participants enjoyed the companionship, entertainment, reminders, and instant assistance from the digital pet. However, participants identified limited conversational ability and technical issues as system challenges. Privacy, dependence, and cost were major concerns. Future applications should maximize the agent's conversational ability and the system's overall usability. Our results can inform future designs of conversational agents for older adults, which need to include older adults as system co-designers to maximize usability and acceptance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Perceptions of emotion and age among younger, midlife, and older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Santorelli, Gennarina D; Ready, Rebecca E; Mather, Molly A

2018-03-01

Older adults report greater emotional well-being than younger persons, yet negative stereotypes about aging are pervasive. Little is known about age group perceptions of emotion in adulthood, particularly for familiar persons. Thus, this project determined perceptions of general affect in familiar younger and older adults. In two studies, participants (Study 1, younger adult n = 123, older adult n = 43; Study 2, younger adult n = 34, midlife adult n = 41, older adult n = 16) provided self-report data about their affect in general, as well as reported on the affect of a familiar younger person (aged 18--34) and a familiar older person (aged 65 or older). Emotion scales assessed high- and low-arousal positive and negative affect. Results suggest a less favorable perception of emotion experiences of older adults compared to younger adults. Specifically, participants of all age groups rated older adults as having lower positive emotions and higher negative emotions than is found in self-report data. Perceptions of emotion in older adulthood reflect stereotypes of negative functioning. Older adult participants were not immune to holding negative views about older adults. Negative perceptions about emotion experiences in later life may be detrimental to the physical and mental health of older adults.

ShopComm: Community-Supported Online Shopping for Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Gorkovenko, Katerina; Tigwell, Garreth W; Norrie, Christopher S; Waite, Miriam; Herron, Daniel

2017-01-01

The United Kingdom has an ageing population whose members experience significant life transitions as they grow older, for example, losing mobility due to deteriorating health. For these adults, digital technology has the potential to sustain their independence and improve their quality of life. However older adults can be reluctant to use digital solutions. In this paper, we review a local charity providing a grocery shopping service for older adults who are unable to go themselves. We explore how older adults perceive the benefits and drawbacks of both physical and digital shopping. Using these insights, we designed ShopComm to enable and support older adults with mobility impairments to shop online.

Framing effects in younger and older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sunghan; Goldstein, David; Hasher, Lynn; Zacks, Rose T

2005-07-01

A growing literature on decision making in older adults suggests that they are more likely to use heuristic processing than are younger adults. We assessed this tendency in the context of a framing effect, a decision-making phenomenon whereby the language used to describe options greatly influences the decision maker's choice. We compared decision making under a standard ("heuristic") condition and also under a "justification" condition known to reduce reliance on heuristics. In the standard condition, older adults were more susceptible than younger adults to framing but the two groups did not differ when participants were asked to provide a justification. Thus, although older adults may spontaneously rely more on heuristic processing than younger adults, they can be induced to take a more systematic approach to decision making.

Cancer: Unique to Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

... A to Z › Cancer › Unique to Older Adults Font size A A A Print Share Glossary Unique ... group with other older people with the same type of cancer. Researchers have found that support groups ...

Dual-task and electrophysiological markers of executive cognitive processing in older adult gait and fall-risk.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth A Walshe

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The role of cognition is becoming increasingly central to our understanding of the complexity of walking gait. Here, we report two experiments which investigated the cognitive and neural processes underlying older adult gait and fall-risk. Experiment 1 employed a dual-task paradigm in young and older adults, to assess the relative effects of higher-level executive function tasks (n-Back, Serial Subtraction and visuo-spatial Clock task in comparison to non-executive distracter tasks (motor response task and alphabet recitation on gait. All dual-tasks elicited changes in gait for both young and older adults, relative to baseline walking. Significantly greater dual-task costs were observed for the executive tasks in the older adult group, as hypothesized. Experiment 2 compared normal walking gait, seated cognitive performances and concurrent event-related brain potentials (ERPs in healthy young and older adults, to older adult fallers. No significant differences in cognitive performances were found between fallers and non-fallers. However, a clear P3a peak was evident on the Stroop task for older non-fallers, which was notably absent in older fallers. This may be indicative of the presence of some cortically-based compensatory process in this group, contributing to their reduced risk of falling. We argue that executive functions play a prominent role in walking and gait, but the role of higher cognition as a predictor of fall-risk needs further investigation.

Normal CT characteristics of the thymus in adults

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Simanovsky, Natalia, E-mail: natalias@hadassah.org.il [Department of Medical Imaging, Hadassah - Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem (Israel); Hiller, Nurith; Loubashevsky, Natali; Rozovsky, Katya [Department of Medical Imaging, Hadassah - Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem (Israel)

2012-11-15

Background: The thymus changes with age. Its shape and the proportion of solid tissue and fat vary between individuals, yet there is no comprehensive work describing the size and morphology of the normal thymus on CT. As a result, many adults with some preserved soft tissue in the thymus may undergo extensive work-up to exclude mediastinal tumor. Our aim was to quantify CT characteristics of the normal thymus in an adult population. Methods: CT chest scans of 194 trauma patients aged 14-78 years (mean 52.6 years), were retrospectively reviewed. The density, volume, shape and predominant side of the thymus were recorded for 56 patients in whom some solid tissue was preserved. Statistical analysis of these characteristics according to the patient age and gender was performed. Results: Thymic density and volume decreased progressively with age. No solid tissue component was seen in the thymus in patients older than 54 years. In the majority of patients, the thymus had an arrowhead shape, with middle position. However, great variability in thymic shape and border were noted. There was a highly significant relationship between density and patient age (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: We hope that our work will help in the definition of normal thymic CT parameters in adults, help to prevent unnecessary and expensive imaging procedures, and reduce patient exposure to ionizing radiation.

Normal CT characteristics of the thymus in adults

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simanovsky, Natalia; Hiller, Nurith; Loubashevsky, Natali; Rozovsky, Katya

2012-01-01

Background: The thymus changes with age. Its shape and the proportion of solid tissue and fat vary between individuals, yet there is no comprehensive work describing the size and morphology of the normal thymus on CT. As a result, many adults with some preserved soft tissue in the thymus may undergo extensive work-up to exclude mediastinal tumor. Our aim was to quantify CT characteristics of the normal thymus in an adult population. Methods: CT chest scans of 194 trauma patients aged 14–78 years (mean 52.6 years), were retrospectively reviewed. The density, volume, shape and predominant side of the thymus were recorded for 56 patients in whom some solid tissue was preserved. Statistical analysis of these characteristics according to the patient age and gender was performed. Results: Thymic density and volume decreased progressively with age. No solid tissue component was seen in the thymus in patients older than 54 years. In the majority of patients, the thymus had an arrowhead shape, with middle position. However, great variability in thymic shape and border were noted. There was a highly significant relationship between density and patient age (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: We hope that our work will help in the definition of normal thymic CT parameters in adults, help to prevent unnecessary and expensive imaging procedures, and reduce patient exposure to ionizing radiation.

The Digital Divide and urban older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Cresci, M Kay; Yarandi, Hossein N; Morrell, Roger W

2010-01-01

Computers and the Internet offer older adults opportunities and resources for independent living. However, many urban older adults do not use computers. This study examined the demographic, health, and social activities of urban older adults to determine variables that might predict the use and nonuse of computers in this population. A secondary data analysis was performed using the 2001 Detroit City-Wide Needs Assessment of Older Adults (n = 1410) data set. Logistic regression was used to explore potential differences in predictor variables between computer users and nonusers. Overall, computer users were younger (27%), had a higher level of education, were more likely to be employed, had an annual income greater than $20,000, and were healthier and more active than nonusers. They also were more likely to have memberships in community organizations and do volunteer work. Preferred computer activities included conducting Internet searches, playing games, writing, and communicating with family members and friends. The results suggest significant differences in demographic and health-related characteristics between computer users and nonusers among urban older adults. Although about a quarter of participants in this study used computers, the Digital Divide continues to exist in urban settings for scores of others.

Spouses of older adults with late-life drinking problems: health, family, and social functioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Moos, Rudolf H; Brennan, Penny L; Schutte, Kathleen K; Moos, Bernice S

2010-07-01

This study focuses on the health, family, and social functioning of spouses of late-life remitted and continuing problem drinkers, and on predictors of spouses' alcohol-related functioning and depressive symptoms. Three groups of spouses were compared at baseline and a 10-year follow-up: (a) spouses (n = 73) of older adults who had no drinking problems at baseline or follow-up, (b) spouses (n = 25) of older adults who had drinking problems at baseline but not follow-up, and (c) spouses (n = 69) of older adults who had drinking problems at both baseline and follow-up. At each contact point, spouses completed an inventory that assessed their alcohol-related, health, family, and social functioning. At baseline, compared with spouses of problem-free individuals, spouses of older adults whose drinking problems later remitted reported more alcohol consumption, poorer health, more depressive symptoms, and less involvement in domestic tasks and social and religious activities. At the 10-year follow-up, spouses of remitted problem drinkers were comparable to spouses of problem-free individuals, but spouses of continuing problem drinkers consumed more alcohol, incurred more alcohol-related consequences, and had friends who approved more of drinking. Overall, spouses whose friends approved more of drinking and whose partners consumed more alcohol and had drinking problems were likely to consume more alcohol and to have drinking problems themselves. Spouses of older adults whose late-life drinking problems remit can attain normal functioning; however, spouses of older adults with continuing late-life drinking problems experience some ongoing deficits.

Spouses of Older Adults With Late-Life Drinking Problems: Health, Family, and Social Functioning*

Science.gov (United States)

Moos, Rudolf H.; Brennan, Penny L.; Schutte, Kathleen K.; Moos, Bernice S.

2010-01-01

Objective: This study focuses on the health, family, and social functioning of spouses of late-life remitted and continuing problem drinkers, and on predictors of spouses' alcohol-related functioning and depressive symptoms. Method: Three groups of spouses were compared at baseline and a 10-year follow-up: (a) spouses (n = 73) of older adults who had no drinking problems at baseline or follow-up, (b) spouses (n = 25) of older adults who had drinking problems at baseline but not follow-up, and (c) spouses (n = 69) of older adults who had drinking problems at both baseline and follow-up. At each contact point, spouses completed an inventory that assessed their alcohol-related, health, family, and social functioning. Results: At baseline, compared with spouses of problem-free individuals, spouses of older adults whose drinking problems later remitted reported more alcohol consumption, poorer health, more depressive symptoms, and less involvement in domestic tasks and social and religious activities. At the 10-year follow-up, spouses of remitted problem drinkers were comparable to spouses of problem-free individuals, but spouses of continuing problem drinkers consumed more alcohol, incurred more alcohol-related consequences, and had friends who approved more of drinking. Overall, spouses whose friends approved more of drinking and whose partners consumed more alcohol and had drinking problems were likely to consume more alcohol and to have drinking problems themselves. Conclusions: Spouses of older adults whose late-life drinking problems remit can attain normal functioning; however, spouses of older adults with continuing late-life drinking problems experience some ongoing deficits. PMID:20553658

Feasibility of Wii Fit training to improve clinical measures of balance in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Bieryla, Kathleen A; Dold, Neil M

2013-01-01

Numerous interventions have been proposed to improve balance in older adults with varying degrees of success. A novel approach may be to use an off-the-shelf video game system utilizing real-time force feedback to train older adults. The purpose of this study is to investigate the feasibility of using Nintendo's Wii Fit for training to improve clinical measures of balance in older adults and to retain the improvements after a period of time. Twelve healthy older adults (aged >70 years) were randomly divided into two groups. The experimental group completed training using Nintendo's Wii Fit game three times a week for 3 weeks while the control group continued with normal activities. Four clinical measures of balance were assessed before training, 1 week after training, and 1 month after training: Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Fullerton Advanced Balance (FAB) scale, Functional Reach (FR), and Timed Up and Go (TUG). Friedman two-way analysis of variance by ranks was conducted on the control and experimental group to determine if training using the Wii Balance Board with Wii Fit had an influence on clinical measures of balance. Nine older adults completed the study (experimental group n = 4, control group n = 5). The experimental group significantly increased their BBS after training while the control group did not. There was no significant change for either group with FAB, FR, and TUG. Balance training with Nintendo's Wii Fit may be a novel way for older adults to improve balance as measured by the BBS.

Modifying Older Adults' Daily Sedentary Behaviour Using an Asset-based Solution: Views from Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Leask, Calum F; Sandlund, Marlene; Skelton, Dawn A; Tulle, Emmanuelle; Chastin, Sebastien Fm

2016-01-01

There is a growing public health focus on the promotion of successful and active ageing. Interventions to reduce sedentary behaviour (SB) in older adults are feasible and are improved by tailoring to individuals' context and circumstances. SB is ubiquitous; therefore part of the tailoring process is to ensure individuals' daily sedentary routine can be modified. The aim of this study was to understand the views of older adults and identify important considerations when creating a solution to modify daily sedentary patterns. This was a qualitative research study. Fifteen older adult volunteers (mean age = 78 years) participated in 1 of 4 focus groups to identify solutions to modify daily sedentary routine. Two researchers conducted the focus groups whilst a third took detailed fieldnotes on a flipchart to member check the findings. Data were recorded and analysed thematically. Participants wanted a solution with a range of options which could be tailored to individual needs and circumstances. The strategy suggested was to use the activities of daily routine and reasons why individuals already naturally interrupting their SB, collectively framed as assets. These assets were categorised into 5 sub-themes: physical assets (eg. standing up to reduce stiffness); psychological assets (eg. standing up to reduce feelings of guilt); interpersonal assets (eg. standing up to answer the phone); knowledge assets (eg. standing up due to knowing the benefits of breaking SB) and activities of daily living assets (eg. standing up to get a drink). This study provides important considerations from older adults' perspectives to modify their daily sedentary patterns. The assets identified by participants could be used to co-create a tailored intervention with older adults to reduce SB, which may increase effectiveness and adherence.

Psychosocial Treatment Options for Major Depressive Disorder in Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Renn, Brenna N; Areán, Patricia A

2017-03-01

Late-life depression (LLD) is a public health concern with deleterious effects on overall health, cognition, quality of life, and mortality. Although LLD is relatively common, it is not a normal part of aging and is often under-recognized in older adults. However, psychotherapy is an effective treatment for LLD that aligns with many patients' preferences and can improve health and functioning. This review synthesized the current literature on evidence-based psychotherapies for the treatment of depression in older adults. Findings suggest that active, skills-based psychotherapies (cognitive behavioral therapy [CBT] and problem-solving therapy [PST]) may be more effective for LLD than non-directive, supportive counseling. PST may be particularly relevant for offsetting skill deficit associated with LLD, such as in instances of cognitive impairment (especially executive dysfunction) and disability. Emerging treatments also consider contextual factors to improve treatment delivery, such as personalized care, access, and poverty. Tele-mental health represents one such exciting new way of improving access and uptake of treatment by older adults. Although these strategies hold promise, further investigation via randomized controlled trials and comparative effectiveness are necessary to advance our treatment of LLD. Priority should be given to recruiting and training the geriatric mental health workforce to deliver evidence-based psychosocial interventions for LLD.

Social network types among older Korean adults: Associations with subjective health.

Science.gov (United States)

Sohn, Sung Yun; Joo, Won-Tak; Kim, Woo Jung; Kim, Se Joo; Youm, Yoosik; Kim, Hyeon Chang; Park, Yeong-Ran; Lee, Eun

2017-01-01

With population aging now a global phenomenon, the health of older adults is becoming an increasingly important issue. Because the Korean population is aging at an unprecedented rate, preparing for public health problems associated with old age is particularly salient in this country. As the physical and mental health of older adults is related to their social relationships, investigating the social networks of older adults and their relationship to health status is important for establishing public health policies. The aims of this study were to identify social network types among older adults in South Korea and to examine the relationship of these social network types with self-rated health and depression. Data from the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project were analyzed. Model-based clustering using finite normal mixture modeling was conducted to identify the social network types based on ten criterion variables of social relationships and activities: marital status, number of children, number of close relatives, number of friends, frequency of attendance at religious services, attendance at organized group meetings, in-degree centrality, out-degree centrality, closeness centrality, and betweenness centrality. Multivariate regression analysis was conducted to examine associations between the identified social network types and self-rated health and depression. The model-based clustering analysis revealed that social networks clustered into five types: diverse, family, congregant, congregant-restricted, and restricted. Diverse or family social network types were significantly associated with more favorable subjective mental health, whereas the restricted network type was significantly associated with poorer ratings of mental and physical health. In addition, our analysis identified unique social network types related to religious activities. In summary, we developed a comprehensive social network typology for older Korean adults. Copyright © 2016

American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Exercise and physical activity for older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Chodzko-Zajko, Wojtek J; Proctor, David N; Fiatarone Singh, Maria A; Minson, Christopher T; Nigg, Claudio R; Salem, George J; Skinner, James S

2009-07-01

The purpose of this Position Stand is to provide an overview of issues critical to understanding the importance of exercise and physical activity in older adult populations. The Position Stand is divided into three sections: Section 1 briefly reviews the structural and functional changes that characterize normal human aging, Section 2 considers the extent to which exercise and physical activity can influence the aging process, and Section 3 summarizes the benefits of both long-term exercise and physical activity and shorter-duration exercise programs on health and functional capacity. Although no amount of physical activity can stop the biological aging process, there is evidence that regular exercise can minimize the physiological effects of an otherwise sedentary lifestyle and increase active life expectancy by limiting the development and progression of chronic disease and disabling conditions. There is also emerging evidence for significant psychological and cognitive benefits accruing from regular exercise participation by older adults. Ideally, exercise prescription for older adults should include aerobic exercise, muscle strengthening exercises, and flexibility exercises. The evidence reviewed in this Position Stand is generally consistent with prior American College of Sports Medicine statements on the types and amounts of physical activity recommended for older adults as well as the recently published 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. All older adults should engage in regular physical activity and avoid an inactive lifestyle.

Design of smart home sensor visualizations for older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Le, Thai; Reeder, Blaine; Chung, Jane; Thompson, Hilaire; Demiris, George

2014-07-24

Smart home sensor systems provide a valuable opportunity to continuously and unobtrusively monitor older adult wellness. However, the density of sensor data can be challenging to visualize, especially for an older adult consumer with distinct user needs. We describe the design of sensor visualizations informed by interviews with older adults. The goal of the visualizations is to present sensor activity data to an older adult consumer audience that supports both longitudinal detection of trends and on-demand display of activity details for any chosen day. The design process is grounded through participatory design with older adult interviews during a six-month pilot sensor study. Through a secondary analysis of interviews, we identified the visualization needs of older adults. We incorporated these needs with cognitive perceptual visualization guidelines and the emotional design principles of Norman to develop sensor visualizations. We present a design of sensor visualization that integrate both temporal and spatial components of information. The visualization supports longitudinal detection of trends while allowing the viewer to view activity within a specific date.CONCLUSIONS: Appropriately designed visualizations for older adults not only provide insight into health and wellness, but also are a valuable resource to promote engagement within care.

Design of smart home sensor visualizations for older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Le, Thai; Reeder, Blaine; Chung, Jane; Thompson, Hilaire; Demiris, George

2014-01-01

Smart home sensor systems provide a valuable opportunity to continuously and unobtrusively monitor older adult wellness. However, the density of sensor data can be challenging to visualize, especially for an older adult consumer with distinct user needs. We describe the design of sensor visualizations informed by interviews with older adults. The goal of the visualizations is to present sensor activity data to an older adult consumer audience that supports both longitudinal detection of trends and on-demand display of activity details for any chosen day. The design process is grounded through participatory design with older adult interviews during a six-month pilot sensor study. Through a secondary analysis of interviews, we identified the visualization needs of older adults. We incorporated these needs with cognitive perceptual visualization guidelines and the emotional design principles of Norman to develop sensor visualizations. We present a design of sensor visualization that integrate both temporal and spatial components of information. The visualization supports longitudinal detection of trends while allowing the viewer to view activity within a specific date. Appropriately designed visualizations for older adults not only provide insight into health and wellness, but also are a valuable resource to promote engagement within care.

Bridging the digital divide in older adults: a study from an initiative to inform older adults about new technologies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wu YH

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Ya-Huei Wu,1,2 Souad Damnée,1,2 Hélène Kerhervé,1,2 Caitlin Ware,1,3 Anne-Sophie Rigaud1,2 1Department of Clinical Gerontology, Broca Hospital, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, 2Research Team 4468, Paris Descartes University, 3Centre de Recherche en Psychanalyse, Médicine et la Société, Paris Diderot University, Paris, France Purpose: In a society where technology progresses at an exponential rate, older adults are often unaware of the existence of different kinds of information and communication technologies (ICTs. To bridge the gap, we launched a 2-year project, during which we conducted focus groups (FGs with demonstrations of ICTs, allowing older adults to try them out and to share their opinions. This study aimed at investigating how participants perceived this kind of initiative and how they reacted to different kinds of ICTs.Patients and methods: In total, 14 FGs were conducted with community-dwelling older adults, with a frequency of two FGs on the same topic once per trimester. Twenty-three older adults (four men and 19 women attended at least one FG but only nearly half of them were regular attendants (ten participating in at least five sessions. Age of participants ranged from 63 years to 88 years, with a mean of 77.1 years. All of them had completed secondary education. The analyses of the data were performed according to inductive thematic analysis.Results: Four overarching themes emerged from the analysis. The first concerned participants’ motivation for and assessment of the project. The second theme identified the underlying factors of the “digital divide” between the younger and the older generations. The third theme concerned the factors of technology adoption among older adults. The fourth one identified participants’ attitudes toward assistive ICTs, designed specifically for older adults (“gerontechnologies”.Discussions and conclusion: This project encouraging older adults to be informed about

Face Age and Eye Gaze Influence Older Adults' Emotion Recognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Anna; Murray, Janice E; Atkinson, Lianne; Ruffman, Ted

2017-07-01

Eye gaze has been shown to influence emotion recognition. In addition, older adults (over 65 years) are not as influenced by gaze direction cues as young adults (18-30 years). Nevertheless, these differences might stem from the use of young to middle-aged faces in emotion recognition research because older adults have an attention bias toward old-age faces. Therefore, using older face stimuli might allow older adults to process gaze direction cues to influence emotion recognition. To investigate this idea, young and older adults completed an emotion recognition task with young and older face stimuli displaying direct and averted gaze, assessing labeling accuracy for angry, disgusted, fearful, happy, and sad faces. Direct gaze rather than averted gaze improved young adults' recognition of emotions in young and older faces, but for older adults this was true only for older faces. The current study highlights the impact of stimulus face age and gaze direction on emotion recognition in young and older adults. The use of young face stimuli with direct gaze in most research might contribute to age-related emotion recognition differences. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Neuropsychological Mechanisms for Falls in Older Adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu eLiu

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Falls, a common cause of injury among older adults, have become increasingly prevalent. As the world’s population ages, the increase in – and the prevalence of – falls among older people makes this a serious and compelling societal and healthcare issue. Physical weakness is a critical predictor in falling. While considerable research has examined this relationship, comprehensive reviews of neuropsychological predictors of falls have been lacking. In this paper, we examine and discuss current studies of the neuropsychological predictors of falls in older adults, as related to sporting and non-sporting contexts. By integrating the existing evidence, we propose that brain aging is an important precursor of the increased risk of falls in older adults. Brain aging disrupts the neural integrity of motor outputs and reduces neuropsychological abilities. Older adults may shift from unconscious movement control to more conscious or attentive motor control. Increased understanding of the causes of falls will afford opportunities to reduce their incidence, reduce consequent injuries, improve overall well-being and quality of life, and possibly to prolong life.

A structured physical activity and fitness programme for older adults with intellectual disabilities : Results of a cluster-randomised clinical trial

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Schijndel-Speet, M.; Evenhuis, Heleen M.; van Wijck, R.; van Montfort, K. C. A. G. M.; Echteld, M. A.

BackgroundThe physical activity level of older adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) is extremely low, and their fitness levels are far beneath accepted norms for older people with normal intelligence and comparable with frail older people. A physical activity programme, including an education

Organizational support and volunteering benefits for older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Fengyan; Choi, Eunhee; Morrow-Howell, Nancy

2010-10-01

This study tested a theoretical model of volunteering benefits and examined the mechanism through which volunteering benefits older adults. This is a 2-wave study of 253 older adult volunteers serving in 10 volunteer programs. Older volunteers completed the mailed surveys in 2005 and 2006. Structural equation modeling was used to define the latent variables and to test direct and indirect relationships among organizational support, socioemotional benefits, and self-reported health. Organizational support (measured by choice of volunteer activity, training, and ongoing support) had significant direct associations with 2 latent factors of socioemotional benefits, that is, perceived contribution and personal benefits. Perceived contribution was significantly related to mental health. Additionally, older volunteers with lower socioeconomic status (SES) committed more hours and perceived more personal benefits than higher SES peers. These findings suggest that volunteer programs can provide various organizational supports to older volunteers, especially to low-SES volunteers, in order to promote the socioemotional and health benefits of volunteering to older adults. Psychological well-being of older adults can be improved through engagement in meaningful volunteer activities and contribution to others.

Ageist attitudes block young adults' ability for compassion toward incapacitated older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Bergman, Yoav S; Bodner, Ehud

2015-09-01

Upon encountering older adults, individuals display varying degrees of prosocial attitudes and behaviors. While some display compassion and empathy, others draw away and wish to maintain their distance from them. The current study examined if and how ageist attitudes influence the association between the sight of physical incapacity in older age and compassionate reactions toward them. We predicted that ageist attitudes would interfere with the ability to respond to them with compassion. Young adults (N = 149, ages 19-29) were randomly distributed into two experimental conditions, each viewing a short video portraying different aspects of older adult physicality; one group viewed older adults displaying incapacitated behavior, and the other viewed fit behavior. Participants subsequently filled out scales assessing aging anxieties, and ageist and compassionate attitudes. Ageism was associated with reduced compassion toward the figures. Moreover, viewing incapacitated older adults led to increased concern toward them and perceived efficacy in helping them. However, significant interactions proved that higher scores of ageism in response to the videos led to increased need for distance and reduced efficacy toward incapacitated adults, an effect not observed among subjects with lower ageism scores. Ageism seems to be a factor which disengages individuals from older adults displaying fragility, leading them to disregard social norms which dictate compassion. The results are discussed from the framework of terror management theory, as increased mortality salience and death-related thoughts could have led to the activation of negative attitudes which, in turn, reduce compassion.

Cortical Correlates of Binaural Temporal Processing Deficits in Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Eddins, Ann Clock; Eddins, David A

This study was designed to evaluate binaural temporal processing in young and older adults using a binaural masking level difference (BMLD) paradigm. Using behavioral and electrophysiological measures within the same listeners, a series of stimulus manipulations was used to evaluate the relative contribution of binaural temporal fine-structure and temporal envelope cues. We evaluated the hypotheses that age-related declines in the BMLD task would be more strongly associated with temporal fine-structure than envelope cues and that age-related declines in behavioral measures would be correlated with cortical auditory evoked potential (CAEP) measures. Thirty adults participated in the study, including 10 young normal-hearing, 10 older normal-hearing, and 10 older hearing-impaired adults with bilaterally symmetric, mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss. Behavioral and CAEP thresholds were measured for diotic (So) and dichotic (Sπ) tonal signals presented in continuous diotic (No) narrowband noise (50-Hz wide) maskers. Temporal envelope cues were manipulated by using two different narrowband maskers; Gaussian noise (GN) with robust envelope fluctuations and low-noise noise (LNN) with minimal envelope fluctuations. The potential to use temporal fine-structure cues was controlled by varying the signal frequency (500 or 4000 Hz), thereby relying on the natural decline in phase-locking with increasing frequency. Behavioral and CAEP thresholds were similar across groups for diotic conditions, while the masking release in dichotic conditions was larger for younger than for older participants. Across all participants, BMLDs were larger for GN than LNN and for 500-Hz than for 4000-Hz conditions, where envelope and fine-structure cues were most salient, respectively. Specific age-related differences were demonstrated for 500-Hz dichotic conditions in GN and LNN, reflecting reduced binaural temporal fine-structure coding. No significant age effects were observed for 4000

Online Attention Training for Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Wennberg, Alexandra; Kueider, Alexandra; Spira, Adam; Adams, Gregory; Rager, Robert; Rebok, George

Evidence suggests that cognitive training interventions can improve older adults' cognitive performance. Successful training programs are adaptable and train multiple cognitive domains to target individual strengths and weaknesses. Computerized training programs are useful because they allow older adults to easily access training. This pilot study used an online attention training program, ATTENTION WORKOUT™, to enhance three aspects of attention- coordination , allocation , and selective focus -in community-dwelling older adults randomized to either an abbreviated (n=13) or an extended (n=17) practice training program over a 6-week period. Participants in the extended practice group significantly improved on selective focus reading distraction tasks with unrelated words (U=39.5; Z=-2.34; p =.02) and blanks (U=26.5; Z=-3.05; p =.002) as well as a matching attributes task (U=49.5; Z=-2.33; p =.02). The extended practice group significantly improved on three tasks of coordinating attention - radio-tuning (U=30; Z=-2.73; p =.01), circuit-breaker resetting (U=46; Z=-2.24; p =.03), and the combination of the two tasks (U=15; Z=-3.51; p attention training programs, like ATTENTION WORKOUT, can improve attention-related skills in community-dwelling older adults.

Sexuality in Older Adults (65+)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Træen, Bente; Hald, Gert Martin; Graham, Cynthia A.

2017-01-01

INFO. Results: The review showed that although common biological changes may adversely affect sexual function in old age, sexual experience seems to also be affected by psychological and interpersonal factors. Conclusions: Greater life expectancy and better medical care will result in older individuals......Objectives: The aim of the current article was to provide an overview of literature on sexual function and sexual difficulties in older adults. Method: The authors conducted a narrative review of papers published in English between January 2005 and July 2015 based on an extensive search in Psyc...... with chronic diseases living longer. The need for help to cope with changes in sexual health is likely to increase in older adults, as sexuality may be negatively affected through several pathways....

Executive functioning in older adults with hoarding disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Ayers, Catherine R; Wetherell, Julie Loebach; Schiehser, Dawn; Almklov, Erin; Golshan, Shahrokh; Saxena, Sanjaya

2013-11-01

Hoarding disorder (HD) is a chronic and debilitating psychiatric condition. Midlife HD patients have been found to have neurocognitive impairment, particularly in areas of executive functioning, but the extent to which this is due to comorbid psychiatric disorders has not been clear. The purpose of the present investigation was to examine executive functioning in geriatric HD patients without any comorbid Axis I disorders (n = 42) compared with a healthy older adult comparison group (n = 25). We hypothesized that older adults with HD would perform significantly worse on measures of executive functioning (Wisconsin Card Sort Task [Psychological Assessment Resources, Lutz, Florida, USA] ( Psychological Assessment Resources, 2003) and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV digit span and letter-number sequencing tests [Pearson, San Antonio, TX, USA]). Older adults with HD showed significant differences from healthy older controls in multiple aspects of executive functioning. Compared with healthy controls, older adults with HD committed significantly more total, non-perseverative errors and conceptual level responses on the Wisconsin Card Sort Task and had significantly worse performance on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV digit span and letter-number sequencing tests. Hoarding symptom severity was strongly correlated with executive dysfunction in the HD group. Compared with demographically-matched controls, older adults with HD have dysfunction in several domains of executive functioning including mental control, working memory, inhibition, and set shifting. Executive dysfunction is strongly correlated with hoarding severity and is not because of comorbid psychiatric disorders in HD patients. These results have broad clinical implications suggesting that executive functioning should be assessed and taken into consideration when developing intervention strategies for older adults with HD. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Online Attention Training for Older Adults

OpenAIRE

Wennberg, Alexandra; Kueider, Alexandra; Spira, Adam; Adams, Gregory; Rager, Robert; Rebok, George

2014-01-01

Evidence suggests that cognitive training interventions can improve older adults' cognitive performance. Successful training programs are adaptable and train multiple cognitive domains to target individual strengths and weaknesses. Computerized training programs are useful because they allow older adults to easily access training. This pilot study used an online attention training program, ATTENTION WORKOUT™, to enhance three aspects of attention– coordination, allocation, and selective focus...

Perspectives on wellness self-monitoring tools for older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Huh, Jina; Le, Thai; Reeder, Blaine; Thompson, Hilaire J; Demiris, George

2013-11-01

Our purpose was to understand different stakeholder perceptions about the use of self-monitoring tools, specifically in the area of older adults' personal wellness. In conjunction with the advent of personal health records, tracking personal health using self-monitoring technologies shows promising patient support opportunities. While clinicians' tools for monitoring of older adults have been explored, we know little about how older adults may self-monitor their wellness and health and how their health care providers would perceive such use. We conducted three focus groups with health care providers (n=10) and four focus groups with community-dwelling older adults (n=31). Older adult participants' found the concept of self-monitoring unfamiliar and this influenced a narrowed interest in the use of wellness self-monitoring tools. On the other hand, health care provider participants showed open attitudes toward wellness monitoring tools for older adults and brainstormed about various stakeholders' use cases. The two participant groups showed diverging perceptions in terms of: perceived uses, stakeholder interests, information ownership and control, and sharing of wellness monitoring tools. Our paper provides implications and solutions for how older adults' wellness self-monitoring tools can enhance patient-health care provider interaction, patient education, and improvement in overall wellness. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exploring Older Adults' Health Information Seeking Behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Manafo, Elizabeth; Wong, Sharon

2012-01-01

Objective: To explore older adults' (55-70 years) health information-seeking behaviors. Methods: Using a qualitative methodology, based on grounded theory, data were collected using in-depth interviews. Participants were community-living, older adults in Toronto, Canada who independently seek nutrition and health information. Interview transcripts…

Advances in Psychotherapy for Depressed Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Raue, Patrick J; McGovern, Amanda R; Kiosses, Dimitris N; Sirey, Jo Anne

2017-09-01

We review recent advances in psychotherapies for depressed older adults, in particular those developed for special populations characterized by chronic medical illness, acute medical illness, cognitive impairment, and suicide risk factors. We review adaptations for psychotherapy to overcome barriers to its accessibility in non-specialty settings such as primary care, homebound or hard-to-reach older adults, and social service settings. Recent evidence supports the effectiveness of psychotherapies that target late-life depression in the context of specific comorbid conditions including COPD, heart failure, Parkinson's disease, stroke and other acute conditions, cognitive impairment, and suicide risk. Growing evidence supports the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of psychotherapy modified for a variety of health care and social service settings. Research supports the benefits of selecting the type of psychotherapy based on a comprehensive assessment of the older adult's psychiatric, medical, functional, and cognitive status, and tailoring psychotherapy to the settings in which older depressed adults are most likely to present.

Wound Healing in Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Gould, Lisa J; Fulton, Ana Tuya

2016-02-01

Impaired wound healing in the elderly represents a major clinical problem that is growing as our population ages. Wound healing is affected by age and by co-morbid conditions, particularly diabetes and obesity. This is particularly important in Rhode Island as the state has a very high percentage of vulnerable older adults. A multi- disciplinary approach that incorporates the skills of a comprehensive wound center with specialized nursing, geriatric medicine and palliative care will facilitate rapid wound healing, reduce costs and improve outcomes for our older adults that suffer from 'problem wounds'.

Brain glucose and acetoacetate metabolism: a comparison of young and older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Nugent, Scott; Tremblay, Sebastien; Chen, Kewei W; Ayutyanont, Napatkamon; Roontiva, Auttawut; Castellano, Christian-Alexandre; Fortier, Melanie; Roy, Maggie; Courchesne-Loyer, Alexandre; Bocti, Christian; Lepage, Martin; Turcotte, Eric; Fulop, Tamas; Reiman, Eric M; Cunnane, Stephen C

2014-06-01

The extent to which the age-related decline in regional brain glucose uptake also applies to other important brain fuels is presently unknown. Ketones are the brain's major alternative fuel to glucose, so we developed a dual tracer positron emission tomography protocol to quantify and compare regional cerebral metabolic rates for glucose and the ketone, acetoacetate. Twenty healthy young adults (mean age, 26 years) and 24 healthy older adults (mean age, 74 years) were studied. In comparison with younger adults, older adults had 8 ± 6% (mean ± SD) lower cerebral metabolic rates for glucose in gray matter as a whole (p = 0.035), specifically in several frontal, temporal, and subcortical regions, as well as in the cingulate and insula (p ≤ 0.01, false discovery rate correction). The effect of age on cerebral metabolic rates for acetoacetate in gray matter did not reach significance (p = 0.11). Rate constants (min(-1)) of glucose (Kg) and acetoacetate (Ka) were significantly lower (-11 ± 6%; [p = 0.005], and -19 ± 5%; [p = 0.006], respectively) in older adults compared with younger adults. There were differential effects of age on Kg and Ka as seen by significant interaction effects in the caudate (p = 0.030) and post-central gyrus (p = 0.023). The acetoacetate index, which expresses the scaled residuals of the voxel-wise linear regression of glucose on ketone uptake, identifies regions taking up higher or lower amounts of acetoacetate relative to glucose. The acetoacetate index was higher in the caudate of young adults when compared with older adults (p ≤ 0.05 false discovery rate correction). This study provides new information about glucose and ketone metabolism in the human brain and a comparison of the extent to which their regional use changes during normal aging. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Organizational Support and Volunteering Benefits for Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Fengyan; Choi, Eunhee; Morrow-Howell, Nancy

2010-01-01

Purpose: This study tested a theoretical model of volunteering benefits and examined the mechanism through which volunteering benefits older adults. Design and Methods: This is a 2-wave study of 253 older adult volunteers serving in 10 volunteer programs. Older volunteers completed the mailed surveys in 2005 and 2006. Structural equation modeling…

Individualized piano instruction enhances executive functioning and working memory in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Bugos, J A; Perlstein, W M; McCrae, C S; Brophy, T S; Bedenbaugh, P H

2007-07-01

This study evaluates transfer from domain-specific, sensorimotor training to cognitive abilities associated with executive function. We examined Individualized Piano Instruction (IPI) as a potential cognitive intervention to mitigate normal age-related cognitive decline in older adults. Thirty-one musically naïve community-dwelling older adults (ages 60-85) were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n = 16) or control group (n = 15). Neuropsychological assessments were administered at three time points: pre-training, following six months of intervention, and following a three-month delay. The experimental group significantly improved performance on the Trail Making Test and Digit Symbol measures as compared to healthy controls. Results of this study suggest that IPI may serve as an effective cognitive intervention for age-related cognitive decline.

Amphetamine modulates brain signal variability and working memory in younger and older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Garrett, Douglas D; Nagel, Irene E; Preuschhof, Claudia; Burzynska, Agnieszka Z; Marchner, Janina; Wiegert, Steffen; Jungehülsing, Gerhard J; Nyberg, Lars; Villringer, Arno; Li, Shu-Chen; Heekeren, Hauke R; Bäckman, Lars; Lindenberger, Ulman

2015-06-16

Better-performing younger adults typically express greater brain signal variability relative to older, poorer performers. Mechanisms for age and performance-graded differences in brain dynamics have, however, not yet been uncovered. Given the age-related decline of the dopamine (DA) system in normal cognitive aging, DA neuromodulation is one plausible mechanism. Hence, agents that boost systemic DA [such as d-amphetamine (AMPH)] may help to restore deficient signal variability levels. Furthermore, despite the standard practice of counterbalancing drug session order (AMPH first vs. placebo first), it remains understudied how AMPH may interact with practice effects, possibly influencing whether DA up-regulation is functional. We examined the effects of AMPH on functional-MRI-based blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal variability (SD(BOLD)) in younger and older adults during a working memory task (letter n-back). Older adults expressed lower brain signal variability at placebo, but met or exceeded young adult SD(BOLD) levels in the presence of AMPH. Drug session order greatly moderated change-change relations between AMPH-driven SD(BOLD) and reaction time means (RT(mean)) and SDs (RT(SD)). Older adults who received AMPH in the first session tended to improve in RT(mean) and RT(SD) when SD(BOLD) was boosted on AMPH, whereas younger and older adults who received AMPH in the second session showed either a performance improvement when SD(BOLD) decreased (for RT(mean)) or no effect at all (for RT(SD)). The present findings support the hypothesis that age differences in brain signal variability reflect aging-induced changes in dopaminergic neuromodulation. The observed interactions among AMPH, age, and session order highlight the state- and practice-dependent neurochemical basis of human brain dynamics.

Trends in substance use admissions among older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Chhatre, Sumedha; Cook, Ratna; Mallik, Eshita; Jayadevappa, Ravishankar

2017-08-22

Substance abuse is a growing, but mostly silent, epidemic among older adults. We sought to analyze the trends in admissions for substance abuse treatment among older adults (aged 55 and older). Treatment Episode Data Set - Admissions (TEDS-A) for period between 2000 and 2012 was used. The trends in admission for primary substances, demographic attributes, characteristics of substance abused and type of admission were analyzed. While total number of substance abuse treatment admissions between 2000 and 2012 changed slightly, proportion attributable to older adults increased from 3.4% to 7.0%. Substantial changes in the demographic, substance use pattern, and treatment characteristics for the older adult admissions were noted. Majority of the admissions were for alcohol as the primary substance. However there was a decreasing trend in this proportion (77% to 64%). The proportion of admissions for following primary substances showed increase: cocaine/crack, marijuana/hashish, heroin, non-prescription methadone, and other opiates and synthetics. Also, admissions for older adults increased between 2000 and 2012 for African Americans (21% to 28%), females (20% to 24%), high school graduates (63% to 75%), homeless (15% to 19%), unemployed (77% to 84%), and those with psychiatric problems (17% to 32%).The proportion of admissions with prior history of substance abuse treatment increased from 39% to 46% and there was an increase in the admissions where more than one problem substance was reported. Ambulatory setting continued to be the most frequent treatment setting, and individual (including self-referral) was the most common referral source. The use of medication assisted therapy remained low over the years (7% - 9%). The changing demographic and substance use pattern of older adults implies that a wide array of psychological, social, and physiological needs will arise. Integrated, multidisciplinary and tailored policies for prevention and treatment are necessary to

Examining daily activity routines of older adults using workflow.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Jane; Ozkaynak, Mustafa; Demiris, George

2017-07-01

We evaluated the value of workflow analysis supported by a novel visualization technique to better understand the daily routines of older adults and highlight their patterns of daily activities and normal variability in physical functions. We used a self-reported activity diary to obtain data from six community-dwelling older adults for 14 consecutive days. Workflow for daily routine was analyzed using the EventFlow tool, which aggregates workflow information to highlight patterns and variabilities. A total of 1453 events were included in the data analysis. To demonstrate the patterns and variability of each individual's daily activities, participant activity workflows were visualized and compared. The workflow analysis revealed great variability in activity types, regularity, frequency, duration, and timing of performing certain activities across individuals. Also, when workflow approach was applied to spatial information of activities, the analysis revealed the ability to provide meaningful data on individuals' mobility in different levels of life spaces from home to community. Results suggest that using workflows to characterize the daily activities of older adults will be helpful for clinicians and researchers in understanding their daily routines and preparing education and prevention strategies tailored to each individual's activity level. This tool also has the potential to be integrated into consumer informatics technologies, such as patient portals or personal health records, so that consumers may be encouraged to become actively involved in monitoring and managing their health. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Framing matters: Effects of framing on older adults' exploratory decision-making.

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, Jessica A; Blanco, Nathaniel J; Maddox, W Todd

2017-02-01

We examined framing effects on exploratory decision-making. In Experiment 1 we tested older and younger adults in two decision-making tasks separated by one week, finding that older adults' decision-making performance was preserved when maximizing gains, but it declined when minimizing losses. Computational modeling indicates that younger adults in both conditions, and older adults in gains maximization, utilized a decreasing threshold strategy (which is optimal), but older adults in losses were better fit by a fixed-probability model of exploration. In Experiment 2 we examined within-subject behavior in older and younger adults in the same exploratory decision-making task, but without a time separation between tasks. We replicated the older adult disadvantage in loss minimization from Experiment 1 and found that the older adult deficit was significantly reduced when the loss-minimization task immediately followed the gains-maximization task. We conclude that older adults' performance in exploratory decision-making is hindered when framed as loss minimization, but that this deficit is attenuated when older adults can first develop a strategy in a gains-framed task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Older Californians and the Mental Health Services Act: Is an Older Adult System of Care Supported?

Science.gov (United States)

Kietzman, Kathryn G; Dupuy, Danielle; Damron-Rodriguez, JoAnn; Palimaru, Alina; del Pino, Homero E; Frank, Janet C

2018-01-01

This policy brief summarizes findings from the first study to evaluate how California's public mental health delivery system has served older adults (60 years of age and over) since the passage of the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) in 2004. Study findings indicate that there are unmet needs among older adults with mental illness in the public mental health delivery system. There are deficits in the involvement of older adults in the required MHSA planning processes and in outreach and service delivery, workforce development, and outcomes measurement and reporting. There is also evidence of promising programs and strategies that counties have advanced to address these deficits. Recommendations for improving mental health services for older adults include designating a distinct administrative and leadership structure for older adult services in each county; enhancing older adult outreach and documentation of unmet need; promoting standardized geriatric training of providers; instituting standardized data-reporting requirements; and increasing service integration efforts, especially between medical, behavioral health, aging, and substance use disorder services.

Gun Access and Safety Practices among Older Adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hillary D. Lum

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Given high rates of gun ownership among older adults, geriatric providers can assess firearm safety practices using a “5 Ls” approach: Locked; Loaded; Little children; feeling Low; and Learned owner. This study describes gun access and the “5 Ls” among US older adults. Methods. Data on the “5 Ls” from the Second Injury Control and Risk Survey (ICARIS-2, a national telephone survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, were analyzed. Weighted variables were used to generate national estimates regarding prevalence of gun ownership and associated gun safety among older adults (≥55 years. Results. Of 2939 older adults, 39% (95% CI 37%–42% reported ≥1 gun stored at home. Among those with guns at home, 21% (95% CI 18–24% stored guns loaded and unlocked; 9.2% (95% CI 6.6–12% had ≥1 child in household; 5.1% (95% CI 3.5–6.8% reported past-year suicidal ideation and 3.6% (95% CI 2.1–5.2% reported history of a suicide attempt; and 55% (95% CI 51–59% stated that ≥1 adult had attended firearm safety workshop. Conclusion. Some older adults may be at elevated risk of firearm injury because of storage practices, suicidal thoughts, or limited safety training. Future work should assess effective approaches to reduce the risk of gun-related injuries among older adults.

Preventing Elder Abuse and Neglect in Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

... Documents PDF Preventing Elder Abuse and Neglect in Older Adults Download Join our e-newsletter! Resources Preventing Elder Abuse and Neglect in Older Adults Tools and Tips Printer-friendly PDF Click here ...

Objectively measured sleep and β-amyloid burden in older adults: A pilot study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam P Spira

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Background/aims: Although disturbed sleep is associated with cognitive deficits, the association between sleep disturbance and Alzheimer’s disease pathology is unclear. In this pilot study, we examined the extent to which sleep duration, sleep quality, and sleep-disordered breathing are associated with β-amyloid (Aβ deposition in the brains of living humans. Methods: We studied 13 older adults (8 with normal cognition and 5 with mild cognitive impairment. Participants completed neuropsychological testing, polysomnography, and Aβ imaging with [11C]-Pittsburgh compound B. Results: Among participants with mild cognitive impairment, higher apnea–hypopnea index and oxygen desaturation index were associated with greater Aβ deposition, globally and regionally in the precuneus. There were no significant associations between sleep-disordered breathing and Aβ deposition among cognitively normal participants. There were no significant associations between sleep duration or sleep fragmentation and Aβ deposition. Conclusion: These preliminary results suggest that among older adults with mild cognitive impairment, greater sleep-disordered breathing severity is associated with greater Aβ deposition.

Temporal characteristics of imagined and actual walking in frail older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakano, Hideki; Murata, Shin; Shiraiwa, Kayoko; Iwase, Hiroaki; Kodama, Takayuki

2018-05-09

Mental chronometry, commonly used to evaluate motor imagery ability, measures the imagined time required for movements. Previous studies investigating mental chronometry of walking have investigated healthy older adults. However, mental chronometry in frail older adults has not yet been clarified. To investigate temporal characteristics of imagined and actual walking in frail older adults. We investigated the time required for imagined and actual walking along three walkways of different widths [width(s): 50, 25, 15 cm × length: 5 m] in 29 frail older adults and 20 young adults. Imagined walking was measured with mental chronometry. We observed significantly longer imagined and actual walking times along walkways of 50, 25, and 15 cm width in frail older adults compared with young adults. Moreover, temporal differences (absolute error) between imagined and actual walking were significantly greater in frail older adults than in young adults along walkways with a width of 25 and 15 cm. Furthermore, we observed significant differences in temporal differences (constant error) between frail older adults and young adults for walkways with a width of 25 and 15 cm. Frail older adults tended to underestimate actual walking time in imagined walking trials. Our results suggest that walkways of different widths may be a useful tool to evaluate age-related changes in imagined and actual walking in frail older adults.

Symptom distress in older adults following cancer surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Cleave, Janet H; Egleston, Brian L; Ercolano, Elizabeth; McCorkle, Ruth

2013-01-01

Symptom distress remains a significant health problem among older adults with cancer following surgery. Understanding factors influencing older adults' symptom distress may lead to early identification and interventions, decreasing morbidity and improving outcomes. We conducted this study to identify factors associated with symptom distress following surgery among 326 community-residing patients 65 years or older with a diagnosis of thoracic, digestive, gynecologic, and genitourinary cancers. This secondary analysis used combined subsets of data from 5 nurse-directed intervention clinical trials targeting patients after surgery at academic cancer centers in northwest and northeastern United States. Symptom distress was assessed by the Symptom Distress Scale at baseline and at 3 and 6 months. A multivariable analysis, using generalized estimating equations, showed that symptom distress was significantly less at 3 and 6 months (3 months: P psychological, treatment, and function covariates. Thoracic cancer, comorbidities, worse mental health, and decreased function were, on average, associated with increased symptom distress (all P cancer, comorbidities, mental health, and function may influence older adults' symptom distress following cancer surgery. Older adults generally experience decreasing symptom distress after thoracic, abdominal, or pelvic cancer surgery. Symptom management over time for those with thoracic cancer, comorbidities, those with worse mental health, those with decreased function, and those 75 years or older may prevent morbidity and improve outcomes of older adults following surgery.

Can technology adoption for older adults be co-created?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lu, Yuan; Valk, Carlijn; Steenbakkers, Jim

2017-01-01

-creation ideation process can contribute to the technology adoption of older adults conducted in an EU project with multi-stakeholder teams with the aim of promoting physical activities of older adult citizens. This ideation process is adapted from Method A. By analyzing the co-creation ideation process from three......Technology can be very valuable to support older adults to remain healthy and active in their daily living. How to design technological product and service systems that will be adopted by older adults however still remains a challenge. This paper reports on an empirical study on how a co...

The Partners in Health scale for older adults: design and examination of its psychometric properties in a Dutch population of older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Veldman, Karin; Reijneveld, Sijmen A; Lahr, Maarten M H; Uittenbroek, Ronald J; Wynia, Klaske

2017-08-01

Self-management is an important asset in helping older adults remain independent and in control for as long as possible. There is no reliable and valid measurement instrument to evaluate self-management behaviour of older adults. This study aims to design a measurement instrument, that is the Partners in Health scale for older adults (PIH-OA), to assess self-management knowledge and behaviour of community-living older adults and to examine its psychometric properties in a Dutch context. The original PIH scale was translated into Dutch and adapted to the context of community-living older adults, resulting in the PIH-OA. Data for 1127 participants (mean age 81.7, SD=4.5) from the Embrace study were used to assess the psychometric properties. Data fitted a three-factor model, covering the constructs Knowledge, Management and Coping, with good internal consistencies (Cronbach's alphas ranging from .77 to .84). Known groups validity was confirmed: no differences were found between gender, age and marital status groups, and differences were found between the education level and health status groups. Discriminant validity was confirmed by weak correlations between PIH-OA scales and scales evaluating "Perceived integrated care" and "Activities of daily living (ADL)" (rknowledge and behaviour of older adults. This could help professionals provide tailored support to improve the well-being and independence of older adults. © 2016 The Authors. Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Inefficient postural responses to unexpected slips during walking in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, P F; Woollacott, M H

1998-11-01

Slips account for a high percentage of falls and subsequent injuries in community-dwelling older adults but not in young adults. This phenomenon suggests that although active and healthy older adults preserve a mobility level comparable to that of young adults, these older adults may have difficulty generating efficient reactive postural responses when they slip. This study tested the hypothesis that active and healthy older adults use a less effective reactive balance strategy than young adults when experiencing an unexpected forward slip occurring at heel strike during walking. This less effective balance strategy would be manifested by slower and smaller postural responses, altered temporal and spatial organization of the postural responses, and greater upper trunk instability after the slip. Thirty-three young adults (age range=19-34 yrs, mean=25+/-4 yrs) and 32 community-dwelling older adults (age range=70-87 yrs, mean=74+/-14 yrs) participated. Subjects walked across a movable forceplate which simulated a forward slip at heel strike. Surface electromyography was recorded from bilateral leg, thigh, hip, and trunk muscles. Kinematic data were collected from the right (perturbed) side of the body. Although the predominant postural muscles and the activation sequence of these muscles were similar between the two age groups, the postural responses of older adults were of longer onset latencies, smaller magnitudes, and longer burst durations compared to young adults. Older adults also showed a longer coactivation duration for the ankle, knee, and trunk agonist/antagonist pairs on the perturbed side and for the knee agonist/antagonist pair on the nonperturbed side. Behaviorally, older adults became less stable after the slips. This was manifested by a higher incidence of being tripped (21 trials in older vs 5 trials in young adults) and a greater trunk hyperextension with respect to young adults. Large arm elevation was frequently used by older adults to assist in

Low Blood Sodium in Older Adults: A Concern?

Science.gov (United States)

... sodium in older adults: A concern? Why is low blood sodium a health concern for older adults? ... treated? Answers from Paul Y. Takahashi, M.D. Low blood sodium (hyponatremia) occurs when you have an ...

Motivation to Learn among Older Adults in Taiwan

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Dian-Fu; Lin, Sung-Po

2011-01-01

This study analyzed the survey on adults administered by the Ministry of Education in Taiwan in 2008, and logistic regression analysis showed a close relationship between learning motivations of older adults. The finding revealed that the higher age or the lower education attainment of older adults, the lower their learning motivation. The…

Sexuality in Nigerian older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Olatayo, Adeoti Adekunle; Kubwa, Ojo Osaze; Adekunle, Ajayi Ebenezer

2015-01-01

Oftentimes the older adults are assumed to be asexual as few studies explore into the sexuality of this age group worldwide and even in Nigeria. It is an important aspect of quality of life which is often neglected by people in this age group, attending physicians and the society as a whole. The study was aimed at determining the perception of older adults about sexuality, identify the factors that could militate against sexuality and fill any void in information in this regard. Descriptive study conducted in one hundred older adults. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to consenting participants between 1(st) of September 2013 and 31(st) of March 2014. Mean age of respondents was 66.42 ± 5.77 years. Seventy-eight percent of the male respondents considered engaging in sexual activity as safe compared to 45.8% of the female respondents. More of the women (33.3%) regarded sexuality in the older adults as a taboo when compared to the men (5.4%). However, the men were more favourably disposed to discussing sexual problems than the women with their spouses (42% vs 20%) and Physicians (23.2% vs 0.0%). Major factors responsible for sexual inactivity were participants' medical ailments (65%), partners' failing health (15%) as well as anxiety about sexual performance (25%) in the men and dyspareunia (25%) in women. There is an urgent need to correct the misconception about sexuality in this age group especially among the women and for the physicians to explore the sexual history of every patient.

Sexuality in Nigerian older adults

Science.gov (United States)

Olatayo, Adeoti Adekunle; Kubwa, Ojo Osaze; Adekunle, Ajayi Ebenezer

2015-01-01

Introduction Oftentimes the older adults are assumed to be asexual as few studies explore into the sexuality of this age group worldwide and even in Nigeria. It is an important aspect of quality of life which is often neglected by people in this age group, attending physicians and the society as a whole. The study was aimed at determining the perception of older adults about sexuality, identify the factors that could militate against sexuality and fill any void in information in this regard. Methods Descriptive study conducted in one hundred older adults. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to consenting participants between 1st of September 2013 and 31st of March 2014. Results Mean age of respondents was 66.42± 5.77 years. Seventy-eight percent of the male respondents considered engaging in sexual activity as safe compared to 45.8% of the female respondents. More of the women (33.3%) regarded sexuality in the older adults as a taboo when compared to the men (5.4%). However, the men were more favourably disposed to discussing sexual problems than the women with their spouses (42% vs 20%) and Physicians (23.2% vs 0.0%). Major factors responsible for sexual inactivity were participants’ medical ailments (65%), partners’ failing health (15%) as well as anxiety about sexual performance (25%) in the men and dyspareunia (25%) in women. Conclusion There is an urgent need to correct the misconception about sexuality in this age group especially among the women and for the physicians to explore the sexual history of every patient. PMID:26977224

Independent older adults perspectives on oral health.

Science.gov (United States)

Khabra, K K; Compton, S M; Keenan, L P

2017-11-01

The purpose of this study was to explore oral health experiences from the perspective of older adults' living in community dwellings. The two objectives of this study were to identify facilitators and barriers to oral health care, and to determine how utilization of oral health services compares to utilization of other healthcare services. An interpretive descriptive methodology was employed with a purposive sample of 12 adults, aged 70 years or older. The inclusion criterion was English-speaking seniors residing in community dwellings. Community dwellings were defined as any housing outside of long-term care or other supportive living facilities. Semi-structured interviews were 30-80 min, audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Three researchers participated in the comparative analysis process to develop codes, generate categories, interpret patterns and construct themes. Three central themes surfacing from the data were as follows: life course influences on oral health, transparency in delivery of oral health services and interrelationships between oral health and overall health. Older adults in this study emphasized the value of establishing collaborative and trusting relationships between oral health practitioners and older adults. Oral health practitioners should be clear and transparent when communicating information about oral health costs and be cognizant of different circumstances from childhood to older adulthood that inhibit or promote routine utilization of oral health services. Including oral health services as part of interdisciplinary care teams could help promote understandings of the reciprocal relationship between oral health and general health and improve oral health status for older adults. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Quick Guide to Health Literacy and Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

... Health Promotion Quick Guide to Health Literacy and Older Adults skip to content ODPHP Health Communication Healthy People ... and Patient e-Health Resources Health Literacy and Older Adults Who is this guide for? Why are health ...

The role of cognitive flexibility in cognitive restructuring skill acquisition among older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnco, C; Wuthrich, V M; Rapee, R M

2013-08-01

Cognitive flexibility is one aspect of executive functioning that encompasses the ability to produce diverse ideas, consider response alternatives, and modify behaviors to manage changing circumstances. These processes are likely to be important for implementing cognitive restructuring. The present study investigated the impact of cognitive flexibility on older adults' ability to learn cognitive restructuring. Neuropsychological measures of cognitive flexibility were administered to 40 normal community-dwelling older adult volunteers and their ability to implement cognitive restructuring was coded and analyzed. Results indicated that the majority of participants showed good cognitive restructuring skill acquisition with brief training. The multiple regression analysis suggested that those with poorer cognitive flexibility on neuropsychological testing demonstrated poorer quality cognitive restructuring. In particular, perseverative thinking styles appear to negatively impact the ability to learn cognitive restructuring. Further research is needed to clarify whether older adults with poor cognitive flexibility can improve their cognitive restructuring skills with repetition over treatment or whether alternative skills should be considered. Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characteristics and Service Use of Older Adults with Schizoaffective Disorder Versus Older Adults with Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Rolin, Stephanie A; Aschbrenner, Kelly A; Whiteman, Karen L; Scherer, Emily; Bartels, Stephen J

2017-09-01

The purpose of this study was to determine if schizoaffective disorder in older adults is differentiated from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder with respect to community functioning, cognitive functioning, psychiatric symptoms, and service use. Secondary analysis of baseline data collected from the Helping Older People Experience Success psychosocial skills training and health management study. Three community mental health centers in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Adults over the age of 50 (N = 139, mean age: 59.7 years, SD: 7.4 years) with persistent functional impairment and a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder (N = 52), schizophrenia (N = 51), or bipolar disorder (N = 36). Health status (36-Item Short Form Health Survey [SF-36]), performance-based community living skills (UCSD Performance-Based Skills Assessment), neuropsychological functioning (Delis-Kaplan Executive Functioning subtests), psychiatric symptoms (Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms), medical severity (Charlson comorbidity index), and acute service use. Older adults with schizoaffective disorder had depressive symptoms of similar severity to bipolar disorder, and thought disorder symptoms of similar severity to schizophrenia. Schizoaffective disorder compared with schizophrenia was associated with better community functioning, but poorer subjective physical and mental health functioning as measured by the SF-36. Older adults with schizoaffective disorder had greater acute hospitalization compared with adults with schizophrenia, though their use of acute care services was comparable to individuals with bipolar disorder. Findings from this study suggest that schizoaffective disorder in older adults occupies a distinct profile from either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder with respect to community functional status, symptom profile, and acute services utilization. Copyright © 2017

Using informatics to capture older adults' wellness.

Science.gov (United States)

Demiris, George; Thompson, Hilaire J; Reeder, Blaine; Wilamowska, Katarzyna; Zaslavsky, Oleg

2013-11-01

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how informatics applications can support the assessment and visualization of older adults' wellness. A theoretical framework is presented that informs the design of a technology enhanced screening platform for wellness. We highlight an ongoing pilot demonstration in an assisted living facility where a community room has been converted into a living laboratory for the use of diverse technologies (including a telehealth component to capture vital signs and customized questionnaires, a gait analysis component and cognitive assessment software) to assess the multiple aspects of wellness of older adults. A demonstration project was introduced in an independent retirement community to validate our theoretical framework of informatics and wellness assessment for older adults. Subjects are being recruited to attend a community room and engage in the use of diverse technologies to assess cognitive performance, physiological and gait variables as well as psychometrics pertaining to social and spiritual components of wellness for a period of eight weeks. Data are integrated from various sources into one study database and different visualization approaches are pursued to efficiently display potential correlations between different parameters and capture overall trends of wellness. Preliminary findings indicate that older adults are willing to participate in technology-enhanced interventions and embrace different information technology applications given appropriate and customized training and hardware and software features that address potential functional limitations and inexperience with computers. Informatics can advance health care for older adults and support a holistic assessment of older adults' wellness. The described framework can support decision making, link formal and informal caregiving networks and identify early trends and patterns that if addressed could reduce adverse health events. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland

Older Adults Have Difficulty in Decoding Sarcasm

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, Louise H.; Allen, Roy; Bull, Rebecca; Hering, Alexandra; Kliegel, Matthias; Channon, Shelley

2015-01-01

Younger and older adults differ in performance on a range of social-cognitive skills, with older adults having difficulties in decoding nonverbal cues to emotion and intentions. Such skills are likely to be important when deciding whether someone is being sarcastic. In the current study we investigated in a life span sample whether there are…

Healthcare-Associated Meningitis or Ventriculitis in Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Srihawan, Chanunya; Habib, Onaizah; Salazar, Lucrecia; Hasbun, Rodrigo

2017-12-01

Healthcare-associated meningitis or ventriculitis (HCAMV) is a serious and life-threatening complication of invasive neurosurgical procedures or penetrating head trauma. Older adults are at higher risk of adverse outcomes in community-acquired meningitis but studies of HCAMV are lacking. Therefore, we perform the study to define the differences in clinical outcomes between older and younger adults with HCAMV. Retrospective study. A large tertiary care hospital in Houston, Texas, from July 2003 to November 2014. Adults with a diagnosis of HCAMV (N = 160) aged ≥65 (n = 35), aged 18-64 (n = 125). Demographic characteristics, clinical presentation, laboratory results, treatments, and outcomes (Glasgow Outcome Scale). Older adults had more comorbidities and CSF abnormalities [pleocytosis, high cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) protein, low CSF glucose) and were more likely to have altered mental status than younger adults (P older (97%) and younger (86%) adults (P = .13). On logistic regression analysis, abnormal neurological examination (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 7.13, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.15-23.63, P = .001) and mechanical ventilation (aOR = 11.03, 95% CI = 1.35-90.51, P = .02) were associated with adverse clinical outcomes. Older adults with HCAMV have more comorbidities and CSF abnormalities and are more likely to have altered mental status than younger adults but have similar high rates of adverse clinical outcomes. © 2017, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2017, The American Geriatrics Society.

Snow and Rain Modify Neighbourhood Walkability for Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Clarke, Philippa; Hirsch, Jana A; Melendez, Robert; Winters, Meghan; Sims Gould, Joanie; Ashe, Maureen; Furst, Sarah; McKay, Heather

2017-06-01

The literature has documented a positive relationship between walkable built environments and outdoor mobility in older adults. Yet, surprisingly absent is any consideration of how weather conditions modify the impact of neighbourhood walkability. Using archived weather data linked to survey data collected from a sample of older adults in Vancouver, Canada, we found that car-dependent neighbourhoods (featuring longer block lengths, fewer intersections, and greater distance to amenities) became inaccessible in snow. Even older adults who lived in very walkable neighbourhoods walked to 25 per cent fewer destinations in snow. It is crucial to consider the impact of weather in the relationship between neighbourhood walkability and older adult mobility.

Cohabitation among older adults: a national portrait.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Susan L; Lee, Gary R; Bulanda, Jennifer Roebuck

2006-03-01

Older adults are increasingly likely to experience cohabitation, or living together unmarried in an intimate, heterosexual union. In order to begin building a conceptual framework, we provide a descriptive portrait of older adult cohabitors, emphasizing how they compare to older remarrieds and unpartnereds. We used data from both Census 2000 and the 1998 Health and Retirement Study ( HRS; Health and Retirement Study, 1998) to estimate the size and composition of the cohabiting population aged 51 and older. Also, using HRS data, we estimated multinomial logistic regression models to identify the correlates associated with cohabitation and remarriage (vs being unpartnered) among women and men who were previously married. More than 1 million older adults, composing 4% of the unmarried population, currently cohabit. About 90% of these individuals were previously married. We identify significant differences among cohabitors, remarrieds, and unpartnereds across several dimensions, including sociodemographic characteristics, economic resources, physical health, and social relationships. Cohabitors appear to be more disadvantaged than remarrieds, and this is especially evident for women. Older cohabitors differ from individuals of other marital statuses, and therefore future work on marital status should explicitly incorporate cohabitation.

Falls' problematization and risk factors identification through older adults' narrative.

Science.gov (United States)

Morsch, Patricia; Myskiw, Mauro; Myskiw, Jociane de Carvalho

2016-11-01

Falling is an important event for older adults as they might cause physical and psychological impairment, institutionalization and increased mortality risk. Adherence in falls prevention programs depends on older adults' perceptions in relation to falling. The current study aims to investigate the fall problematization and older adults' perception about the risk factors for falls. This is an exploratory qualitative research, conducted through content analysis approach. The sample consisted of older adults aged 60 years and older who participate in community groups in Porto Alegre (Brazil), and professors from two local universities. Final sample consisted of 22 participants, mean age was 70.2 ± 7.1. Coding and interpretation of data resulted in two thematic categories, named: falls' problematization and the perception of the risk factors for falling. The first category highlights that many older adults do not realize falling as a potential problem, which suggests that current preventive measures may not be reaching the target population. The second category shows that older adults' perceptions in relation to the risk factors exist, but often they are not avoided, because older adults consider their ability to "take care" as the main method of prevention, and due to the multifactorial nature of falls, this cannot be considered an efficient solution.

Do older adults perceive postural constraints for reach estimation?

Science.gov (United States)

Cordova, Alberto; Gabbard, Carl

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: Recent evidence indicates that older persons have difficulty mentally representing intended movements. Furthermore, in an estimation of reach paradigm using motor imagery, a form of mental representation, older persons significantly overestimated their ability compared with young adults. The authors tested the notion that older adults may also have difficulty perceiving the postural constraints associated with reach estimation. The authors compared young (Mage = 22 years) and older (Mage = 67) adults on reach estimation while seated and in a more postural demanding standing and leaning forward position. The expectation was a significant postural effect with the standing condition, as evidenced by reduced overestimation. Whereas there was no difference between groups in the seated condition (both overestimated), older adults underestimated whereas the younger group once again overestimated in the standing condition. From one perspective, these results show that older adults do perceive postural constraints in light of their own physical capabilities. That is, that group perceived greater postural demands with the standing posture and elected to program a more conservative strategy, resulting in underestimation.

Stereotype threat can reduce older adults' memory errors.

Science.gov (United States)

Barber, Sarah J; Mather, Mara

2013-01-01

Stereotype threat often incurs the cost of reducing the amount of information that older adults accurately recall. In the current research, we tested whether stereotype threat can also benefit memory. According to the regulatory focus account of stereotype threat, threat induces a prevention focus in which people become concerned with avoiding errors of commission and are sensitive to the presence or absence of losses within their environment. Because of this, we predicted that stereotype threat might reduce older adults' memory errors. Results were consistent with this prediction. Older adults under stereotype threat had lower intrusion rates during free-recall tests (Experiments 1 and 2). They also reduced their false alarms and adopted more conservative response criteria during a recognition test (Experiment 2). Thus, stereotype threat can decrease older adults' false memories, albeit at the cost of fewer veridical memories, as well.

Dental Care Utilization among North Carolina Rural Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Arcury, Thomas A.; Savoca, Margaret R.; Anderson, Andrea M.; Chen, Haiying; Gilbert, Gregg H.; Bell, Ronny A.; Leng, Xiaoyan; Reynolds, Teresa; Quandt, Sara A.

2012-01-01

Objectives This analysis delineates the predisposing, need, and enabling factors that are significantly associated with regular and recent dental care in a multi-ethnic sample of rural older adults. Methods A cross-sectional comprehensive oral health survey conducted with a random, multi-ethnic (African American, American Indian, white) sample of 635 community-dwelling adults aged 60 years and older was completed in two rural southern counties. Results Almost no edentulous rural older adults received dental care. Slightly more than one-quarter (27.1%) of dentate rural older adults received regular dental care and slightly more than one-third (36.7%) received recent dental care. Predisposing (education) and enabling (regular place for dental care) factors associated with receiving regular and recent dental care among dentate participants point to greater resources being the driving force in receiving dental care. Contrary to expectations of the Behavioral Model of Health Services, those with the least need (e.g., better self-rated oral health) received regular dental care; this has been referred to as the Paradox of Dental Need. Conclusions Regular and recent dental care are infrequent among rural older adults. Those not receiving dental care are those who most need care. Community access to dental care and the ability of older adults to pay for dental care must be addressed by public health policy to improve the health and quality of life of older adults in rural communities. PMID:22536828

Differences of oral health conditions between adults and older adults: A census in a Southern Brazilian city.

Science.gov (United States)

Boscato, Noeli; Schuch, Helena S; Grasel, Claudia E; Goettems, Marilia L

2016-09-01

To assess differences in the oral diseases/conditions between adults and older adults. A cross-sectional study was carried out with all adults and older adults in Luzerna, South Brazil (n = 569). Clinical data included use of and need for dental prostheses; number of decayed, missing and filled teeth; and temporomandibular disorder. Differences between adults and older adults were evaluated using χ(2) -tests. Associations between independent variables and the use of and need for dental prostheses were determined using Poisson regression analyses (P older adults. After adjustments, lower social class (P = 0.001) and unmarried status (P = 0.05) were associated with greater need for prosthetic rehabilitation. Women (P = 0.02), older individuals (P adults and older adults was observed. The frequency of use of and need for dental prostheses was higher for older adults, although they had reported lower frequency of temporomandibular disorder. Women, married and individuals of higher socioeconomic status showed better oral health conditions. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2016; 16: 1014-1020. © 2015 Japan Geriatrics Society.

Diabetes Self-Care and the Older Adult

Science.gov (United States)

Weinger, Katie; Beverly, Elizabeth A.; Smaldone, Arlene

2014-01-01

The prevalence of diabetes is highest in older adults, a population that is increasing. Diabetes self-care is complex with important recommendations for nutrition, physical activity, checking glucose levels, and taking medication. Older adults with diabetes have unique issues which impact self-care. As people age, their health status, support systems, physical and mental abilities, and nutritional requirements change. Furthermore, comorbidities, complications, and polypharmacy complicate diabetes self-care. Depression is also more common among the elderly and may lead to deterioration in self-care behaviors. Because of concerns about cognitive deficits and multiple comorbidities, adults older than 65 years are often excluded from research trials. Thus, little clinical evidence is available and the most appropriate treatment approaches and how to best support older patients’ self-care efforts are unclear. This review summarizes the current literature, research findings, and expert and consensus recommendations with their rationales. PMID:24510969

The secrets of highly active older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Franke, Thea; Tong, Catherine; Ashe, Maureen C; McKay, Heather; Sims-Gould, Joanie

2013-12-01

Although physical activity is a recognized component in the management of many chronic diseases associated with aging, activity levels tend to progressively decline with increasing age (Manini & Pahor, 2009; Schutzer & Graves, 2004). In this article we examine the key factors that facilitate physical activity in highly active community-dwelling older adults. Using a strengths based approach, we examined the factors that facilitated physical activity in our sample of highly active older adults. Twenty-seven older adults participated in face-to face interviews. We extracted a sub-sample of 10 highly active older adults to be included in the analyses. Based on a framework analysis of our transcripts we identified three factors that facilitate physical activity in our sample, these include: 1) resourcefulness: engagement in self-help strategies such as self-efficacy, self-control and adaptability; 2) social connections: the presence of relationships (friend, neighborhood, institutions) and social activities that support or facilitate high levels of physical activity; and 3) the role of the built and natural environments: features of places and spaces that support and facilitate high levels of physical activity. Findings provide insight into, and factors that facilitate older adults' physical activity. We discuss implications for programs (e.g., accessible community centers, with appropriate programming throughout the lifecourse) and policies geared towards the promotion of physical activity (e.g., the development of spaces that facilitate both physical and social activities). © 2013.

Positive messaging promotes walking in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Notthoff, Nanna; Carstensen, Laura L

2014-06-01

Walking is among the most cost-effective and accessible means of exercise. Mounting evidence suggests that walking may help to maintain physical and cognitive independence in old age by preventing a variety of health problems. However, older Americans fall far short of meeting the daily recommendations for walking. In 2 studies, we examined whether considering older adults' preferential attention to positive information may effectively enhance interventions aimed at promoting walking. In Study 1, we compared the effectiveness of positive, negative, and neutral messages to encourage walking (as measured with pedometers). Older adults who were informed about the benefits of walking walked more than those who were informed about the negative consequences of failing to walk, whereas younger adults were unaffected by framing valence. In Study 2, we examined within-person change in walking in older adults in response to positively- or negatively-framed messages over a 28-day period. Once again, positively-framed messages more effectively promoted walking than negatively-framed messages, and the effect was sustained across the intervention period. Together, these studies suggest that consideration of age-related changes in preferences for positive and negative information may inform the design of effective interventions to promote healthy lifestyles. Future research is needed to examine the mechanisms underlying the greater effectiveness of positively- as opposed to negatively-framed messages and the generalizability of findings to other intervention targets and other subpopulations of older adults. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Older Adults and Depression

Science.gov (United States)

... find more information? Reprints Share Older Adults and Depression Download PDF Download ePub Order a free hardcopy ... depression need treatment to feel better. Types of Depression There are several types of depression. The most ...

The Effects of Feedback on Memory Strategies of Younger and Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Fan; Zhang, Xin; Luo, Meng; Geng, Haiyan

2016-01-01

Existing literature suggests that feedback could effectively reduce false memories in younger adults. However, it is unclear whether memory performance in older adults also might be affected by feedback. The current study tested the hypothesis that older adults can use immediate feedback to adjust their memory strategy, similar to younger adults, but after feedback is removed, older adults may not be able to maintain using the memory strategy. Older adults will display more false memories than younger adults due to a reduction in attentional resources. In Study 1, both younger and older adults adjusted gist processing and item-specific processing biases based on the feedback given (i.e., biased and objective feedback). In Study 2 after the feedback was removed, only younger adults with full attention were able to maintain the feedback-shaped memory strategy; whereas, both younger adults with divided attention and older adults had increased false memories after feedback was removed. The findings suggest that environmental support helps older adults as well as younger adults to adopt a memory strategy that demands high attentional resources, but when the support is removed, older adults can no longer maintain such a strategy.

Exploring the experiences of older Chinese adults with comorbidities including diabetes: surmounting these challenges in order to live a normal life

OpenAIRE

Ho, Hsiu-Yu; Chen, Mei-Hui; Lou, Meei-Fang

2018-01-01

Hsiu-Yu Ho,1,2 Mei-Hui Chen,2,3 Meei-Fang Lou1 1School of Nursing, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, 2Department of Nursing, Yuanpei University of Medical Technology, 3National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China Background: Many people with diabetes have comorbidities, even multimorbidities, which have a far-reaching impact on the older adults, their family, and society. However, little is known of the experience of older adult...

The effect of a music therapy intergenerational program on children and older adults' intergenerational interactions, cross-age attitudes, and older adults' psychosocial well-being.

Science.gov (United States)

Belgrave, Melita

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of participation in a music-based intergenerational music program on cross-age interactions and cross-age attitudes of elementary-age children and older adults, and older adults' psychosocial well-being. Twenty-one children in the 4th grade volunteered to participate in the experimental (n = 12) or control (n = 9) group. Twenty-six older adults from a retirement living facility also volunteered to participate in the experimental (n = 14) or control (n = 12) group. Ten 30-min music sessions occurred in which participants engaged in singing, structured conversation, moving to music, and instrument playing interventions. Data analysis of cross-age interactions revealed that the interventions "structured conversation" and "moving to music" were more effective in eliciting interaction behaviors than the interventions "singing" and "instrument playing." Standardized measures revealed that children's attitudes towards older adults improved, though not significantly so, after participation in the intergenerational program. Results of biweekly post-session questionnaires revealed a decrease in negative descriptions of older adults and an increase in positive descriptions of older adults--suggesting a more positive view towards aging. Results revealed that older adults' attitudes towards children improved significantly after their participation in the intergenerational program. While standardized measures revealed that older adults did not perceive a significant improvement in their psychosocial well-being, their bi-weekly post-session questionnaires showed they perceived increased feelings of usefulness and other personal benefits from the intergenerational interactions. Suggestions for future research, the utility of varied measurement instruments, and implications for practice are discussed.

Gaps in nutritional research among older adults with cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Presley, Carolyn J.; Dotan, Efrat; Soto-Perez-de-Celis, Enrique; Jatoi, Aminah; Mohile, Supriya G.; Won, Elizabeth; Alibhai, Shabbir; Kilari, Deepak; Harrison, Robert; Klepin, Heidi D.; Wildes, Tanya M.; Mustian, Karen; Demark-Wahnefried, Wendy

2016-01-01

Nutritional issues among older adults with cancer are an understudied area of research despite significant prognostic implications for treatment side effects, cancer-specific mortality, and overall survival. In May of 2015, the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute on Aging co-sponsored a conference focused on future directions in geriatric oncology research. Nutritional research among older adults with cancer was highlighted as a major area of concern as most nutritional cancer research has been conducted among younger adults, with limited evidence to guide the care of nutritional issues among older adults with cancer. Cancer diagnoses among older adults are increasing, and the care of the older adult with cancer is complicated due to multimorbidity, heterogeneous functional status, polypharmacy, deficits in cognitive and mental health, and several other non-cancer factors. Due to this complexity, nutritional needs are dynamic, multifaceted, and dependent on the clinical scenario. This manuscript outlines the proceedings of this conference including knowledge gaps and recommendations for future nutritional research among older adults with cancer. Three common clinical scenarios encountered by oncologists include (1) weight loss during anti-cancer therapy, (2) malnutrition during advanced disease, and (3) obesity during survivorship. In this manuscript, we provide a brief overview of relevant cancer literature within these three areas, knowledge gaps that exist, and recommendations for future research. PMID:27197919

Personality disorders in older adults : Emerging research issues

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Alphen, S.P.J.; van Dijk, S.D.M.; Videler, A.C.; Rossi, G.; Dierckx, E.; Bouckaert, F.; Oude Voshaar, R.C.

2015-01-01

Empirical research focusing on personality disorders (PDs) among older adults is mainly limited to studies on psychometric properties of age-specific personality tests, the age neutrality of specific items/scales, and validation of personality inventories for older adults. We identified only two

Personality disorders in older adults : emerging research issues

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Alphen, S. P. J.; van Dijk, S. D. M.; Videler, A. C.; Rossi, G.; Dierckx, E.; Bouckaert, F.; Oude Voshaar, R. C.

Empirical research focusing on personality disorders (PDs) among older adults is mainly limited to studies on psychometric properties of age-specific personality tests, the age neutrality of specific items/scales, and validation of personality inventories for older adults. We identified only two

Aging and the Socioeconomic Life of Older Adults in India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sanjeev Bakshi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The study attempts to approach aging in India from three perspectives, namely, the well-being of an aging individual, the aging household, and the aging population. The aspects, namely, work, financial dependence, integration, empowerment, and elder abuse are studied and their relation to age, gender, and marital status is investigated. The data sets pertaining to the National Sample Surveys for the reference periods 1986-1987, 1995-1996, and 2004 are primarily utilized for the purpose. The data sets from Building Knowledge Base on Population Ageing in India Survey, 2011, are also utilized for information on elder abuse. The results show that the older males are more likely to participate in household activities when compared with the older females. The married older adults are also more likely to participate in household activities when compared with their widowed counterparts. In a similar way, gender and marital status are found to be associated with empowerment of older adults. The working older adults, those who possess property and/or assets are more likely to be financially independent. Furthermore, the older females and the financially dependent older adults are more likely to face abuses of different kinds. Households are classified into three different types. Type I households have no older adults, Type II households have older adults and other younger members, and Type III households have older adults only. Results show that Type III households are found to be relatively more deprived and report higher average monthly expenditure when compared with other types of households.

Cross-modal enhancement of speech detection in young and older adults: does signal content matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Tye-Murray, Nancy; Spehar, Brent; Myerson, Joel; Sommers, Mitchell S; Hale, Sandra

2011-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of age and visual content on cross-modal enhancement of auditory speech detection. Visual content consisted of three clearly distinct types of visual information: an unaltered video clip of a talker's face, a low-contrast version of the same clip, and a mouth-like Lissajous figure. It was hypothesized that both young and older adults would exhibit reduced enhancement as visual content diverged from the original clip of the talker's face, but that the decrease would be greater for older participants. Nineteen young adults and 19 older adults were asked to detect a single spoken syllable (/ba/) in speech-shaped noise, and the level of the signal was adaptively varied to establish the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at threshold. There was an auditory-only baseline condition and three audiovisual conditions in which the syllable was accompanied by one of the three visual signals (the unaltered clip of the talker's face, the low-contrast version of that clip, or the Lissajous figure). For each audiovisual condition, the SNR at threshold was compared with the SNR at threshold for the auditory-only condition to measure the amount of cross-modal enhancement. Young adults exhibited significant cross-modal enhancement with all three types of visual stimuli, with the greatest amount of enhancement observed for the unaltered clip of the talker's face. Older adults, in contrast, exhibited significant cross-modal enhancement only with the unaltered face. Results of this study suggest that visual signal content affects cross-modal enhancement of speech detection in both young and older adults. They also support a hypothesized age-related deficit in processing low-contrast visual speech stimuli, even in older adults with normal contrast sensitivity.

Perspectives on Wellness Self-Monitoring Tools for Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Huh, Jina; Le, Thai; Reeder, Blaine; Thompson, Hilaire J.; Demiris, George

2013-01-01

Purpose Our purpose was to understand different stakeholder perceptions about the use of self-monitoring tools, specifically in the area of older adults’ personal wellness. In conjunction with the advent of personal health records, tracking personal health using self-monitoring technologies shows promising patient support opportunities. While clinicians’ tools for monitoring of older adults have been explored, we know little about how older adults may self-monitor their wellness and health and how their health care providers would perceive such use. Methods We conducted three focus groups with health care providers (n=10) and four focus groups with community-dwelling older adults (n=31). Results Older adult participants’ found the concept of self-monitoring unfamiliar and this influenced a narrowed interest in the use of wellness self-monitoring tools. On the other hand, health care provider participants showed open attitudes towards wellness monitoring tools for older adults and brainstormed about various stakeholders’ use cases. The two participant groups showed diverging perceptions in terms of: perceived uses, stakeholder interests, information ownership and control, and sharing of wellness monitoring tools. Conclusions Our paper provides implications and solutions for how older adults’ wellness self-monitoring tools can enhance patient-health care provider interaction, patient education, and improvement in overall wellness. PMID:24041452

Older adults learn less, but still reduce metabolic cost, during motor adaptation

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Helen J.

2013-01-01

The ability to learn new movements and dynamics is important for maintaining independence with advancing age. Age-related sensorimotor changes and increased muscle coactivation likely alter the trial-and-error-based process of adapting to new movement demands (motor adaptation). Here, we asked, to what extent is motor adaptation to novel dynamics maintained in older adults (≥65 yr)? We hypothesized that older adults would adapt to the novel dynamics less well than young adults. Because older adults often use muscle coactivation, we expected older adults to use greater muscle coactivation during motor adaptation than young adults. Nevertheless, we predicted that older adults would reduce muscle activity and metabolic cost with motor adaptation, similar to young adults. Seated older (n = 11, 73.8 ± 5.6 yr) and young (n = 15, 23.8 ± 4.7 yr) adults made targeted reaching movements while grasping a robotic arm. We measured their metabolic rate continuously via expired gas analysis. A force field was used to add novel dynamics. Older adults had greater movement deviations and compensated for just 65% of the novel dynamics compared with 84% in young adults. As expected, older adults used greater muscle coactivation than young adults. Last, older adults reduced muscle activity with motor adaptation and had consistent reductions in metabolic cost later during motor adaptation, similar to young adults. These results suggest that despite increased muscle coactivation, older adults can adapt to the novel dynamics, albeit less accurately. These results also suggest that reductions in metabolic cost may be a fundamental feature of motor adaptation. PMID:24133222

Introduction of a university-based counselling service for older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhar, Sunil S; Silver, Mark

2014-03-01

Despite the growing number of older adults in Australia, many do not access counselling, partly because of the lack of trained mental health professionals for older people. This paper describes an innovative solution for providing counselling services to older adults, and geropsychology training to postgraduate psychology students. A university-based counselling clinic for older adults was described – an outreach service for older adults living in the community or in residential aged care facilities in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. Over its first 13 months, the clinic provided a total of 266 sessions of counselling to 57 clients (41 living in residential aged care), and involved six postgraduate students. This paper describes the potential benefits of the clinic for clients and students and the resources needed to support this model of service delivery. Thus, it provides a blueprint for other universities for developing similar services for older adults.

Hypothyroidism: challenges when treating older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Pearson, Tamera

2013-01-01

Hypothyroidism frequently affects older adults' general sense of health, their cognitive abilities, and quality of life. Management decisions regarding when to start treatment and at what dosage to begin medication are influenced by both laboratory values and patient symptoms. Although specific guidelines regarding management of hypothyroidism in older adults do not exist, general recommendations include initiating hormone replacement with levothyroxine (Levoxyl(®), Synthroid(®), and others) at 12.5 mcg to 25 mcg and titrating the dose slowly based on response at 6-week intervals. Multiple medications and certain foods can interact with levothyroxine; therefore, the best dosage time is when a person is fasting or 4 hours postprandial. Using a consistent brand-name drug for hormone replacement with levothyroxine is important due to variations in the active ingredient in generic formulations. Providers need to be aware of the prevalence of hypothyroidism and management issues when caring for older adults. Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.

Health, family strains, dependency, and life satisfaction of older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Chokkanathan, Srinivasan; Mohanty, Jayashree

2017-07-01

Using stress process theory and structural equation modelling, this study investigated the complex relationship between health status, family strain, dependency, and the life satisfaction of rural older adults with reported functional impairments in India. Data were extracted from a large-scale study of 903 randomly selected adults aged 61 years and older from 30 rural clusters of India. The sample for this study was confined to 653 older adults who reported functional impairments. Structural equation modelling showed that poor health status indirectly lowered the life satisfaction of older adults through family strains. Moreover, poor health status also indirectly influenced life satisfaction through dependency and family strain (poor health→dependency→family strains→life satisfaction). The findings indicate that for professionals who deal with the health of older adults, exploring relationship strains and dependency is vital to the assessment and intervention of subjective wellbeing. Inter-sectoral coordination and communication between healthcare and social service agencies might facilitate effective management of health problems among older adults. Moreover, taking family strains and dependency into account when caring for older adults with health problems is critical to help improve their quality of life and maintain their wellbeing. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Reverse correlating trustworthy faces in young and older adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catherine eÉthier-Majcher

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Little is known about how older persons determine if someone deserves their trust or not based on their facial appearance, a process referred to as facial trustworthiness. In the past few years, Todorov and colleagues have argued that, in young adults, trustworthiness judgments are an extension of emotional judgments, and therefore, that trust judgments are made based on a continuum between anger and happiness (Engell, Todorov & Haxby, 2010; Todorov, 2008. Evidence from the literature on emotion processing suggest that older adults tend to be less efficient than younger adults in the recognition of negative facial expressions (Chaby & Narme, 2009; Ruffman, Henry, Livingstone et al., 2008; Firestone, Turk-Browne & Ryan, 2007; Calder, Keane, Manly et al., 2003. Based on Todorov’s theory and the fact that older adults seem to be less efficient than younger adults in identifying emotional expressions, one could expect that older individuals would have different representations of trustworthy faces and that they would use different cues than younger adults in order to make such judgments. We verified this hypothesis using a variation of Mangini and Biederman's (2004 reverse correlation method in order to test and compare classification images resulting from trustworthiness (in the context of money investment, from happiness, and from anger judgments in two groups of participants: young adults and older healthy adults. Our results show that for elderly participants, both happy and angry representations are correlated with trustworthiness judgments. However, in young adults, trustworthiness judgments are mainly correlated with happiness representations. These results suggest that young and older adults differ in their way of judging trustworthiness.

Older Adults' Memory for Verbally Presented Medical Information

Science.gov (United States)

Bankoff, Sarah M.; Sandberg, Elisabeth Hollister

2012-01-01

Previous research demonstrates that patients typically have difficulty remembering information presented during healthcare consultations. This study examined how older adults learn and remember verbally presented medical information. Healthy older adults were tested for recall in experimental and field settings. Participants viewed a five-minute…

Coping with loneliness: what do older adults suggest?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schoenmakers, E.; van Tilburg, T.; Fokkema, C.M.

2012-01-01

Objectives: A limited amount of information is available on how older adults cope with loneliness. Two ways of coping are distinguished here, i.e., active coping by improving relationships and regulative coping by lowering expectations about relationships. We explore how often older adults suggest

Older adults abuse in three Brazilian cities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosalina Aparecida Partezani Rodrigues

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective: To analyze the police reports filed by older adults who suffered abuse in order to identify the socio-demographic characteristics of victims and aggressors, type of violence, location, as well as to compare rates in three Brazilian cities in the period from 2009 to 2013. Method: Ecological study, in which 2,612 police reports registered in Police Stations were analyzed. An instrument was used to obtain data from the victim, the aggressor and the type of violence. Results: Psychological abuse predominated and most cases occurred in the older adults own home. In the cities of Ribeirão Preto and João Pessoa, the older adults presented similar rates for both gender. Regarding the standardized rates, in João Pessoa, there was a rise of this type of abuse in the two first years, and later there was a certain stability. In the city of Teresina, there was an increase, also observed in the city of Ribeirão Preto in the three first years, followed by a decrease. Conclusion: Older adults abuse is a cultural phenomenon difficult to be reported by them, since it occurs in the family context.

Filipino older adults' beliefs about exercise activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Ceria-Ulep, Clementina D; Serafica, Reimund C; Tse, Alice

2011-01-01

This study explored how the older traditional Filipino adults 65 years old and above living in Honolulu, Hawaii, describe their beliefs regarding exercise activity. The location of this research setting is unique because a blending of traditional Filipino culture exists within an acculturated social setting. The Filipino older adults who have relocated to this U.S. location may have also stayed close to their own cultural traditions. A perception of exercise activity was generated through the lens of 47 participants using qualitative methodology. While focusing on the older adults' beliefs about exercise activity, it became evident that exercise may have been seen as a proxy measure of physical activity. The study revealed four main domains: balancing barriers against benefits; engaging capabilities; intervening factors; and defining exercise. The data suggest that the four themes are juxtaposed among each other, with overarching social obligations to the kin group governing the older adults' engagement in what constitutes structured exercise by Western definition. Further investigation is needed to conceptualize what types of physical activities traditional Filipino elders perceive as exercise, and whether these activities fall into the Western definition of exercise. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

How Arousal Affects Younger and Older Adults' Memory Binding

Science.gov (United States)

Nashiro, Kaoru; Mather, Mara

2009-01-01

A number of recent studies have shown that associative memory for within-item features is enhanced for emotionally arousing items, whereas arousal-enhanced binding is not seen for associations between distinct items (for a review see Mather, 2007). The costs and benefits of arousal in memory binding have been examined for younger adults but not for older adults. The present experiment examined whether arousal would enhance younger and older adults' within-item and between-item memory binding. The results revealed that arousal improved younger adults' within-item memory binding but not that of older adults. Arousal worsened both groups' between-item memory binding. PMID:21240821

Management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Older Adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyung Soo Kim

2012-10-01

Full Text Available In the near future, the majority of patients with diabetes will be adults aged 65 or older. Unlike young adults with diabetes, elderly diabetic people may be affected by a variety of comorbid conditions such as depression, cognitive impairment, muscle weakness (sarcopenia, falls and fractures, and physical frailty. These geriatric syndromes should be considered in the establishment of treatment goals in older adults with diabetes. Although there are several guidelines for the management of diabetes, only a few are specifically designed for the elderly with diabetes. In this review, we present specific conditions of elderly diabetes which should be taken into account in the management of diabetes in older adults. We also present advantages and disadvantages of various glucose-lowering agents that should be considered when choosing a proper regimen for older adults with diabetes.

A concept analysis of dignity for older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacelon, Cynthia S; Connelly, Thomas W; Brown, Rana; Proulx, Kathy; Vo, Thuy

2004-10-01

Human dignity is an essential value of professional nursing education as well as a component of the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics. Nurses are exhorted to treat patients with dignity, and older adults want to be treated with dignity and die with dignity. Although dignity, particularly the dignity of older adults, is often discussed in the health care literature, its meaning is not always clear. The aim of this paper is to describe a concept analysis to develop a definition of dignity in older adults. Data were collected using a literature review and five focus groups composed of older adults. The literature provided data about professionals' ideas of dignity and the focus groups provided qualitative data about the nature of dignity in older people. The literature review and focus groups were carried out concurrently, followed by synthesis of the findings. Dignity is an inherent characteristic of being human, it can be subjectively felt as an attribute of the self, and is made manifest through behaviour that demonstrates respect for self and others. Dignity must be learned, and an individual's dignity is affected by the treatment received from others. A behavioural definition of dignity was constructed and this could provide the theoretical basis for nurses to develop interventions that foster dignity for older people.

What Older Adults Need to Know about Retail Clinics

Science.gov (United States)

What Older Adults Need to Know about Retail Clinics Expert Information from Healthcare Professionals Who Specialize in the Care of Older Adults Retail clinics are medical clinics based in pharmacies, ...

Compensatory Processing During Rule-Based Category Learning in Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Bharani, Krishna L.; Paller, Ken A.; Reber, Paul J.; Weintraub, Sandra; Yanar, Jorge; Morrison, Robert G.

2016-01-01

Healthy older adults typically perform worse than younger adults at rule-based category learning, but better than patients with Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. To further investigate aging's effect on rule-based category learning, we monitored event-related potentials (ERPs) while younger and neuropsychologically typical older adults performed a visual category-learning task with a rule-based category structure and trial-by-trial feedback. Using these procedures, we previously identified ERPs sensitive to categorization strategy and accuracy in young participants. In addition, previous studies have demonstrated the importance of neural processing in the prefrontal cortex and the medial temporal lobe for this task. In this study, older adults showed lower accuracy and longer response times than younger adults, but there were two distinct subgroups of older adults. One subgroup showed near-chance performance throughout the procedure, never categorizing accurately. The other subgroup reached asymptotic accuracy that was equivalent to that in younger adults, although they categorized more slowly. These two subgroups were further distinguished via ERPs. Consistent with the compensation theory of cognitive aging, older adults who successfully learned showed larger frontal ERPs when compared with younger adults. Recruitment of prefrontal resources may have improved performance while slowing response times. Additionally, correlations of feedback-locked P300 amplitudes with category-learning accuracy differentiated successful younger and older adults. Overall, the results suggest that the ability to adapt one's behavior in response to feedback during learning varies across older individuals, and that the failure of some to adapt their behavior may reflect inadequate engagement of prefrontal cortex. PMID:26422522

Retrieval cue and delay interval influence the relationship between prospective memory and activities of daily living in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Tierney, Savanna M; Bucks, Romola S; Weinborn, Michael; Hodgson, Erica; Woods, Steven Paul

2016-01-01

Older adults commonly experience mild declines in everyday functioning and the strategic aspects of prospective memory (PM). This study used multiprocess theory to examine whether the strategic demands of retrieval cue type (event vs. time based) and delay interval length (2 vs. 15 min) influence the relationship between PM and activities of daily living (ADLs) in older adults. Participants included 97 community-dwelling older adults recruited from the Western Australia Participant Pool. Participants were administered the Memory for Intentions Screening Test (MIST) and Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (PRMQ) as part of a larger neurocognitive assessment. A knowledgeable informant completed the Activities of Daily Living Questionnaire (ADLQ), from which a cutpoint of ≥ 1 was used to classify participants into "ADL normal" (n = 37) or "mild ADL problems" (n = 60) groups. Repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) controlling for age was conducted with ADL group as the between-subjects factor and either MIST or PRMQ cue and delay scores as the within-subjects factors. We observed a significant ADL group by PM interaction on the MIST, with pair-wise analyses showing that the mild ADL problems group performed worse than ADL normal participants on the 15-min time-based scale (p cue-delay variable differed between the two ADL groups (ps > .10). Findings indicate that decrements in strategically demanding cue monitoring and detection over longer PM delays may partly explain older adults' mild problems in everyday functioning. Findings may inform neuropsychological interventions aimed at maintaining ADL independence and enhancing quality of life in older adults.

Geriatric dermatology: optimising care in frail older adults

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lubeek, S.F.K.

2017-01-01

Healthcare providers are expected to be increasingly confronted with the growing population of older adults. In the Netherlands, the frailest and most dependent older adults live in nursing homes. Skin problems are common in this patient population and they can result in a high level of morbidity,

Acquired Inhibitors: A Special Case of Bleeding in Older Adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard G. Stefanacci

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This literature review is intended to familiarize physicians and healthcare providers of older adults with the potential causes of acute bleeding in older adults and to review diagnostic approaches that can produce prompt identification of acute bleeding and facilitate timely treatment. Adverse events from anticoagulant treatment and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID and aspirin use and abuse are among the most common causes of bleeding in older adults. Diagnoses infrequently considered—mild congenital hemophilia, acquired hemophilia, von Willebrand disease, and platelet dysfunction—can contribute to acute bleeding in older adults. The approach to management of bleeding varies. Management of acute bleeding in older adults can be challenging because these patients often have chronic comorbidity and have been prescribed long-term concomitant medications that can complicate diagnosis and treatment. Prompt recognition of acquired hemophilia, referral to an expert hematologist, and timely initiation of treatment could improve outcome in older patients who experience bleeding episodes resulting from this condition.

Dietary intake and nutritional status in cancer patients: comparing adults and older adults

OpenAIRE

Gómez Valiente da Silva, Henyse; Fonseca de Andrade, Camila; Seixas Bello Moreira, Annie

2014-01-01

Objective: Evaluate the nutrient intake and nutritional status of food in cancer patients admitted to a university hospital, with comparison of adult and older adult age category Methods: Cross-sectional study. This study involved cancer patients admitted to a hospital in 2010. Dietary habits were collected using a Brazilian food frequency questionnaire. Participants were divided in two groups: adults or older adults and in 4-cancer category: hematologic, lung, gastrointestinal and others. Bo...

Older Adults in Public Open Spaces: Age and Gender Segregation.

Science.gov (United States)

Noon, Rinat Ben; Ayalon, Liat

2018-01-18

There is a substantial body of literature on the importance of the environment in the lives of older adults. Nonetheless, to date, there has been limited research on everyday activities of urban older adults in public open spaces. The present study examined the activities of older adults in public open spaces in Israel with a specific focus on age and gender as potential variables of relevance. Using still photography, we systematically photographed four sessions in two different public outdoor settings attended by older Israelis. Still photographs were converted to narrative descriptions, and then coded, quantified, and compared using descriptive statistics. The majority (311, 97%) of older adults arrived alone to the public setting. Of these, 44% formed a social group of two or more people, whereas the remaining older adults stayed alone. When social interactions occurred, they were primarily gender homogenous (69%); women were more likely to integrate in spontaneous social conversations and men were more likely to participate in common games. Our findings call attention to the important role played by the outdoor environment as a venue for social activities among older adults. The findings further stress the high levels of aloneness experienced by older adults, which do not seem to be alleviated by the mere attendance of public spaces. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The circumvention of obstacles during walking in different environmental contexts: a comparison between older and younger adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Gérin-Lajoie, Martin; Richards, Carol L; McFadyen, Bradford J

2006-11-01

Avoiding pedestrians is an integral part of our daily activities, yet this locomotor activity has received little attention in gait research. A recent study [Motor Control 2005;9:242] described the motor strategies used by young adults to circumvent an obstruction in different environmental contexts including obstacle movement, certainty about this obstacle movement and auditory distractions. The relationship between normal aging and such locomotor activity within these different environmental contexts, however, is not known. The purpose of this study was thus to compare the walking speed and the personal space-a protective zone preserved around the body-in healthy younger and older adults during obstacle circumvention in the above mentioned environmental contexts. The movements of nine younger adults (24.6+/-4.1 years) and nine older adults (69.7+/-3.2 years) were measured as they circumvented a stationary or moving mannequin with and without initial knowledge of the obstacle's displacements. Participants also had to pay attention to auditory messages, played in half of the trials, and to answer related questions. Results showed that all three environmental factors resulted in decreased gait speed in both groups, but the effect of auditory distractions was greater in older adults. Older adults also increased their personal space more than younger adults while paying attention to messages and they made more mistakes when answering related questions. Therefore, even if such an avoidance task is performed routinely, the increased information processing demanded by the environmental context affected both the motor and cognitive performance of older adults more than that of younger adults. Copyright 2005 Elsevier B.V.

Walking through doorways causes forgetting: Younger and older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Radvansky, Gabriel A; Pettijohn, Kyle A; Kim, Joonsung

2015-06-01

Previous research on event cognition has found that walking through doorways can cause forgetting. The explanation for this finding is that there is a competition between event models, producing interference, and depressing performance. The current study explored the degree to which this might be affected by the natural aging process. This is of interest because there is some evidence that older adults have trouble coordinating sources of interference, which is what is thought to underlie this effect. This would suggest that older adults should do worse on this task. Alternatively, there is also evidence that older adults are typically not disrupted at the event level of processing per se. This would suggest that older adults should perform similarly to younger adults on this task. In the study reported here, younger and older participants navigated through a virtual environment, and memory was tested with probes either before or after a shift and for objects that were associated with the participant (i.e., just picked up). In general, both younger and older adults had memory disrupted after walking through a doorway. Importantly, the magnitude of this disruption was similar in the 2 age groups. This is consistent with the idea that processing at the event level is relatively unaffected by the natural aging process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Older adults are mobile too!Identifying the barriers and facilitators to older adults' use of mHealth for pain management.

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Samantha J; Jessel, Sonal; Richardson, Joshua E; Reid, M Cary

2013-05-06

Mobile health (mHealth) is a rapidly emerging field with the potential to assist older adults in the management of chronic pain (CP) through enhanced communication with providers, monitoring treatment-related side effects and pain levels, and increased access to pain care resources. Little is currently known, however, about older adults' attitudes and perceptions of mHealth or perceived barriers and facilitators to using mHealth tools to improve pain management. We conducted six focus groups comprised of 41 diverse older adults (≥60 years of age) with CP. Participants were recruited from one primary care practice and two multiservice senior community day-visit centers located in New York City that serve older adults in their surrounding neighborhoods. Focus group discussions were recorded and transcribed, and transcriptions were analyzed using direct content analysis to identify and quantify themes. Focus group discussions generated 38 individual themes pertaining to the use of mHealth to help manage pain and pain medications. Participants had low prior use of mHealth (5% of participants), but the vast majority (85%) were highly willing to try the devices. Participants reported that mHealth devices might help them reach their healthcare provider more expeditiously (27%), as well as help to monitor for falls and other adverse events in the home (15%). Barriers to device use included concerns about the cost (42%) and a lack of familiarity with the technology (32%). Facilitators to device use included training prior to device use (61%) and tailoring devices to the functional needs of older adults (34%). This study suggests that older adults with CP are interested and willing to use mHealth to assist in the management of pain. Participants in our study reported important barriers that medical professionals, researchers, and mHealth developers should address to help facilitate the development and evaluation of age-appropriate, and function-appropriate, m

Count me in: response to sexual orientation measures among older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Fredriksen-Goldsen, Karen I; Kim, Hyun-Jun

2015-07-01

Health disparities exist among sexual minority older adults. Yet, health and aging surveys rarely include sexual orientation measures and when they do, they often exclude older adults from being asked about sexual orientation. This is the first population-based study to assess item nonresponse to sexual orientation measures by age and change over time. We compare response rates and examine time trends in response patterns using adjusted logistic regressions. Among adults aged 65 and older, the nonresponse rate on sexual orientation is lower than income. While older adults show higher nonresponse rates on sexual orientation than younger adults, the nonresponse rates have significantly decreased over time. By 2010, only 1.23% of older adults responded don't know/not sure, with 1.55% refusing to answer sexual orientation questions. Decisions to not ask sexual orientation among older adults must be reconsidered, given documented health disparities and rapidly changing social trends in the understanding of diverse sexualities. © The Author(s) 2014.

Improving nursing students' assessment of fall risk in community-dwelling older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Patton, Susan K

2016-12-09

Nationally, approximately one third of older adults fall each year. Falls and resulting injury result in decreased mobility, functional impairment, loss of independence, and increased mortality. Utilization of evidence-based protocols by health care providers to identify older adults at risk of falling is limited, and rates of participation by older adults in prevention activities is low. Because of nursing's increasing role in caring for older adults, development of fall prevention education for nursing students would result in increased awareness of the need for fall prevention in community-dwelling older adults and increased access of older adults to falls risk assessment. There is a need to extend research to inform teaching and learning strategies for fall prevention. After pretesting, a convenience sample of 52 undergraduate nursing students and 22 graduate nursing students completed an online education program and performed a falls risk assessment on an older adult. After completing the clinical assignment, students completed a posttest and self-efficacy survey. Data were analyzed using multivariate statistical tests. Results revealed an increase in knowledge and student self-reporting of efficacy of fall risk assessment skills for the older adult population. This study suggests that nursing students acquired the necessary knowledge and self-efficacy for assessing fall risk of older adults through the combination of an online learning module and participating in actual fall risk assessment of an older adult.

Undernutrition: who cares? Perspectives of dietitians and older adults on undernutrition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beelen, J.; Vasse, Emmelyne; Ziylan, C.; Janssen, N.; Roos, de N.M.; Groot, de C.P.G.M.

2017-01-01

Background: Many older adults are at risk of undernutrition. Dietitians play a key role in the management and treatment of undernutrition, but older adults have difficulties to comply with dietetic recommendations. This qualitative study investigated which barriers older adults experience in

Differences in Risk Aversion between Young and Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Albert, Steven M; Duffy, John

2012-01-15

Research on decision-making strategies among younger and older adults suggests that older adults may be more risk averse than younger people in the case of potential losses. These results mostly come from experimental studies involving gambling paradigms. Since these paradigms involve substantial demands on memory and learning, differences in risk aversion or other features of decision-making attributed to age may in fact reflect age-related declines in cognitive abilities. In the current study, older and younger adults completed a simpler, paired lottery choice task used in the experimental economics literature to elicit risk aversion. A similar approach was used to elicit participants' discount rates. The older adult group was more risk averse than younger adults (p Risk aversion and implied discount rates were weakly correlated. It may be valuable to investigate developmental changes in neural correlates of decision-making across the lifespan.

Social, Economic, and Health Disparities Among LGBT Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Emlet, Charles A

2016-01-01

LGBT older adults are a heterogeneous population with collective and unique strengths and challenges. Health, personal, and economic disparities exist in this group when compared to the general population of older adults, yet subgroups such as transgender and bisexual older adults and individuals living with HIV are at greater risk for disparities and poorer health outcomes. As this population grows, further research is needed on factors that contribute to promoting health equity, while decreasing discrimination and improving competent service delivery.

Older Adults: What Every Paediatric Nurse Should Know

Science.gov (United States)

Barba, Beth Ellen; Tesh, Anita Starr; Cowen, Kay; Hancock, Debbie; Moore, Catherine

2010-01-01

Older adults have always been important parts of children's lives, playing a variety of roles including grandparent, caregiver, friend, and neighbour. Grandparents also play a variety of roles in families. Often a child's first encounter with serious illness or death involves a grandparent or other older adult. Grandparents are also increasingly…

Older Adults' Motivation to Learn in Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Yi-Yin

2011-01-01

A limited amount of literature has discussed older adults in formal education, especially their motivations to learn in higher education. This study aims to understand older adults' learning in the context of higher education. Specifically, this study argues that higher education can function as a stimulating learning environment that helps older…

Verbal Working Memory in Older Adults: The Roles of Phonological Capacities and Processing Speed

Science.gov (United States)

Nittrouer, Susan; Lowenstein, Joanna H.; Wucinich, Taylor; Moberly, Aaron C.

2016-01-01

Purpose: This study examined the potential roles of phonological sensitivity and processing speed in age-related declines of verbal working memory. Method: Twenty younger and 25 older adults with age-normal hearing participated. Two measures of verbal working memory were collected: digit span and serial recall of words. Processing speed was…

The influence of perceptual training on working memory in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Berry, Anne S; Zanto, Theodore P; Clapp, Wesley C; Hardy, Joseph L; Delahunt, Peter B; Mahncke, Henry W; Gazzaley, Adam

2010-07-14

Normal aging is associated with a degradation of perceptual abilities and a decline in higher-level cognitive functions, notably working memory. To remediate age-related deficits, cognitive training programs are increasingly being developed. However, it is not yet definitively established if, and by what mechanisms, training ameliorates effects of cognitive aging. Furthermore, a major factor impeding the success of training programs is a frequent failure of training to transfer benefits to untrained abilities. Here, we offer the first evidence of direct transfer-of-benefits from perceptual discrimination training to working memory performance in older adults. Moreover, using electroencephalography to evaluate participants before and after training, we reveal neural evidence of functional plasticity in older adult brains, such that training-induced modifications in early visual processing during stimulus encoding predict working memory accuracy improvements. These findings demonstrate the strength of the perceptual discrimination training approach by offering clear psychophysical evidence of transfer-of-benefit and a neural mechanism underlying cognitive improvement.

The influence of perceptual training on working memory in older adults.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne S Berry

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Normal aging is associated with a degradation of perceptual abilities and a decline in higher-level cognitive functions, notably working memory. To remediate age-related deficits, cognitive training programs are increasingly being developed. However, it is not yet definitively established if, and by what mechanisms, training ameliorates effects of cognitive aging. Furthermore, a major factor impeding the success of training programs is a frequent failure of training to transfer benefits to untrained abilities. Here, we offer the first evidence of direct transfer-of-benefits from perceptual discrimination training to working memory performance in older adults. Moreover, using electroencephalography to evaluate participants before and after training, we reveal neural evidence of functional plasticity in older adult brains, such that training-induced modifications in early visual processing during stimulus encoding predict working memory accuracy improvements. These findings demonstrate the strength of the perceptual discrimination training approach by offering clear psychophysical evidence of transfer-of-benefit and a neural mechanism underlying cognitive improvement.

Older adult education in Lithuanian ageing society

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zemaitaityte I.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The article analyzes the phenomenon of the demographic ageing of the population and educational opportunities for older adults in Lithuania. Ageing population is a natural outcome of demographic evolution of society. However, a growing number of older people in Lithuania as well as in other European countries requires continuous revision of societal resources in social security, economics, education, health care areas and their adjustment to the new demands. Though current discussion in Lithuania highlights the inclusion of older adults into active social life through educational activities, the studies in diverse areas show that a small number of older people take part in lifelong learning. For this reason and in the attempt to make older people feel satisfaction with life it is necessary to encourage their activity, to promote their social roles, to give them opportunities to take up voluntary tasks, educational and cultural functions and study new subjects.

Overgeneral autobiographical memory and depression in older adults: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, F C L; Gregory, J D

2018-05-01

Overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM) is a well-researched phenomenon in working age adults with depression. However, the relevance and importance of OGM in older adult depression is not well established. The aim of this review was to synthesise existing literature on OGM and depressive symptoms in older adults under the framework of the Capture and Rumination, Functional Avoidance and Impaired Executive Control (CaR-FA-X) model. Literature searches were conducted using PsychINFO, PubMed and Web of Knowledge. Eighteen articles were reviewed. OGM is elevated in healthy older adults compared to adults of working age, and further elevated in older adults with depression. Evidence supports the role of impaired executive function as a mechanism for OGM in older adults with depression, but no studies measured other components of the CaR-FA-X model (i.e. functional avoidance and rumination). OGM is prevalent in older adults and more so for those with depression; however, there is no clear understanding of the underpinning mechanisms. It is recommended that future research looks at the role of functional avoidance and rumination, and at the use of memory specificity interventions being developed in the working age adult literature.

An examination of electronic health information privacy in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Le, Thai; Thompson, Hilaire; Demiris, George

2013-01-01

Older adults are the quickest growing demographic group and are key consumers of health services. As the United States health system transitions to electronic health records, it is important to understand older adult perceptions of privacy and security. We performed a secondary analysis of the Health Information National Trends Survey (2012, Cycle 1), to examine differences in perceptions of electronic health information privacy between older adults and the general population. We found differences in the level of importance placed on access to electronic health information (older adults placed greater emphasis on provider as opposed to personal access) and tendency to withhold information out of concerns for privacy and security (older adults were less likely to withhold information). We provide recommendations to alleviate some of these privacy concerns. This may facilitate greater use of electronic health communication between patient and provider, while promoting shared decision making.

Self-reported cognitive inconsistency in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Vanderhill, Susan; Hultsch, David F; Hunter, Michael A; Strauss, Esther

2010-01-01

Insight into one's own cognitive abilities, or metacognition, has been widely studied in developmental psychology. Relevance to the clinician is high, as memory complaints in older adults show an association with impending dementia, even after controlling for likely confounds. Another candidate marker of impending dementia under study is inconsistency in cognitive performance over short time intervals. Although there has been a recent proliferation of studies of cognitive inconsistency in older adults, to date, no one has examined adults' self-perceptions of cognitive inconsistency. Ninety-four community-dwelling older adults (aged 70-91) were randomly selected from a parent longitudinal study of short-term inconsistency and long-term cognitive change in aging. Participants completed a novel 40-item self-report measure of everyday cognitive inconsistency, including parallel scales indexing perceived inconsistency 5 years ago and at present, yielding measures of past, present, and 5-year change in inconsistency. The questionnaire showed acceptable psychometric characteristics. The sample reported an increase in perceived inconsistency over time. Higher reported present inconsistency and greater 5-year increase in inconsistency were associated with noncognitive (e.g., older age, poorer ADLs, poorer health, higher depression), metacognitive (e.g., poorer self-rated memory) and neuropsychological (e.g., poorer performance and greater 5-year decline in global cognitive status, vocabulary, and memory) measures. Correlations between self-reported inconsistency and neuropsychological performance were attenuated, but largely persisted when self-rated memory and age were controlled. Observed relationships between self-reported inconsistency and measures of neuropsychological (including memory) status and decline suggest that self-perceived inconsistency may be an area of relevance in evaluating older adults for memory disorders.

Feasibility of mobile mental wellness training for older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Similä, Heidi; Immonen, Milla; Toska-Tervola, Jaana; Enwald, Heidi; Keränen, Niina; Kangas, Maarit; Jämsä, Timo; Korpelainen, Raija

2018-03-09

Mobile technology has been increasingly adopted in promotion of mental health among older people. This study assessed the feasibility of a mobile mental wellness training application for individual use and for group work from the perspectives of older adults and social care professionals. The older individuals recruited for the study were participants in a Circle of Friends group and family caregivers' peer support group offered by the communal senior services. The qualitative and quantitative results of interviews, questionnaires, observation, and application usage were reported. Seven older adults started using the application independently at home in parallel with the group activity. This study revealed new information regarding the barriers to the older adults' full adoption of such mobile technologies. The results indicated that there may be potential in the incorporation of mobile technologies in promotion of mental health of older people at group settings. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Casino gambling among older adults in North Dakota: a policy analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bjelde, Kristine; Chromy, Barbara; Pankow, Debra

2008-12-01

This article examined social issues surrounding casino gambling among older adults both nationally and in the state of North Dakota. An exploratory review of gambling trends among older adults and an examination of policies to protect older gamblers revealed that older adults are targeted by the gaming industry as a lucrative market (Singh et al. J Retail Leisure Property 2007, 6(1):61-68). The authors used the national literature to frame their qualitative study, which explored gambling issues among older adults in North Dakota from the perspective of six counselors trained in gambling addiction who provide treatment services in the state. Findings indicated that relatively few policies existed at the state and national levels to protect older, more vulnerable adults who gamble. Further, the six casinos in North Dakota were viewed as very effective in marketing their casino gaming opportunities to older citizens by the gambling treatment providers interviewed. Additionally, barriers to gambling addiction treatment involved lack of available services and distance to receive services in this rural state. Based on the findings of this study, social policy changes which could lead to increased protection for older adult gamblers in the state were included.

Everyday memory errors in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Ossher, Lynn; Flegal, Kristin E; Lustig, Cindy

2013-01-01

Despite concern about cognitive decline in old age, few studies document the types and frequency of memory errors older adults make in everyday life. In the present study, 105 healthy older adults completed the Everyday Memory Questionnaire (EMQ; Sunderland, Harris, & Baddeley, 1983 , Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 22, 341), indicating what memory errors they had experienced in the last 24 hours, the Memory Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (MSEQ; West, Thorn, & Bagwell, 2003 , Psychology and Aging, 18, 111), and other neuropsychological and cognitive tasks. EMQ and MSEQ scores were unrelated and made separate contributions to variance on the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE; Folstein, Folstein, & McHugh, 1975 , Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 189), suggesting separate constructs. Tip-of-the-tongue errors were the most commonly reported, and the EMQ Faces/Places and New Things subscales were most strongly related to MMSE. These findings may help training programs target memory errors commonly experienced by older adults, and suggest which types of memory errors could indicate cognitive declines of clinical concern.

Older Adults and Drinking | NIH MedlinePlus the Magazine

Science.gov (United States)

... page please turn JavaScript on. Feature: Rethinking Drinking Older Adults and Drinking Past Issues / Spring 2014 Table of ... quickly than when they were younger. Drinking puts older adults at greater risk for falls, car crashes, and ...

Reduced Syntactic Processing Efficiency in Older Adults During Sentence Comprehension

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zude Zhu

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Researchers have frequently reported an age-related decline in semantic processing during sentence comprehension. However, it remains unclear whether syntactic processing also declines or whether it remains constant as people age. In the present study, 26 younger adults and 20 older adults were recruited and matched in terms of working memory, general intelligence, verbal intelligence and fluency. They were then asked to make semantic acceptability judgments while completing a Chinese sentence reading task. The behavioral results revealed that the older adults had significantly lower accuracy on measures of semantic and syntactic processing compared to younger adults. Event-related potential (ERP results showed that during semantic processing, older adults had a significantly reduced amplitude and delayed peak latency of the N400 compared to the younger adults. During syntactic processing, older adults also showed delayed peak latency of the P600 relative to younger adults. Moreover, while P600 amplitude was comparable between the two age groups, larger P600 amplitude was associated with worse performance only in the older adults. Together, the behavioral and ERP data suggest that there is an age-related decline in both semantic and syntactic processing, with a trend toward lower efficiency in syntactic ability.

The effects of emotion on younger and older adults' monitoring of learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Tauber, Sarah K; Dunlosky, John; Urry, Heather L; Opitz, Philipp C

2017-09-01

Age-related differences in memory monitoring appear when people learn emotional words. Namely, younger adults' judgments of learning (JOLs) are higher for positive than neutral words, whereas older adults' JOLs do not discriminate between positive versus neutral words. In two experiments, we evaluated whether this age-related difference extends to learning positive versus neutral pictures. We also evaluated the contribution of two dimensions of emotion that may impact younger and older adults' JOLs: valence and arousal. Younger and older adults studied pictures that were positive or neutral and either high or low in arousal. Participants made immediate JOLs and completed memory tests. In both experiments, the magnitude of older adults' JOLs was influenced by emotion, and both younger and older adults demonstrated an emotional salience effect on JOLs. As important, the magnitude of participants' JOLs was influenced by valence, and not arousal. Emotional salience effects were also evident on participants' free recall, and older adults recalled as many pictures as did younger adults. Taken together, these data suggest that older adults do not have a monitoring deficit when learning positive (vs. neutral) pictures and that emotional salience effects on younger and older adults' JOLs are produced more by valence than by arousal.

Relationship between massage therapy usage and health outcomes in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Munk, Niki; Zanjani, Faika

2011-04-01

Physical and emotional decline in older adults is a serious issue affecting not only quality of life but also susceptibility to injury. Non-pharmacological interventions addressing the needs of older adults are important for reducing medication burden and possible drug interactions. This study (N=144) examines the potential of massage therapy as such an intervention for older adults by comparing self-reported health outcome scores among adults 60 and older who have and have not utilized massage therapy in the past year. When controlling for age and cumulative morbidities, older adults who reported massage therapy usage in the past year had significantly better health outcome scores in the following domains: 1) emotional well-being, 2) limitations due to physical issues, and 3) limitations due to emotional issues. Because previous massage therapy research has not included or focused on older adults, studies examining massage therapy and emotional health, specifically among this population, are warranted. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Asthma Morbidity, Comorbidities, and Modifiable Factors Among Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Joy; Chen, Jessica; Mirabelli, Maria C

Asthma morbidity is increased among older adults, especially older adult women. Interventions to improve asthma control in this population are not well described. The objective of this study was to identify risk factors (including modifiable factors) associated with asthma-related hospitalizations and emergency department or urgent care center visits (ED/UCV) among older adults. A secondary objective was to investigate sex differences in variables relevant to asthma control. Data were obtained from 14,076 older adults ≥65 years with active asthma participating in the 2006-2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Asthma Call-back Survey (a random-digit dialed survey) in 40 US states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, representative of >2.6 million persons. Weighted, adjusted logistic regression was conducted. One or more asthma-related hospitalizations in the past year were reported by 5.7% (95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 5.0% to 6.4%) of participants; 10.6% (95% CI = 9.7% to 11.5%) reported ≥1 asthma-related ED/UCV. Compared with older adults without asthma-related hospitalizations, adjusted odds were higher among those with ≥1 asthma-related hospitalization for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), coronary artery disease, depression, cockroaches or mold in the home, and cost barriers to asthma-related health care or medication. All these factors, except for cockroaches, were associated with asthma-related ED/UCV. Compared with males, adjusted odds were higher among females for COPD, depression, obesity, and cost barriers to asthma-related health care or medication. Among older adults, asthma-related hospitalizations and ED/UCV were associated with clinical comorbidities, mold in the home, and financial barriers to asthma-related health care. Interventions addressing modifiable factors could reduce asthma morbidity among older adults. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Development of an Integrated Theory of Surgical Recovery in Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Ann DiMaria-Ghalili, Rose

2016-01-01

Experts argue the health care system is not prepared to meet the unique needs of older surgical patients, including how to provide the best care during the recovery phase. Nutrition plays a critical role in the recovery of surgical patients. Since older adults are at risk for malnutrition, examining the role of nutrition as a mediator for surgical recovery across the care continuum in older adults is critical. Presently there is a paucity of frameworks, models, and guidelines that integrate the role of nutrition on the trajectory of postoperative recovery in older surgical patients. The purpose of this article is to introduce the Integrated Theory of Surgical Recovery in Older Adults, an interdisciplinary middle-range theory, so that scholars, researchers, and clinicians can use this framework to promote recovery from surgery in older adults by considering the contribution of mediators of recovery (nutritional status, functional status, and frailty) unique to the older adults.

Older Adults' Comprehension of Transformational and Deactivation Negation

Science.gov (United States)

Margolin, Sara J.

2015-01-01

The present research aimed to examine young and older adults' comprehension of negated text to determine the locus of older adults' difficulty in understanding this text construction. Participants were asked to read short passages at their own pace, complete a lexical decision task, and answer a comprehension question about what they had read.…

Prevalence and correlates of binge drinking among older adults with multimorbidity.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Benjamin H; Moore, Alison A; Sherman, Scott E; Palamar, Joseph J

2018-06-01

Binge drinking among older adults has increased in the past decade. Binge drinking is associated with unintentional injuries, medical conditions, and lower health-related quality of life. No studies have characterized multimorbidity among older binge drinkers. We examined past 30-day binge alcohol use and lifetime medical conditions among adults age ≥50 from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health from 2005 to 2014. Self-reported lifetime prevalence of 13 medical conditions and medical multimorbidity (≥2 diseases) among binge drinkers were compared to non-binge drinkers. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine correlates of binge alcohol use among older adults with medical multimorbidity. Among adults aged ≥50, 14.4% reported past-month binge drinking. Estimated prevalence of medical multimorbidity was lower (21.4%) among binge drinkers than non-binge drinkers (28.3%; p older adults with multimorbidity, higher income (AOR = 1.44, p older adults in good health are apt to drink more than adults in poorer health. Current use of tobacco and substance use disorder were associated with an increased risk for binge drinking among older adults with multimorbidity. Binge drinking by older adults with multimorbidity may pose significant health risks especially with the concurrent use of other substances. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optimal management of ADHD in older adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Torgersen T

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Terje Torgersen,1,2 Bjorn Gjervan,2,3 Michael B Lensing,4 Kirsten Rasmussen5,6 1Department of Østmarka, St Olav’s Hospital, 2Department of Neuroscience, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, 3Department of Psychiatry, Helse Nord-Trondelag Hospital Trust, Kirkegata, Levanger, 4NevSom, Norwegian Center of Expertise for Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Hypersomnias, Women and Children’s Division, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, 5St Olav’s Hospital, Broset Center for Research and Education in Forensic Psychiatry, Trondheim, 6Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway Background: The manifestation of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD among older adults has become an interesting topic of interest due to an increasing number of adults aged 50 years and older (≥50 years seeking assessment for ADHD. Unfortunately, there is a lack of research on ADHD in older adults, and until recently only a few case reports existed.Method: A systematic search was conducted in the databases Medline/PubMed and PsycINFO in order to identify studies regarding ADHD in adults ≥50 years.Results: ADHD persists into older ages in many patients, but the prevalence of patients fulfilling the criteria for the diagnosis at age ≥50 years is still unknown. It is reason to believe that the prevalence is falling gradually with age, and that the ADHD symptom level is significantly lower in the age group 70–80 years than the group 50–60 years. There is a lack of controlled studies of ADHD medication in adults ≥50 years, but this review suggests that many patients aged ≥50 years experience beneficial effects of pharmacological treatment. The problem with side effects and somatic complications may rise to a level that makes pharmacotherapy for ADHD difficult after the age of 65 years. Physical assessment prior to initiation of ADHD medication in adults ≥50 years should

Developing a Tool for Measuring the Decision-Making Competence of Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Finucane, Melissa L.; Gullion, Christina M.

2010-01-01

The authors evaluated the reliability and validity of a tool for measuring older adults’ decision-making competence (DMC). Two-hundred-five younger adults (25-45 years), 208 young-older adults (65-74 years), and 198 old-older adults (75-97 years) made judgments and decisions related to health, finance, and nutrition. Reliable indices of comprehension, dimension weighting, and cognitive reflection were developed. Unlike previous research, the authors were able to compare old-older with young-older adults’ performance. As hypothesized, old-older adults performed more poorly than young-older adults; both groups of older adults performed more poorly than younger adults. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that a large amount of variance in decision performance across age groups (including mean trends) could be accounted for by social variables, health measures, basic cognitive skills, attitudinal measures, and numeracy. Structural equation modeling revealed significant pathways from three exogenous latent factors (crystallized intelligence, other cognitive abilities, and age) to the endogenous DMC latent factor. Further research is needed to validate the meaning of performance on these tasks for real-life decision making. PMID:20545413

Differences in chewing behaviors between healthy fully dentate young and older adults assessed by electromyographic recordings.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Yong; Hollis, James H

2015-01-01

To characterize changes in chewing behaviors associated with healthy aging, 10 young and 10 older fully dentate healthy participants were enrolled in this study. They chewed carrot samples that differed in hardness until their normal swallowing threshold. Their chewing behaviors were assessed using an electromyographic recording device. Adjusting for gender and body mass index, older adults had a higher number of chewing cycles (p = 0.020), a longer chewing duration (p chewing rate (p = 0.002), a greater maximal electromyographic voltage (p = 0.003) and a greater muscle activity (p = 0.002) before they could comfortably swallow the food bolus. A statistically significant main effect of food hardness on the number of chewing cycles, chewing duration, chewing rate and muscle activity was also observed (p < 0.001 for all). These results suggest that reduced mastication efficiency is associated with healthy aging in fully dentate adults. This ingestive behavior may contribute to aging-related reduction in appetite in older adults.

Coming of Age: Considerations in the Prescription of Exercise for Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaleski, Amanda L; Taylor, Beth A; Panza, Gregory A; Wu, Yin; Pescatello, Linda S; Thompson, Paul D; Fernandez, Antonio B

2016-01-01

Older adults represent the fastest-growing age demographic of the population. Physiological changes associated with primary aging and concurrent chronic disease adversely impact functional capacity, health outcomes, and quality of life. For these reasons, there is a national emphasis for healthcare providers to improve the health, function, and quality of life of older adults to preserve independent living and psychological well-being. The benefits of regular physical activity or exercise with regard to aging and disease are indisputable, yet many clinicians do not prescribe exercise to older adults. This reluctance may be attributable to a lack of knowledge regarding appropriate exercise prescription for older adults in light of the potential risks and benefits of various doses and types of exercise. In addition, clinicians and patients may have concerns about potential health considerations relevant to older adults such as comprehensive pre-exercise screening and exercise-drug interactions. In light of this, the following review presents (1) guidelines for exercise prescription in older adults and modification of these guidelines for patients with the most common age-associated comorbidities; (2) recommendations for pre-exercise screening prior to initiating an exercise program in older adults; (3) considerations for older adults on one or more medications; and (4) common barriers to adopting and maintaining exercise in an older population. Our goal is to provide a framework that clinicians can follow when prescribing exercise in older adults while considering the unique characteristics and concerns present in this population.

Depressive symptoms among adolescents and older adults in Mexico City.

Science.gov (United States)

Sánchez-García, Sergio; García-Peña, Carmen; González-Forteza, Catalina; Jiménez-Tapia, Alberto; Gallo, Joseph J; Wagner, Fernando A

2014-06-01

Determine the structure of depressive symptoms among adolescents and older adults through the person-centered approach of latent class analysis (LCA). The study is based on data from two independent samples collected in Mexico City (2,444 adolescents and 2,223 older adults) which included the revised version of the CES-D. The presence or absence of depressed mood (dysphoria), diminished pleasure (anhedonia), drastic change in weight, sleep problems, thinking and concentration difficulties, excessive or inappropriate guilt, fatigue, psychomotor agitation/retardation, and suicide ideation were used in LCA to determine the structure of depressive symptoms for adolescents and older adults. Adolescents reported higher excessive or inappropriate guilt compared to older adults, while older adults had higher proportions of anhedonia, sleep problems, fatigue, and psychomotor agitation/retardation. Similar proportions were found in other symptoms. The LCA analysis showed the best fit with four latent classes (LC): LC 1, "symptoms suggestive of major depressive episode (MDE)" with prevalence of 5.9 % (n = 144) and 10.3 % (n = 230) among adolescents and older adults, respectively; LC 2, "probable MDE symptoms" 18.2 % (n = 446) and 23.0 % (n = 512); LC 3, "possible MDE" 27.7 % (n = 676) and 21.8 % (n = 485); LC 4, "without significant depressive symptoms" 48.2 % (n = 1,178) and 44.8 % (n = 996). The differences in item thresholds between the two groups (adolescents vs. older adults) were statistically significant (Wald test = 255.684, df = 1, p depressive symptoms between adolescents and older adults that merit acknowledgment, further study, and consideration of their potential clinical and public health implications.

The Mental Health of Older LGBT Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Yarns, Brandon C; Abrams, Janet M; Meeks, Thomas W; Sewell, Daniel D

2016-06-01

There are approximately one million older lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) adults in the USA. Their mental health issues result from interactions between genetic factors and stress associated with membership in a sexual minority group. Although advancements in acceptance and equal treatment of LGBT individuals have been occurring, sexual minority status remains associated with risks to physical and mental well-being. Older LGBT adults are more likely to have experienced mistreatment and discrimination due to living a majority of their lives prior to recent advancements in acceptance and equal treatment. All LGBT adults experience one common developmental challenge: deciding if, when, and how to reveal to others their gender identity and/or sexual orientation. LGBT individuals have higher rates of anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders and also are at increased risk for certain medical conditions like obesity, breast cancer, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Improved education and training of clinicians, coupled with clinical research efforts, holds the promise of improved overall health and life quality for older LGBT adults.

Implementing the chronic care model for frail older adults in the Netherlands : study protocol of ACT (frail older adults: care in transition)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Muntinga, Maaike E; Hoogendijk, Emiel O; van Leeuwen, Karen M; van Hout, Hein P J; Twisk, Jos W R; van der Horst, Henriette E; Nijpels, Giel; Jansen, Aaltje P D

2012-01-01

BACKGROUND: Care for older adults is facing a number of challenges: health problems are not consistently identified at a timely stage, older adults report a lack of autonomy in their care process, and care systems are often confronted with the need for better coordination between health care

Implementing the chronic care model for frail older adults in the Netherlands: study protocol of ACT (frail older adults: care in transition)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Muntinga, M.E.; Hoogendijk, E.O.; van Leeuwen, K.M.; van Hout, H.P.J.; Twisk, J.W.R.; van der Horst, H.E.; Nijpels, G.; Jansen, A.P.D.

2012-01-01

Background: Care for older adults is facing a number of challenges: health problems are not consistently identified at a timely stage, older adults report a lack of autonomy in their care process, and care systems are often confronted with the need for better coordination between health care

Effect of knowledge of APOE genotype on subjective and objective memory performance in healthy older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Lineweaver, Tara T; Bondi, Mark W; Galasko, Douglas; Salmon, David P

2014-02-01

The knowledge that one carries the apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele risk factor for Alzheimer's disease was recently found to have little short-term psychological risk. The authors investigated the impact of knowledge of carrying the risk allele on subjective ratings of memory and objective memory test performance of older adults. Using a nested case-control design, the authors administered objective verbal and visual memory tests and self-rating scales of memory function to 144 cognitively normal older adults (ages 52-89) with known APOE genotype who knew (ε4+, N=25; ε4-, N=49) or did not know (ε4+, N=25; ε4-, N=45) their genotype and genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease prior to neuropsychological evaluation. Significant genotype-by-disclosure interaction effects were observed on several memory rating scales and tests of immediate and delayed verbal recall. Older adults who knew their ε4+ genotype judged their memory more harshly and performed worse on an objective verbal memory test than did ε4+ adults who did not know. In contrast, older adults who knew their ε4- genotype judged their memory more positively than did ε4- adults who did not know, but these groups did not differ in objective memory test performance. Informing older adults that they have an APOE genotype associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease can have adverse consequences on their perception of their memory abilities and their performance on objective memory tests. The patient's knowledge of his or her genotype and risk of Alzheimer's disease should be considered when evaluating cognition in the elderly.

When touch matters: an affective tactile intervention for older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Mammarella, Nicola; Fairfield, Beth; Di Domenico, Alberto

2012-10-01

Our goal was to test the hypothesis that positive tactile experiences can lead to an improvement in cognitive, emotional skills and perceived quality of life in a group of healthy community-dwelling older adults. During a 10-week period, older adults completed a series of activities that required manipulating either a piece of velvet, a piece of canvas or velcro. Only older adults who worked with velvet showed an increase in cognitive and emotional skills, and the perceived quality of life. Our study is one of the first to show that positive tactile experiences might have a beneficial effect on the psychological well-being of healthy community-dwelling older adults across different domains. © 2012 Japan Geriatrics Society.

Self-reference enhances relational memory in young and older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Mingzhu; Grilli, Matthew D; Glisky, Elizabeth L

2017-11-27

The present study investigated the influence of self-reference on two kinds of relational memory, internal source memory and associative memory, in young and older adults. Participants encoded object-location word pairs using the strategies of imagination and sentence generation, either with reference to themselves or to a famous other (i.e., George Clooney or Oprah Winfrey). Both young and older adults showed memory benefits in the self-reference conditions compared to other-reference conditions on both tests, and the self-referential effects in older adults were not limited by low memory or executive functioning. These results suggest that self-reference can benefit relational memory in older adults relatively independently of basic memory and executive functions.

Functional abilities in older adults with mild cognitive impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Burton, Catherine L; Strauss, Esther; Bunce, David; Hunter, Michael A; Hultsch, David F

2009-01-01

A classification scheme and general set of criteria for diagnosing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) were recently proposed by a multidisciplinary group of experts who met at an international symposium on MCI. One of the proposed criteria included preserved basic activities of daily living and minimal impairment in complex instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). To investigate whether older adults with MCI classified according to the subtypes identified by the Working Group (i.e. amnestic, single non-memory domain, and multiple domain with or without a memory component) differed from cognitively intact older adults on a variety of measures indexing IADLs and to examine how well measures of IADL predict concurrent MCI status. Two hundred and fifty community-dwelling older adults, ranging in age from 66 to 92, completed self-report measures of IADLs (Lawton and Brody IADL Scale, Scales of Independent Behaviour-Revised--SIB-R) and a measure of everyday problem solving indexing IADLs (Everyday Problems Test--EPT). Ratings of participants' IADL functioning were also obtained from informants (e.g. spouse, adult child and friend). Older adults with multiple-domain MCI demonstrated poorer IADL functioning than older adults with no cognitive impairment on the EPT and the SIB-R (both self- and informant-report versions). The multiple-domain MCI participants also demonstrated poorer IADLs than MCI participants with impairments in a single cognitive domain on the self-reported SIB-R and EPT. The single-domain MCI groups demonstrated poorer IADLs than older adults without cognitive impairment on the informant-reported SIB-R and EPT. No significant group differences were found on the Lawton and Brody IADL Scale. Using the EPT and SIB-R as predictors in a multinomial regression analysis, MCI group status was reliably predicted, but the classification rate was poor. Individuals with MCI demonstrated poorer IADL functioning compared to cognitively intact older adults

Naturalistic Assessment of Executive Function and Everyday Multitasking in Healthy Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

McAlister, Courtney; Schmitter-Edgecombe, Maureen

2013-01-01

Everyday multitasking and its cognitive correlates were investigated in an older adult population using a naturalistic task, the Day Out Task. Fifty older adults and 50 younger adults prioritized, organized, initiated and completed a number of subtasks in a campus apartment to prepare for a day out (e.g., gather ingredients for a recipe, collect change for a bus ride). Participants also completed tests assessing cognitive constructs important in multitasking. Compared to younger adults, the older adults took longer to complete the everyday tasks and more poorly sequenced the subtasks. Although they initiated, completed, and interweaved a similar number of subtasks, the older adults demonstrated poorer task quality and accuracy, completing more subtasks inefficiently. For the older adults, reduced prospective memory abilities were predictive of poorer task sequencing, while executive processes and prospective memory were predictive of inefficiently completed subtasks. The findings suggest that executive dysfunction and prospective memory difficulties may contribute to the age-related decline of everyday multitasking abilities in healthy older adults. PMID:23557096

Orchestrating care: nursing practice with hospitalised older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Dahlke, Sherry Ann; Phinney, Alison; Hall, Wendy Ann; Rodney, Patricia; Baumbusch, Jennifer

2015-12-01

The increased incidence of health challenges with aging means that nurses are increasingly caring for older adults, often in hospital settings. Research about the complexity of nursing practice with this population remains limited. To seek an explanation of nursing practice with hospitalised older adults. Design. A grounded theory study guided by symbolic interactionism was used to explore nursing practice with hospitalised older adults from a nursing perspective. Glaserian grounded theory methods were used to develop a mid-range theory after analysis of 375 hours of participant observation, 35 interviews with 24 participants and review of selected documents. The theory of orchestrating care was developed to explain how nurses are continuously trying to manage their work environments by understanding the status of the patients, their unit, mobilising the assistance of others and stretching available resources to resolve their problem of providing their older patients with what they perceived as 'good care' while sustaining themselves as 'good' nurses. They described their practice environments as hard and under-resourced. Orchestrating care is comprised of two subprocesses: building synergy and minimising strain. These two processes both facilitated and constrained each other and nurses' abilities to orchestrate care. Although system issues presented serious constraints to nursing practice, the ways in which nurses were making meaning of their work environment both aided them in managing their challenges and constrained their agency. Nurses need to be encouraged to share their important perspective about older adult care. Administrators have a role to play in giving nurses voice in workplace committees and in forums. Further research is needed to better understand how multidisciplinary teams influence care of hospitalized older adults. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Poor Appetite and Dietary Intake in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Meij, Barbara S; Wijnhoven, Hanneke A H; Lee, Jung S; Houston, Denise K; Hue, Trisha; Harris, Tamara B; Kritchevsky, Stephen B; Newman, Anne B; Visser, Marjolein

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Poor appetite in older adults leads to sub-optimal food intake and increases the risk of undernutrition. The impact of poor appetite on food intake in older adults is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the differences in food intake among older community-dwelling

Understanding Older Adults' Perceptions of Internet Use: An Exploratory Factor Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Robert; Spears, Jeffrey; Luptak, Marilyn; Wilby, Frances

2015-01-01

The current study examined factors related to older adults' perceptions of Internet use. Three hundred ninety five older adults participated in the study. The factor analysis revealed four factors perceived by older adults as critical to their Internet use: social connection, self-efficacy, the need to seek financial information, and the need to…

Crying and Depression Among Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Hastrup, Janice L.; And Others

1986-01-01

Self-reports of frequency of crying episodes are described for two nonclinical samples of younger and older adult men and women. Comparison of samples revealed no evidence for either a decreased or increased frequency of crying among the older sample. Crying episodes function as an adaptive coping response to and should not be automatically…

Central Artery Stiffness, Baroreflex Sensitivity, and Brain White Matter Neuronal Fiber Integrity in Older Adults

OpenAIRE

Tarumi, Takashi; de Jong, Daan L.K.; Zhu, David C.; Tseng, Benjamin Y.; Liu, Jie; Hill, Candace; Riley, Jonathan; Womack, Kyle B.; Kerwin, Diana R.; Lu, Hanzhang; Cullum, C. Munro; Zhang, Rong

2015-01-01

Cerebral hypoperfusion elevates the risk of brain white matter (WM) lesions and cognitive impairment. Central artery stiffness impairs baroreflex, which controls systemic arterial perfusion, and may deteriorate neuronal fiber integrity of brain WM. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations among brain WM neuronal fiber integrity, baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), and central artery stiffness in older adults. Fifty-four adults (65±6 years) with normal cognitive function or mild cog...

Lateral step initiation behavior in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Sparto, Patrick J; Jennings, J Richard; Furman, Joseph M; Redfern, Mark S

2014-02-01

Older adults have varied postural responses during induced and voluntary lateral stepping. The purpose of the research was to quantify the occurrence of different stepping strategies during lateral step initiation in older adults and to relate the stepping responses to retrospective history of falls. Seventy community-ambulating older adults (mean age 76 y, range 70-94 y) performed voluntary lateral steps as quickly as possible to the right or left in response to a visual cue, in a blocked design. Vertical ground reaction forces were measured using a forceplate, and the number and latency of postural adjustments were quantified. Subjects were assigned to groups based on their stepping strategy. The frequency of trials with one or two postural adjustments was compared with data from 20 younger adults (mean age 38 y, range 21-58 y). Logistic regression was used to relate presence of a fall in the previous year with the number and latency of postural adjustments. In comparison with younger adults, who almost always demonstrated one postural adjustment when stepping laterally, older adults constituted a continuous distribution in the percentage of step trials made with one postural adjustment (from 0% to 100% of trials). Latencies of the initial postural adjustment and foot liftoff varied depending on the number of postural adjustments made. A history of falls was associated a larger percentage of two postural adjustments, and a longer latency of foot liftoff. In conclusion, the number and latency of postural adjustments made during voluntary lateral stepping provides additional evidence that lateral control of posture may be a critical indicator of aging. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Familism and Health Care Provision to Hispanic Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Savage, Brittany; Foli, Karen J; Edwards, Nancy E; Abrahamson, Kathleen

2016-01-01

The Hispanic older adult population's rapid growth calls for an awareness of values that can affect the rendering and receipt of care. Familism, or familismo, a traditional Hispanic value, places importance of family over the self and can potentially affect health care perceptions and practices for Hispanic older adults. The current article discusses familism, which is upheld by some Hispanic older adults, and the potential for underuse of health care services. The traditional feminine role, marianismo, and masculine role, machismo, are considered, as well as implications for how decision making may be made by family members rather than the patient. Clinical implications for the provision of health care to Hispanic older adults are provided, along with the importance of considering acculturation and ethnic heterogeneity. Health care management strategies that reflect recognition and respect of familism, yet emphasize optimization of adherence and self-care, are described. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

Smoking and Older Adults

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

2008-10-27

This podcast discusses the importance of older adults quitting smoking and other tobacco products. It is primarily targeted to public health and aging services professionals.  Created: 10/27/2008 by National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP).   Date Released: 11/20/2008.

Disparities in Treatment of Older Adults with Suicide Risk in the Emergency Department.

Science.gov (United States)

Arias, Sarah A; Boudreaux, Edwin D; Segal, Daniel L; Miller, Ivan; Camargo, Carlos A; Betz, Marian E

2017-10-01

We described characteristics and treatment received for older (≥60 years) vs younger (adult emergency department (ED) patients with suicide risk. Retrospective chart review. An ED with universal screening for suicide risk. Eligible charts included a random sample of adults (≥18 years) who screened positive for suicidal ideation (SI) in past 2 weeks and/or a suicide attempt (SA) within the past 6 months. Visit dates were from May 2014 to September 2016. A total of 800 charts were reviewed, with oversampling of older adults. Of the 200 older adults sampled, fewer older adults compared to younger adults (n = 600) had a chief complaint involving psychiatric behavior (53% vs 70%) or self-harm behavior (26% vs 36%). Although a higher number of older adults (93%) had documentation of current SI compared to younger adults (79%), fewer older adults (17%) reported SA in the past 2 weeks compared to younger adults (23%). Of those with a positive suicide screen who were discharged home, less than half of older adults received a mental health evaluation during their visit (42%, 95% CI 34-52) compared to 66% (95% CI 61-70) of younger adults who met the same criteria. Similarly, fewer older, than younger, adult patients with current SI/SA received referral resources (34%; 95% CI 26-43; vs 60%; 95% CI 55-65). Significantly fewer suicidal older adult patients who were discharged home received a mental health evaluation when compared to similar younger adults. These findings highlight an important area for improvement in the treatment of older adults at risk for suicide. © 2017, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2017, The American Geriatrics Society.

Diabetes: Unique to Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

... Stroke Urinary Incontinence Related Documents PDF Choosing Wisely: Diabetes Tests and Treatments Download Related Video Join our e-newsletter! Aging & Health A to Z Diabetes Unique to Older Adults This section provides information ...

Gender-Specific Differences in the Relationship between Autobiographical Memory and Intertemporal Choice in Older Adults.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maayke Seinstra

Full Text Available As the population of older adults grows, their economic choices will have increasing impact on society. Research on the effects of aging on intertemporal decisions shows inconsistent, often opposing results, indicating that yet unexplored factors might play an essential role in guiding one's choices. Recent studies suggest that episodic future thinking, which is based on the same neural network involved in episodic memory functions, leads to reductions in discounting of future rewards. As episodic memory functioning declines with normal aging, but to greatly variable degrees, individual differences in delay discounting might be due to individual differences in the vitality of this memory system in older adults. We investigated this hypothesis, using a sample of healthy older adults who completed an intertemporal choice task as well as two episodic memory tasks. We found no clear evidence for a relationship between episodic memory performance and delay discounting in older adults. However, when additionally considering gender differences, we found an interaction effect of gender and autobiographical memory on delay discounting: while men with higher memory scores showed less delay discounting, women with higher memory scores tended to discount the future more. We speculate that this gender effect might stem from the gender-specific use of different modal representation formats (i.e. temporal or visual during assessment of intertemporal choice options.

Effects of acute dietary nitrate supplementation on aortic blood pressure and aortic augmentation index in young and older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, William E; Ueda, Kenichi; Treichler, David P; Casey, Darren P

2016-09-30

Aging is associated with elevated blood pressure (peripheral and aortic; BP) and aortic augmentation index (AIx) which may contribute to aortic BP. Although inorganic nitrate consumption reduces peripheral BP in both young and older adults, the effects of nitrate consumption on aortic BP and wave reflection in young and older adults is unknown. Therefore, we sought to characterize the effects of nitrate consumption on aortic BP and AIx in young and older adults. Noninvasive aortic pressure waveforms were synthesized from high-fidelity radial pressure waveforms via applanation tonometry before and following (60, 90, 120, 150, and 180 min) consumption of a nitrate-rich beetroot juice in 26 healthy adults (young: 25 ± 4 years, n = 14; older: 64 ± 5 years, n = 12). Aortic BP and indices of aortic wave reflection (AIx and AIx normalized for heart rate; AIx@75bpm) were calculated from the generated aortic pressure waveform. Nitrate consumption increased plasma nitrite in both groups 60-180 min following beetroot consumption (P young and older adults (P age groups. Conversely, indices of aortic wave reflection were reduced only in young adults following nitrate consumption (range of change from baseline over time: AIx@75bpm, -4.3 to -8.8%, P adults. Taken together, our results suggest that acute dietary nitrate supplementation reduces peripheral and aortic BP similarly in young and older adults despite differential effects on aortic AIx between age groups. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Perspectives of nursing professionals and older adults differ on aspects of care for older people after a nationwide improvement program.

Science.gov (United States)

Verweij, Lisanne Marlieke; Wehrens, Rik; Oldenhof, Lieke; Bal, Roland; Francke, Anneke L

2018-05-02

The perspectives of nursing professionals might differ from those of older adults when it comes to care for older people. This cross-sectional study compares the views of older adults with the views of nursing professionals on the quality of care after a nationwide improvement program for care for older people was implemented (2008-2016) in the Netherlands. Questionnaire data were used from 385 nursing professionals (response rate 51%) that were part of the Nursing Staff Panel, a nationwide representative group of nursing staff, and working in home care, hospitals or general practices. Additionally, questionnaire data were used from 73 older adults (response rate 81%) who were involved in regional networks to discuss project proposals and to represent the voice of older adults in the nationwide improvement program. Participants were asked to evaluate care for older people with regard to collaboration between healthcare organizations and with regard to the tailored service, accessibility, and quality of care within their organizations and in the region in which they lived. A majority of older adults (54%) and nursing professionals (61%) felt that collaboration with others had improved over the last few years. Approximately one third of the older adults stated that care for older people was tailored to fit individual needs and was accessible most of the time or always, as opposed to approximately two thirds of the professionals. Moreover, 17% older adults thought that the quality of care was good, compared with 54% of the nursing professionals. 77% of the nursing professionals and 94% of the older adults thought that improvements were still needed in care for older people, for example better integration of the different aspects of care and a more patient-centered approach. Older adults who were involved in networks of the improvement program generally gave a less positive evaluation of aspects of care for older people and its development than nursing professionals

Case management for frail older adults through tablet computers and Skype.

Science.gov (United States)

Berner, Jessica; Anderberg, Peter; Rennemark, Mikael; Berglund, Johan

2016-12-01

Frail older adults are high consumers of medical care due to their age and multiple chronic conditions. Regular contact with a case manager has been proven to increase well-being of frail older adults and reduce their number of health-care visits. Skype calls through tablet PCs can offer easier communication. This paper examines frail older adults' use of tablet computers and Skype, with their case managers. Interviews were conducted on 15 frail older adults. A content analysis was used to structure and analyze the data. The results indicate that tablet computers were experienced in a positive way for most frail older adults. Conflicting feelings did emerge, however, as to whether the frail elderly would adopt this in the long run. Skype needs to be tested further as to whether this is a good solution for communication with their case managers. Strong technical support and well-functioning technology are important elements to facilitate use. Using Skype and tablet PCs do have potential for frail older adults, but need to be tested further.

Flying solo: A review of the literature on wayfinding for older adults experiencing visual or cognitive decline.

Science.gov (United States)

Bosch, Sheila J; Gharaveis, Arsalan

2017-01-01

Accessible tourism is a growing market within the travel industry, but little research has focused on travel barriers for older adults who may be experiencing visual and cognitive decline as part of the normal aging process, illness, or other disabling conditions. Travel barriers, such as difficulty finding one's way throughout an airport, may adversely affect older adults' travel experience, thereby reducing their desire to travel. This review of the literature investigates wayfinding strategies to ensure that older passengers who have planned to travel independently can do so with dignity. These include facility planning and design strategies (e.g., layout, signage) and technological solutions. Although technological approaches, such as smart phone apps, appear to offer the most promising new solutions for enhancing airport navigation, more traditional approaches, such as designing facilities with an intuitive building layout, are still heavily relied upon in the aviation industry. While there are many design guidelines for enhancing wayfinding for older adults, many are not based on scientific investigation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Older Adults Can Suppress Unwanted Memories When Given an Appropriate Strategy

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-01

Memory suppression refers to the ability to exclude distracting memories from conscious awareness, and this ability can be assessed with the think/no-think paradigm. Recent research with older adults has provided evidence suggesting both intact and deficient memory suppression. The present studies seek to understand the conditions contributing to older adults’ ability to suppress memories voluntarily. We report 2 experiments indicating that the specificity of the think/no-think task instructions contributes to older adults’ suppression success: When older adults receive open-ended instructions that require them to develop a retrieval suppression strategy on their own, they show diminished memory suppression compared with younger adults. Conversely, when older adults receive focused instructions directing them to a strategy thought to better isolate inhibitory control, they show suppression-induced forgetting similar to that exhibited by younger adults. Younger adults demonstrate memory suppression regardless of the specificity of the instructions given, suggesting that the ability to select a successful suppression strategy spontaneously may be compromised in older adults. If so, this deficit may be associated with diminished control over unwanted memories in naturalistic settings if impeded strategy development reduces the successful deployment of inhibitory control. PMID:25602491

An integrated dementia intervention for Korean older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Hee-Young; Bae, Yeong-Suk; Kim, Eun-Hee; Lee, Kap-Soon; Chae, Myeong-Jeong; Ju, Ree-Aie

2010-12-01

Called dotage in Korea, dementia is primarily characterized by cognitive impairments. Secondary manifestations include mental-emotional problems, including depression. This study was designed to examine the effects of an integrated dementia intervention for Korean older adults. The intervention is composed of cognitive stimulation training, exercise, music, art, and horticultural therapy. Participants included 38 older adults with mild dementia. Twenty were assigned to the experimental group and 18 to the control group. Participants in the experimental group attended 18 program sessions. Significant differences were found postintervention between the two groups in measures of cognitive function, depression levels, and mental-emotional health. The findings indicate that this integrated dementia intervention can be applied to help older adults with mild dementia. Copyright 2010, SLACK Incorporated.

Psychotherapeutic treatment levels of personality disorders in older adults

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Videler, Arjan; Cornelis, Christina; Rossi, G.; van Royen, R.J.J.; Rosowsky, E.; van Alphen, S.P.J.

2015-01-01

Treatment of personality disorders (PDs) in older adults is a highly underexplored topic. In this article clinical applicability of the findings from a recent Delphi study regarding treatment aspects of PDs in older adults is explored. This concerns the relevance of three psychotherapeutic treatment

Antisocial Personality Disorder in Older Adults: A Critical Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Holzer, Katherine J; Vaughn, Michael G

2017-11-01

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) has enormous negative impacts on the affected individuals, their loved ones, and society. This burden is intensified by the social and functional changes related to age. The lower prevalence of ASPD in older adults compared to younger adults is well-documented. This discrepancy, often attributed solely to antisocial "burnout," contributes to the lack of attention given to this disorder in older adults and may signify difficulty measuring ASPD in this population. These measurement issues likely stem from problems with the validity of the diagnostic criteria for older adults which may not effectively capture changes that occur with age. This review focuses on the current literature surrounding the validity of ASPD criteria with older adults and relevant concepts, including the connection between criminality and ASPD. Issues with screening tools and the measurement of ASPD caused by problems with the criteria are also discussed. Finally, recommendations for improvement, including use of dimensional models of personality disorders, a potential geriatric subclassification of criteria, and modification of the existing criteria are presented with clinical implications and suggestions for future research.

Older Adults' Knowledge of Internet Hazards

Science.gov (United States)

Grimes, Galen A.; Hough, Michelle G.; Mazur, Elizabeth; Signorella, Margaret L.

2010-01-01

Older adults are less likely to be using computers and less knowledgeable about Internet security than are younger users. The two groups do not differ on trust of Internet information. The younger group shows no age or gender differences. Within the older group, computer users are more trusting of Internet information, and along with those with…

Examining the effects of an experiential interprofessional education activity with older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Conti, Gerry; Bowers, Cassandra; O'Connell, Mary Beth; Bruer, Stephen; Bugdalski-Stutrud, Carol; Smith, Geralynn; Bickes, Joan; Mendez, Jennifer

2016-01-01

The need for experienced healthcare professionals to work with older adults is great, yet educational training is limited. In this interprofessional education (IPE) study, 861 students from five professions made 293 visits in the homes or preferred community settings of 208 older adults. Surveys with quantitative and open-text feedback assessed attitudes towards older adults, IPE team functioning, and the value of home visits. Survey results showed strongly positive attitudes towards ageing and older adults. Students from all professions expressed surprise and admiration for the active lives led by these healthier older adults, lives clearly in contrast to stereotypes of ageing. They further acknowledged the value of collaborative team functioning in meeting older adult needs, learned more about the roles and responsibilities of other professions, and identified strengths of the home as a site for care. Students positively valued the experience as part of their professional training, with 82% of all students stating they would welcome additional IPE opportunities. Results suggest that an experiential IPE activity can positively shape student attitudes towards older adults, IPE, and interprofessional collaboration.

Handgrip force steadiness in young and older adults

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blomkvist, Andreas W; Eika, Fredrik; de Bruin, Eling D

2018-01-01

) was investigated in a test-retest design with seven days between sessions. Ten young and thirty older adults were recruited and handgrip steadiness was tested at 5%, 10% and 25% of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) using Nintendo Wii Balance Board (WBB). Coefficients of variation were calculated from the mean...... force produced (CVM) and the target force (CVT). Area between the force curve and the target force line (Area) was also calculated. For the older adults we explored reliability using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and agreement using standard error of measurement (SEM), limits of agreement......, CVT and Area was 0.815, 0.806 and 0.464, respectively. Averaged ICC on 5%, 10%, and 25% of MVC was 0.751, 0.667 and 0.668, respectively. Measures of agreement showed similar trends with better results for CVM and CVT than for Area. Young adults had better handgrip steadiness than older adults across...

Delirium: Issues for Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

... a bone. Common fractures are those of the hip, wrist, or a bone in the back (vertebra). ... leading cause for dehydration among older adults is water pills (diuretics). In addition to not feeling thirsty, ...

Sleep benefits consolidation of visuo-motor adaptation learning in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Mantua, Janna; Baran, Bengi; Spencer, Rebecca M C

2016-02-01

Sleep is beneficial for performance across a range of memory tasks in young adults, but whether memories are similarly consolidated in older adults is less clear. Performance benefits have been observed following sleep in older adults for declarative learning tasks, but this benefit may be reduced for non-declarative, motor skill learning tasks. To date, studies of sleep-dependent consolidation of motor learning in older adults are limited to motor sequence tasks. To examine whether reduced sleep-dependent consolidation in older adults is generalizable to other forms of motor skill learning, we examined performance changes over intervals of sleep and wake in young (n = 62) and older adults (n = 61) using a mirror-tracing task, which assesses visuo-motor adaptation learning. Participants learned the task either in the morning or in evening, and performance was assessed following a 12-h interval containing overnight sleep or daytime wake. Contrary to our prediction, both young adults and older adults exhibited sleep-dependent gains in visuo-motor adaptation. There was a correlation between performance improvement over sleep and percent of the night in non-REM stage 2 sleep. These results indicate that motor skill consolidation remains intact with increasing age although this relationship may be limited to specific forms of motor skill learning.

Both younger and older adults have difficulty updating emotional memories.

Science.gov (United States)

Nashiro, Kaoru; Sakaki, Michiko; Huffman, Derek; Mather, Mara

2013-03-01

The main purpose of the study was to examine whether emotion impairs associative memory for previously seen items in older adults, as previously observed in younger adults. Thirty-two younger adults and 32 older adults participated. The experiment consisted of 2 parts. In Part 1, participants learned picture-object associations for negative and neutral pictures. In Part 2, they learned picture-location associations for negative and neutral pictures; half of these pictures were seen in Part 1 whereas the other half were new. The dependent measure was how many locations of negative versus neutral items in the new versus old categories participants remembered in Part 2. Both groups had more difficulty learning the locations of old negative pictures than of new negative pictures. However, this pattern was not observed for neutral items. Despite the fact that older adults showed overall decline in associative memory, the impairing effect of emotion on updating associative memory was similar between younger and older adults.

Visuomotor correction is a robust contributor to force variability during index finger abduction by older adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian L Tracy

2015-12-01

Full Text Available We examined aging-related differences in the contribution of visuomotor correction to force fluctuations during index finger abduction via the analysis of two datasets from similar subjects. Study 1 Young (N= 27, 23+/-8 yrs and older adults (N=14, 72+/- 9 yrs underwent assessment of maximum voluntary contraction force (MVC and force steadiness during constant-force (CF index finger abduction (2.5, 30, 65% MVC. For each trial, visual feedback of the force (VIS was provided for 8-10 s and removed for 8-10s (NOVIS. Visual gain of the force feedback at 2.5% MVC was high; 12- and 26-fold greater than the 30% and 65% MVC targets. Mean force, standard deviation (SD of force, and coefficient of variation (CV of force was calculated for detrended (<0.5Hz drift removed VIS and NOVIS data segments. Study 2 A similar group of 14 older adults performed discrete, randomly-ordered VIS or NOVIS trials at low target forces (1-3% MVC and high visual gain. Study 1 For young adults the CV of force was similar between VIS and NOVIS for the 2.5% (4.8 vs. 4.3%, 30% (3.2 vs. 3.2% and 65% (3.5 vs. 4.2% target forces. In contrast, for older adults the CV of force was greater for VIS than NOVIS for 2.5% MVC (6.6 vs. 4.2%, P<0.001, but not for the 30% (2.4 vs. 2.4% and 65% (3.1 vs. 3.3% target forces. At 2.5% MVC, the increase in CV of force for VIS compared with NOVIS was significantly greater (age x visual condition P=0.008 for older than young adults. Study 2 Similarly, for older adults performing discrete, randomly ordered trials the CV of force was greater for VIS than NOVIS (6.04 vs. 3.81%, P=0.01. When visual force feedback was a dominant source of information at low forces, normalized force variability was ~58% greater for older adults, but only 11% greater for young adults. The significant effect of visual feedback for older adults was not dependent on the order of presentation of visual conditions. The results indicate that impaired processing of visuomotor

Dance for Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Pruett, Diane Milhan, Ed.; And Others

1983-01-01

Dance programs for older adults that encourage exercise and socializing are described in six articles. Program guidelines of the American Alliance Committee on Aging are explained, and other articles emphasize a movement education approach that may involve intergenerational contact. A dance program held in a worship setting is also discussed. (PP)

Exploring the "Obesity Paradox" as a Correlate of Cognitive and Physical Function in Community-dwelling Black and White Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Skinner, Jeannine S; Abel, Willie Mae; McCoy, Katryna; Wilkins, Consuelo H

2017-01-01

The obesity paradox has been documented in aged populations, yet it remains unclear if this paradox persists for physical and cognitive outcomes in community-dwelling older adult populations. Our study examines associations between body mass index (BMI) classification, cognitive function, and physical function. We also investigate whether these associations are modified by race or age. Cross-sectional study. Senior residential sites and community centers in Saint Louis, Missouri. Study participants included 331 adults, aged >55 years. Age was stratified into young-old (aged 55-74 years) and older (aged ≥75 years). Physical function was measured using the mini-Physical Performance Test (mini-PPT) and grip strength. Cognitive function was assessed with the Short Blessed Test (SBT) and the Trail Making Tests (TMT-A and TMT-B) performance. Older adults who were obese had significantly better cognitive flexibility (TMT-B) performance than normal weight older adults (P=.02), and this association was not influenced by age or race. Adiposity was not associated with psychomotor speed (TMT-A), general cognition (SBT), or measures of physical function (Ps>.05). In a diverse sample of community-dwelling older adults, we found partial support for the controversial obesity paradox. Our results suggest excess adiposity may be protective for executive function processes. Future research is needed to examine the underlying physiological processes linking adiposity to executive function in older adults.

Factors influencing life satisfaction of Korean older adults living with family.

Science.gov (United States)

Sok, Sohyune R

2010-03-01

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors influencing life satisfaction of Korean older adults living with family. Participants included 267 adults age 65 and older who met eligibility criteria. Analyses showed that the prediction model of the life satisfaction of older adults who are living with their family was significant (F=24.429, ppocket money (beta=0.060), and age (beta=0.040). It is possible that older adults' life satisfaction increases when they are provided with nursing interventions and are able to effectively manage their health. Nursing interventions must strive to improve their self-esteem and address their depression.

Past experiences and older adults' attitudes: a lifecourse perspective

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poortman, A.; van Tilburg, T.

2005-01-01

In this study we apply a lifecourse perspective to an examination of older adults' attitudes about gender roles and moral issues. The study goes beyond previous research in that it examines the relationships between older adults' attitudes and: (a) experiences in the parental home, (b) people's own

Do older adults with chronic low back pain differ from younger adults in regards to baseline characteristics and prognosis?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Manogharan, S; Kongsted, A; Ferreira, M L

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: Low back pain (LBP) in older adults is poorly understood because the vast majority of the LBP research has focused on the working aged population. The aim of this study was to compare older adults consulting with chronic LBP to middle aged and young adults consulting with chronic LBP....... Patients older than 65 were classified as older adults and compared to middle aged (45-65 years old) and younger adults (17-44 years old) for 10 baseline characteristics. Pain intensity and disability were collected at 6 and 12 month follow-ups and compared between age groups. RESULTS: A total of 14......,479 participants were included in the study. Of these 3087 (21%) patients were older adults, 6071 (42%) were middle aged and 5321 (37%) were young adults. At presentation older adults were statistically different to the middle aged and younger adults for most characteristics measured (e.g. less intense back pain...

Non-Digital Game Playing by Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Mortenson, W Ben; Sixsmith, Andrew; Kaufman, David

2017-09-01

Research on video games' effect on cognition and behaviour has been extensive, yet little research has explored non-digital forms of game playing, especially among older adults. As part of a larger survey on game playing, 886 respondents (≥ age 55) filled out questionnaires about non-digital game play. The study aims were to determine perceived benefits of non-digital game play and to determine socio-demographic factors that might predict perceived benefits. Survey results indicate that non-digital game playing is social in nature and common (73% of respondents) among older adults. Older adults play for fun, but also to help maintain their cognition. Regression analyses indicated various socio-demographic factors - age, education, gender, and race - were independently associated with perceived benefits from game playing. The results thus emphasize the importance of non-digital game playing in this population and suggest that efforts to facilitate game playing may improve social interactions and quality of life.

Delayed plastic responses to anodal tDCS in older adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hakuei eFujiyama

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Despite the abundance of research reporting the neurophysiological and behavioral effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS in healthy young adults and clinical populations, the extent of potential neuroplastic changes induced by tDCS in healthy older adults is not well understood. The present study compared the extent and time course of anodal tDCS-induced plastic changes in primary motor cortex (M1 in young and older adults. Furthermore, as it has been suggested that neuroplasiticity and associated learning depends on the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF gene polymorphisms, we also assessed the impact of BDNF polymorphism on these effects. Corticospinal excitability was examined using transcranial magnetic stimulation before and following (0, 10, 20, 30 min anodal tDCS (30 min, 1 mA or sham in young and older adults. While the overall extent of increases in corticospinal excitability induced by anodal tDCS did not vary reliably between young and older adults, older adults exhibited a delayed response; the largest increase in corticospinal excitability occurred 30 min following stimulation for older adults, but immediately post-stimulation for the young group. BDNF genotype did not result in significant differences in the observed excitability increases for either age group. The present study suggests that tDCS-induced plastic changes are delayed as a result of healthy aging, but that the overall efficacy of the plasticity mechanism remains unaffected.

Validity of the International Fitness Scale "IFIS" in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Merellano-Navarro, Eugenio; Collado-Mateo, Daniel; García-Rubio, Javier; Gusi, Narcís; Olivares, Pedro R

2017-09-01

To validate the "International Fitness Scale" (IFIS) in older adults. Firstly, cognitive interviews were performed to ensure that the questionnaire was comprehensive for older Chilean adults. After that, a transversal study of 401 institutionalized and non-institutionalized older adults from Maule region in Chile was conducted. A battery of validated fitness tests for this population was used in order to compare the responses obtained in the IFIS with the objectively measured fitness performance (back scratch, chair sit-and-reach, handgrip, 30-s chair stand, timed up-and-go and 6-min walking). Indicated that IFIS presented a high compliance in the comprehension of the items which defined it, and it was able of categorizing older adults according to their measured physical fitness levels. The analysis of covariance ANCOVA adjusted by sex and age showed a concordance between IFIS and the score in physical fitness tests. Based on the results of this study, IFIS questionnaire is a good alternative to assess physical fitness in older adults. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Antimnemonic effects of schemas in young and older adults

Science.gov (United States)

Badham, Stephen P.; Maylor, Elizabeth A.

2016-01-01

Schema-consistent material that is aligned with an individual’s knowledge and experience is typically more memorable than abstract material. This effect is often more extreme in older adults and schema use can alleviate age deficits in memory. In three experiments, young and older adults completed memory tasks where the availability of schematic information was manipulated. Specifying nonobvious relations between to-be-remembered word pairs paradoxically hindered memory (Experiment 1). Highlighting relations within mixed lists of related and unrelated word pairs had no effect on memory for those pairs (Experiment 2). This occurred even though related word pairs were recalled better than unrelated word pairs, particularly for older adults. Revealing a schematic context in a memory task with abstract image segments also hindered memory performance, particularly for older adults (Experiment 3). The data show that processing schematic information can come with costs that offset mnemonic benefits associated with schema-consistent stimuli. PMID:25980799

Exercise in the healthy older adult.

Science.gov (United States)

Karani, R; McLaughlin, M A; Cassel, C K

2001-01-01

Habitual exercise provides numerous health benefits to the older adult. While dynamic aerobic activities increase stamina and lung capacity, isometric or resistance training improves muscle strength and endurance. Long-term benefits of continued exercise include a decreased risk of death from heart disease, enhanced balance and mobility, a decreased risk of diabetes, and an improvement in depressive symptoms. While the hazards of exercise relate predominantly to extremes of intensity and duration, all older adults should consult with a physician before beginning a new activity program. A prescription for exercise should include both aerobic and resistance training components, and frequent follow-up to improve adherence is highly recommended. (c)2001 CVRR, Inc.

Comparison for younger and older adults: Stimulus temporal asynchrony modulates audiovisual integration.

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Yanna; Ren, Yanling; Yang, Weiping; Tang, Xiaoyu; Wu, Fengxia; Wu, Qiong; Takahashi, Satoshi; Ejima, Yoshimichi; Wu, Jinglong

2018-02-01

Recent research has shown that the magnitudes of responses to multisensory information are highly dependent on the stimulus structure. The temporal proximity of multiple signal inputs is a critical determinant for cross-modal integration. Here, we investigated the influence that temporal asynchrony has on audiovisual integration in both younger and older adults using event-related potentials (ERP). Our results showed that in the simultaneous audiovisual condition, except for the earliest integration (80-110ms), which occurred in the occipital region for older adults was absent for younger adults, early integration was similar for the younger and older groups. Additionally, late integration was delayed in older adults (280-300ms) compared to younger adults (210-240ms). In audition‑leading vision conditions, the earliest integration (80-110ms) was absent in younger adults but did occur in older adults. Additionally, after increasing the temporal disparity from 50ms to 100ms, late integration was delayed in both younger (from 230 to 290ms to 280-300ms) and older (from 210 to 240ms to 280-300ms) adults. In the audition-lagging vision conditions, integration only occurred in the A100V condition for younger adults and in the A50V condition for older adults. The current results suggested that the audiovisual temporal integration pattern differed between the audition‑leading and audition-lagging vision conditions and further revealed the varying effect of temporal asynchrony on audiovisual integration in younger and older adults. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Heat Stress in Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

... Extreme Heat Older Adults (Aged 65+) Infants and Children Chronic Medical Conditions Low Income Athletes Outdoor Workers Pets Hot Weather Tips Warning Signs and Symptoms FAQs Social Media How to Stay Cool Missouri Cooling Centers Extreme ...

Postural adaptations to repeated optic flow stimulation in older adults

Science.gov (United States)

O’Connor, Kathryn W.; Loughlin, Patrick J.; Redfern, Mark S.; Sparto, Patrick J.

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study is to understand the processes of adaptation (changes in within-trial postural responses) and habituation (reductions in between-trial postural responses) to visual cues in older and young adults. Of particular interest were responses to sudden increases in optic flow magnitude. The postural sway of 25 healthy young adults and 24 healthy older adults was measured while subjects viewed anterior-posterior 0.4 Hz sinusoidal optic flow for 45 s. Three trials for each of three conditions were performed: 1) constant 12 cm optic flow amplitude (24 cm peak-to-peak), 2) constant 4 cm amplitude (8 cm p-t-p), and 3) a transition in amplitude from 4 to 12 cm. The average power of head sway velocity (Pvel) was calculated for consecutive 5 s intervals during the trial to examine the changes in sway within and between trials. A mixed factor repeated measures ANOVA was performed to examine the effects of subject Group, Trial, and Interval on the Pvel. Pvel was greater in older adults in all conditions (p Pvel of the older adults decreased significantly between all 3 trials, but decreased only between trial 1 and 2 in young adults. While the responses of the young adults to the transition in optic flow from 4 to 12 cm did not significantly change, older adults had an increase in Pvel following the transition, ranging from 6.5 dB for the first trial to 3.4 dB for the third trial. These results show that older adults can habituate to repeated visual perturbation exposures; however, this habituation requires a greater number of exposures than young adults. This suggests aging impacts the ability to quickly modify the relative weighting of the sensory feedback for postural stabilization. PMID:18329878

Audio-Visual and Meaningful Semantic Context Enhancements in Older and Younger Adults.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kirsten E Smayda

Full Text Available Speech perception is critical to everyday life. Oftentimes noise can degrade a speech signal; however, because of the cues available to the listener, such as visual and semantic cues, noise rarely prevents conversations from continuing. The interaction of visual and semantic cues in aiding speech perception has been studied in young adults, but the extent to which these two cues interact for older adults has not been studied. To investigate the effect of visual and semantic cues on speech perception in older and younger adults, we recruited forty-five young adults (ages 18-35 and thirty-three older adults (ages 60-90 to participate in a speech perception task. Participants were presented with semantically meaningful and anomalous sentences in audio-only and audio-visual conditions. We hypothesized that young adults would outperform older adults across SNRs, modalities, and semantic contexts. In addition, we hypothesized that both young and older adults would receive a greater benefit from a semantically meaningful context in the audio-visual relative to audio-only modality. We predicted that young adults would receive greater visual benefit in semantically meaningful contexts relative to anomalous contexts. However, we predicted that older adults could receive a greater visual benefit in either semantically meaningful or anomalous contexts. Results suggested that in the most supportive context, that is, semantically meaningful sentences presented in the audiovisual modality, older adults performed similarly to young adults. In addition, both groups received the same amount of visual and meaningful benefit. Lastly, across groups, a semantically meaningful context provided more benefit in the audio-visual modality relative to the audio-only modality, and the presence of visual cues provided more benefit in semantically meaningful contexts relative to anomalous contexts. These results suggest that older adults can perceive speech as well as younger

Overview of persistent pain in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Molton, Ivan R; Terrill, Alexandra L

2014-01-01

With the shifting age demographics of the U.S. population, more psychologists will be asked to provide clinical services to older adults. Given the high prevalence of persistent pain in aging, in many cases this will mean providing empirically supported interventions for pain and the interference it creates. The purpose of this review is to provide a broad overview of the scope and impact of persistent pain in older people and to discuss mechanisms by which persistent geriatric pain can lead to suffering and disability. We consider the unique context of pain in older adulthood and review differences between older and younger people in terms of pain perception, the social network, beliefs about pain, pain-related coping, and adherence to pain medication. Finally, we discuss special issues affecting pain management in older adults, including dementia, polypharmacy, and barriers to accessing adequate pain care. This review also highlights a need for greater provider training in pain management to meet the needs of a changing U.S. population. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Dare to Dream: New Venture Incubator for Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Hantman, Shira; Gimmon, Eli

2014-01-01

The purpose of this article is to describe a project that aims to foster active aging through entrepreneurial activities among older adults. The project establishes the feasibility of implementing an intervention program that assimilates the concept and capabilities of entrepreneurship among older adults and supports them while launching new…

Temporal discounting rates and their relation to exercise behavior in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Tate, Linda M; Tsai, Pao-Feng; Landes, Reid D; Rettiganti, Mallikarjuna; Lefler, Leanne L

2015-12-01

As our nation's population ages, the rates of chronic illness and disability are expected to increase significantly. Despite the knowledge that exercise may prevent chronic disease and promote health among older adults, many still are inactive. Factors related to exercise behaviors have been explored in recent years. However, temporal discounting is a motivational concept that has not been explored in regard to exercise in older adults. Temporal discounting is a decision making process by which an individual chooses a smaller more immediate reward over a larger delayed reward. The aim of this study was to determine if temporal discounting rates vary between exercising and non-exercising older adults. This study used cross-sectional survey of 137 older adults living in the community. Older adults were recruited from 11 rural Arkansas churches. The Kirby delay-discounting Monetary Choice Questionnaire was used to collect discounting rates and then bivariate analysis was performed to compare temporal discounting rate between the exercisers and non-exercisers. Finally, multivariate analysis was used to compare discounting rate controlling for other covariates. The results indicated that exercising older adults display lower temporal discounting rates than non-exercising older adults. After controlling for education, exercisers still have lower temporal discounting rates than non-exercisers (phealth conditions relate to lack of exercise especially in older adults. This research suggests that if we can find appropriate incentives for discounting individuals, some type of immediate reward, then potentially we can design programs to engage and retain older adults in exercise. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Gender, childhood and adult socioeconomic inequalities in functional disability among Chinese older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Yaqin; Wang, Jian; Nicholas, Stephen

2017-09-02

Gender difference and life-course socioeconomic inequalities in functional disability may exist among older adults. However, the association is less well understood among Chinese older population. The objective is to provide empirical evidences on this issue by exploring the association between gender, childhood and adult socioeconomic inequalities in functional disability. Data from the 2013 wave of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) was utilized. Functional disability was assessed by the activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). Childhood socioeconomic status (SES) was measured by birthplace, father's education and occupation. Adult SES was measured in terms of education and household income. Multivariate logistic regressions were conducted to assess the association between gender, childhood and adult SES and functional disability. Based on a sample of 18,448 older adults aged 45 years old and above, our results showed that the prevalence of ADL and IADL disability was higher among women than men, but gender difference disappeared after adult SES and adult health were controlled. Harsh conditions during childhood were associated with functional disability but in multivariate analyses only father's education was associated with IADL disability (OR for no education = 1.198; 95% CI = 1.062-1.353). Current SES such as higher education and good economic situation are protective factors of functional disability. Childhood and adult SES were both related to functional disability among older adults. Our findings highlight the need for policies and programs aimed at decreasing social inequalities during childhood and early adulthood, which could reduce socioeconomic inequalities in functional disability in later life.

Managing Status Epilepticus in the Older Adult

Science.gov (United States)

Legriel, Stephane; Brophy, Gretchen M.

2016-01-01

The aim of this systematic review was to describe particularities in epidemiology, outcome, and management modalities in the older adult population with status epilepticus. There is a higher incidence of status epilepticus in the older adult population, and it commonly has a nonconvulsive presentation. Diagnosis in this population may be difficult and requires an unrestricted use of EEG. Short and long term associated-mortality are high, and age over 60 years is an independent factor associated with poor outcome. Stroke (acute or remote symptomatic), miscellaneous metabolic causes, dementia, infections hypoxemia, and brain injury are among the main causes of status epilepticus occurrence in this age category. The use of anticonvulsive agents can be problematic as well. Thus, it is important to take into account the specific aspects related to the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes in older critically-ill adults. Beyond these precautions, the management may be identical to that of the younger adult, including prompt initiation of symptomatic and anticonvulsant therapies, and a broad and thorough etiological investigation. Such management strategies may improve the vital and functional prognosis of these patients, while maintaining a high overall quality of care. PMID:27187485

Entity versus incremental theories predict older adults' memory performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Plaks, Jason E; Chasteen, Alison L

2013-12-01

The authors examined whether older adults' implicit theories regarding the modifiability of memory in particular (Studies 1 and 3) and abilities in general (Study 2) would predict memory performance. In Study 1, individual differences in older adults' endorsement of the "entity theory" (a belief that one's ability is fixed) or "incremental theory" (a belief that one's ability is malleable) of memory were measured using a version of the Implicit Theories Measure (Dweck, 1999). Memory performance was assessed with a free-recall task. Results indicated that the higher the endorsement of the incremental theory, the better the free recall. In Study 2, older and younger adults' theories were measured using a more general version of the Implicit Theories Measure that focused on the modifiability of abilities in general. Again, for older adults, the higher the incremental endorsement, the better the free recall. Moreover, as predicted, implicit theories did not predict younger adults' memory performance. In Study 3, participants read mock news articles reporting evidence in favor of either the entity or incremental theory. Those in the incremental condition outperformed those in the entity condition on reading span and free-recall tasks. These effects were mediated by pretask worry such that, for those in the entity condition, higher worry was associated with lower performance. Taken together, these studies suggest that variation in entity versus incremental endorsement represents a key predictor of older adults' memory performance. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Multidimensional Attitudes of Emergency Medicine Residents Toward Older Adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Teresita M. Hogan

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The demands of our rapidly expanding older population strain many emergency departments (EDs, and older patients experience disproportionately high adverse health outcomes. Trainee attitude is key in improving care for older adults. There is negligible knowledge of baseline emergency medicine (EM resident attitudes regarding elder patients. Awareness of baseline attitudes can serve to better structure training for improved care of older adults. The objective of the study is to identify baseline EM resident attitudes toward older adults using a validated attitude scale and multidimensional analysis. Methods: Six EM residencies participated in a voluntary anonymous survey delivered in summer and fall 2009. We used factor analysis using the principal components method and Varimax rotation, to analyze attitude interdependence, translating the 21 survey questions into 6 independent dimensions. We adapted this survey from a validated instrument by the addition of 7 EM-specific questions to measures attitudes relevant to emergency care of elders and the training of EM residents in the geriatric competencies. Scoring was performed on a 5-point Likert scale. We compared factor scores using student t and ANOVA. Results: 173 EM residents participated showing an overall positive attitude toward older adults, with a factor score of 3.79 (3.0 being a neutral score. Attitudes trended to more negative in successive post-graduate year (PGY levels. Conclusion: EM residents demonstrate an overall positive attitude towards the care of older adults. We noted a longitudinal hardening of attitude in social values, which are more negative in successive PGY-year levels. [West J Emerg Med. 2014;15(4:511–517.

Hip Fractures among Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

... out some of our online STEADI resources for older adults. These resources include: Stay Independent brochure What You Can Do to Prevent Falls brochure Check for Safety brochure Postural Hypotension brochure Chair Rise Exercise Related Pages Important ...

Emergency Department Visits by Older Adults for Motor Vehicle Collisions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vogel, Jody A.

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Introduction: To describe the epidemiology and characteristics of emergency department (ED visits by older adults for motor vehicle collisions (MVC in the United States (U.S..Methods: We analyzed ED visits for MVCs using data from the 2003–2007 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS. Using U.S. Census data, we calculated annual incidence rates of driver or passenger MVC-related ED visits and examined visit characteristics, including triage acuity, tests performed and hospital admission or discharge. We compared older (65+ years and younger (18-64 years MVC patients and calculated odds ratios (OR and 95% confidence intervals (CIs to measure the strength of associations between age group and various visit characteristics. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify independent predictors of admissions for MVC-related injuries among older adults.Results: From 2003–2007, there were an average of 237,000 annual ED visits by older adults for MVCs. The annual ED visit rate for MVCs was 6.4 (95% CI 4.6-8.3 visits per 1,000 for older adults and 16.4 (95% CI 14.0-18.8 visits per 1,000 for younger adults. Compared to younger MVC patients, after adjustment for gender, race and ethnicity, older MVC patients were more likely to have at least one imaging study performed (OR 3.69, 95% CI 1.46-9.36. Older MVC patients were not significantly more likely to arrive by ambulance (OR 1.47; 95% CI 0.76–2.86, have a high triage acuity (OR 1.56; 95% CI 0.77-3.14, or to have a diagnosis of a head, spinal cord or torso injury (OR 0.97; 95% CI 0.42-2.23 as compared to younger MVC patients after adjustment for gender, race and ethnicity. Overall, 14.5% (95% CI 9.8-19.2 of older MVC patients and 6.1% (95% CI 4.8-7.5 of younger MVC patients were admitted to the hospital. There was also a non-statistically significant trend toward hospital admission for older versus younger MVC patients (OR 1.78; 95% CI 0.71-4.43, and admission to the ICU if

Self-rated driving and driving safety in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Lesley A; Dodson, Joan E; Edwards, Jerri D; Ackerman, Michelle L; Ball, Karlene

2012-09-01

Many U.S. states rely on older adults to self-regulate their driving and determine when driving is no longer a safe option. However, the relationship of older adults' self-rated driving in terms of actual driving competency outcomes is unclear. The current study investigates self-rated driving in terms of (1) systematic differences between older adults with high (good/excellent) versus low (poor/fair/average) self-ratings, and (2) the predictive nature of self-rated driving to adverse driving outcomes in older adults (n=350; mean age 73.9, SD=5.25, range 65-91). Adverse driving outcomes included self-reported incidences of (1) being pulled over by the police, (2) receiving a citation, (3) receiving a recommendation to cease or limit driving, (4) crashes, and (5) state-reported crashes. Results found that older drivers with low self-ratings reported more medical conditions, less driving frequency, and had been given more suggestions to stop/limit their driving; there were no other significant differences between low and high self-raters. Logistic regression revealed older drivers were more likely to have a state-reported crash and receive a suggestion to stop or limit driving. Men were more likely to report all adverse driving outcomes except for receiving a suggestion to stop or limit driving. Regarding self-rated driving, older adults with high ratings were 66% less likely (OR=0.34, 95% CI=0.14-0.85) to have received suggestions to limit or stop driving after accounting for demographics, health and driving frequency. Self-ratings were not predictive of other driving outcomes (being pulled over by the police, receiving a citation, self-reported crashes, or state-reported crashes, ps>0.05). Most older drivers (85.14%) rated themselves as either good or excellent drivers regardless of their actual previous citation or crash rates. Self-rated driving is likely not related to actual driving proficiency as indicated by previous crash involvement in older adults

Understanding and Reducing Disability in Older Adults Following Critical Illness

Science.gov (United States)

Brummel, N.E.; Balas, M.C.; Morandi, A.; Ferrante, L.E.; Gill, T.M.; Ely, E.W.

2015-01-01

Objective To review how disability can develop in older adults with critical illness and to explore ways to reduce long-term disability following critical illness. Data Sources Review of the literature describing post-critical illness disability in older adults and expert opinion. Results We identified 19 studies evaluating disability outcomes in critically ill patients age 65 years and older. Newly acquired disability in activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living and mobility activities was commonplace among older adults who survived a critical illness. Incident dementia and less-severe cognitive impairment was also highly prevalent. Factors related to the acute critical illness, intensive care unit practices such as heavy sedation, physical restraints and immobility as well as aging physiology and coexisting geriatric conditions can combine to result in these poor outcomes. Conclusion Older adults who survive critical illness suffer physical and cognitive declines resulting in disability at greater rates than hospitalized, non-critically ill and community dwelling older adults. Interventions derived from widely available geriatric care models in use outside of the ICU, which address modifiable risk factors including immobility and delirium, are associated with improved functional and cognitive outcomes and can be used to complement ICU-focused models such as the ABCDEs. PMID:25756418

Urban and rural factors associated with life satisfaction among older Chinese adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chengbo; Chi, Iris; Zhang, Xu; Cheng, Zhaowen; Zhang, Lei; Chen, Gong

2015-01-01

This study compared urban and rural factors associated with life satisfaction among older adults in mainland China. Study data were extracted at random from 10% of the Sample Survey on Aged Population in urban/rural China in 2006 for 1980 participants aged 60 and older, including 997 from urban cities and 983 from rural villages. In this study, 54.6% of urban older adults and 44.1% of rural older adults reported satisfaction with their lives. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that financial strain, depressive symptoms, filial piety, and accessibility of health services were significantly associated with life satisfaction for both urban and rural participants, but age and financial exchange with children were only associated with life satisfaction among urban older adults. Findings are consistent with some previous studies that indicated the importance of financial strain, depressive symptoms, filial piety, and accessibility of health services to life satisfaction among the older adults in both urban and rural areas. This study also demonstrated the importance of age and family financial exchange to the life satisfaction of urban older adults.

Sarcopenia as a Risk Factor for Cognitive Deterioration in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A 1-Year Prospective Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Nishiguchi, Shu; Yamada, Minoru; Shirooka, Hidehiko; Nozaki, Yuma; Fukutani, Naoto; Tashiro, Yuto; Hirata, Hinako; Yamaguchi, Moe; Tasaka, Seishiro; Matsushita, Tomofumi; Matsubara, Keisuke; Tsuboyama, Tadao; Aoyama, Tomoki

2016-04-01

The purpose of this 1-year prospective study was to determine whether sarcopenia is an independent risk factor of cognitive deterioration in community-dwelling older adults. One-year prospective study. Japanese community. A total of 131 community-dwelling older adults aged 65 years and older participated in this study. We defined sarcopenia using the diagnostic algorithm recommended by the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia, and the participants were classified into the sarcopenia and normal groups according to this definition. The participants' cognitive functions were assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) during pre- and postdata collection (after 1 year). The rate of change in pre- and post-MMSE scores during the follow-up term was significantly different between the 2 groups (normal group, -0.32 ± 8.39%; sarcopenia group, -5.86 ± 5.16%; P = .002). The analysis of covariance, adjusted for demographic data and the pre-MMSE scores, showed a significant change in the MMSE scores between the normal and sarcopenia group (F = 9.30, P = .003). Furthermore, in the multivariate logistic regression analysis, the cognitive function was significantly more likely to deteriorate (defined as a loss of at least 2 points of MMSE) in the sarcopenia group during the follow-up term (odds ratio: 7.86, 95% confidence interval: 1.53-40.5). Sarcopenia was identified as an independent risk factor of cognitive deterioration in community-dwelling older adults during the 1-year study period. Copyright © 2016 AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Can technology adoption for older adults be co-created?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lu, Y.; Valk, C.A.L.; Steenbakkers, J.J.H.; Bekker, M.M.; Visser, T.; Proctor, G.M.; Toshniwal, O.; Langberg, H.

2017-01-01

Technology can be very valuable to support older adults to remain healthy and active in their daily living. How to design technological product and service systems that will be adopted by older adults however still remains a challenge. This paper reports on an empirical study on how a co-creation

The Nature of Subjective Cognitive Complaints of Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Newson, Rachel S.; Kemps, Eva B.

2006-01-01

The current study investigated the nature of subjective cognitive complaints of older adults in relation to a broad array of individual cognitive functions known to decline with age. A 60-item questionnaire was developed to examine: (1) whether older adults experience problems with these cognitive functions (problems with cognition); (2) the…

Observational Learning among Older Adults Living in Nursing Homes

Science.gov (United States)

Story, Colleen D.

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate learning by older adults living in nursing homes through observational learning based on Bandura's (1977) social learning theory. This quantitative study investigated if older adults could learn through observation. The nursing homes in the study were located in the midwestern United States. The…

Association of dietary patterns and weight change in rural older adults 75 years and older

Science.gov (United States)

Little is known about the relationship between weight change and dietary patterns (DP) in older adults, especially in those of advanced age (_75 years). We examined the association of DP with obesity and five-year weight change in community-dwelling older adults (n=270; mean±SD age: 78.6±3.9 years)....

Feasibility study of an attention training application for older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Nikki L; Mogle, Jacqueline; Colancecco, Elise; Dick, Robert; Hannan, John; Lin, Feng Vankee

2015-09-01

Technology-based attention training has demonstrated promise in its potential to improve cognitive functioning in older people. Developing mobile applications, with older users specifically in mind, may support future dissemination of these interventions and integration into daily life. The purpose of this pilot study was to test the feasibility of an Attention Training Application (ATA) for community-dwelling older adults using mobile technology. A descriptive, mixed-methods design was used to capture older adults' feedback on the usability and acceptability of the ATA. A convenience sample of older adults (n = 9) from two independent living facilities participated in a 2-hour training and practice session with the ATA. Participants were given personally tailored instructions for using the mobile device and the ATA specifically. Following a practice session, participants provided ratings on multiple components of the ATA and completed an audio-recorded, semi-structured interview to provide detailed descriptions of their experience and perceptions. An iterative process of content analysis was used to characterise the open-ended responses. Participants rated the ATA favourably overall on several 0-10 scales including likeability [8.5 (1.6)], interest [8.8 (2.3)] and satisfaction [8.2 (1.9)]. The qualitative analyses revealed several issues relevant to the feasibility of the ATA among older people including the importance of the technological background of the user, limiting negative feedback, challenges with the touch screen interface, personal preferences for challenge, extending the practice period and the difficulty of the dual-task condition. The use of the ATA is feasible in the older adult population. Future development should specifically consider personal characteristics as well as preferences to maximise usability and acceptability among older people. Older adults enjoyed the ATA. This opens doors to user-friendly technological interventions that may be

The Silence of Our Science: Nursing Research on LGBT Older Adult Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Cloyes, Kristin G

2016-01-01

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older adults have been largely invisible within health and aging services research, despite being disproportionately burdened by poor health and aging outcomes. The current study examines the prevalence of LGBT aging and older adult health-related studies in the 2010-2014 nursing literature, and how this topic is being addressed. Systematic CINAHL and PubMed searches were conducted and compared to (a) quantify the prevalence of LGBT older adult-related scholarship in nursing research; (b) document the appearance of relevant publications in top nursing journals; (c) identify the focus of articles with a substantive focus on LGBT older adult health or aging; and (d) compare the prevalence of LGBT older adult-related literature in nursing, gerontology, medicine, and social work. Findings indicate that research explicitly including LGBT older adults is lacking across the health sciences, particularly in nursing (where it has been largely absent). Implications for nursing research, practice, and education are discussed. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

Assessing and Meeting the Needs of LGBT Older Adults via the Older Americans Act.

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Michael; Tax, Aaron D

2017-12-01

SAGE and its partners have been focused on bridging the chasm between the greater need that LGBT older adults have for care, services, and supports, and the lower rate at which they access them, compared with their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts. The chasm is caused by discrimination, social isolation, disproportionate poverty and health disparities, and a lack of access to culturally competent providers. SAGE has used federal administrative and legislative advocacy to encourage the Aging Network to bridge this chasm by assessing and meeting the needs of LGBT older adults that can be addressed via the programs created under the Older Americans Act.

Differences in foot kinematics between young and older adults during walking.

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, John B; Mackintosh, Shylie; Jones, Sara; Thewlis, Dominic

2014-02-01

Our understanding of age-related changes to foot function during walking has mainly been based on plantar pressure measurements, with little information on differences in foot kinematics between young and older adults. The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in foot kinematics between young and older adults during walking using a multi-segment foot model. Joint kinematics of the foot and ankle for 20 young (mean age 23.2 years, standard deviation (SD) 3.0) and 20 older adults (mean age 73.2 years, SD 5.1) were quantified during walking with a 12 camera Vicon motion analysis system using a five segment kinematic model. Differences in kinematics were compared between older adults and young adults (preferred and slow walking speeds) using Student's t-tests or if indicated, Mann-Whitney U tests. Effect sizes (Cohen's d) for the differences were also computed. The older adults had a less plantarflexed calcaneus at toe-off (-9.6° vs. -16.1°, d = 1.0, p = range of motion (ROM) of the midfoot (11.9° vs. 14.8°, d = 1.3, p = young adults. Walking speed did not influence these differences, as they remained present when groups walked at comparable speeds. The findings of this study indicate that independent of walking speed, older adults exhibit significant differences in foot kinematics compared to younger adults, characterised by less propulsion and reduced mobility of multiple foot segments. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fear of falling and its predictors among community-living older adults in Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Eunmi; Hong, Gwi-Ryung Son; Lee, Seonhye; Han, Soojeong

2017-04-01

To explore the prevalence and predicting factors of fear of falling (FOF) among community-living older adults in Korea. Secondary data analysis of the 2011 Korean National Elderly Living Conditions and Welfare Desire Survey was used. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the predictors of FOF. In total, 75.6% of older adults with normal cognition have FOF. Factors associated with an increased risk of FOF in older adults are previous experience with falling (OR = 3.734, 95% CI = 2.996-4.655), limitations in the performance of exercise involving lower extremities (OR = 2.428, 95% CI = 2.063-2.858), being female (OR = 2.335, 95% CI = 2.023-2.694), having more than three chronic diseases (OR = 1.994, 95% CI = 1.625-2.446), limitations in instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) (OR = 1.745, 95% CI = 1.230-2.477), limitations in the performance of exercise involving upper extremities (OR = 1.646, 95% CI = 1.357-1.997), living without a spouse (OR = 1.626, 95% CI = 1.357-1.948), having poor self-rated health (OR = 1.571, 95% CI = 1.356-1.821), limitations in muscle strength (OR = 1.455, 95% CI = 1.150-1.841), age (≥75 years) (OR = 1.320, 95% CI = 1.150-1.516), lower levels of education (0-6 years) (OR = 1.231, 95% CI = 1.075-1.409), and life satisfaction (OR = 1.104, 95% CI = 1.065-1.114). A multidimensional construct of general characteristics, physical, and psychosocial variables act as risk factors for FOF. Preventive intervention should be developed to decrease the FOF among Korean older adults.

Relational integration, inhibition, and analogical reasoning in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Viskontas, Indre V; Morrison, Robert G; Holyoak, Keith J; Hummel, John E; Knowlton, Barbara J

2004-12-01

The difficulty of reasoning tasks depends on their relational complexity, which increases with the number of relations that must be considered simultaneously to make an inference, and on the number of irrelevant items that must be inhibited. The authors examined the ability of younger and older adults to integrate multiple relations and inhibit irrelevant stimuli. Young adults performed well at all but the highest level of relational complexity, whereas older adults performed poorly even at a medium level of relational complexity, especially when irrelevant information was presented. Simulations based on a neurocomputational model of analogical reasoning, Learning and Inference with Schemas and Analogies (LISA), suggest that the observed decline in reasoning performance may be explained by a decline in attention and inhibitory functions in older adults. copyright (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved.

Social relevance enhances memory for impressions in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Cassidy, Brittany S; Gutchess, Angela H

2012-01-01

Previous research has demonstrated that older adults have difficulty retrieving contextual material over items alone. Recent research suggests this deficit can be reduced by adding emotional context, allowing for the possibility that memory for social impressions may show less age-related decline than memory for other types of contextual information. Two studies investigated how orienting to social or self-relevant aspects of information contributed to the learning and retrieval of impressions in young and older adults. Participants encoded impressions of others in conditions varying in the use of self-reference (Experiment 1) and interpersonal meaningfulness (Experiment 2), and completed memory tasks requiring the retrieval of specific traits. For both experiments, age groups remembered similar numbers of impressions. In Experiment 1 using more self-relevant encoding contexts increased memory for impressions over orienting to stimuli in a non-social way, regardless of age. In Experiment 2 older adults had enhanced memory for impressions presented in an interpersonally meaningful relative to a personally irrelevant way, whereas young adults were unaffected by this manipulation. The results provide evidence that increasing social relevance ameliorates age differences in memory for impressions, and enhances older adults' ability to successfully retrieve contextual information.

High Blood Pressure: Unique to Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

... our e-newsletter! Aging & Health A to Z High Blood Pressure Hypertension Unique to Older Adults This section provides ... Pressure Targets are Different for Very Old Adults High blood pressure (also called hypertension) increases your chance of having ...

Self-initiated object-location memory in young and older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Berger-Mandelbaum, Anat; Magen, Hagit

2017-11-20

The present study explored self-initiated object-location memory in ecological contexts, as aspect of memory that is largely absent from the research literature. Young and older adults memorized objects-location associations they selected themselves or object-location associations provided to them, and elaborated on the strategy they used when selecting the locations themselves. Retrieval took place 30 min and 1 month after encoding. The results showed an age-related decline in self-initiated and provided object-location memory. Older adults benefited from self-initiation more than young adults when tested after 30 min, while the benefit was equal when tested after 1 month. Furthermore, elaboration enhanced memory only in older adults, and only after 30 min. Both age groups used deep encoding strategies on the majority of the trials, but their percentage was lower in older adults. Overall, the study demonstrated the processes involved in self-initiated object-location memory, which is an essential part of everyday functioning.

Contemporary Assessment of Left Ventricular Diastolic Function in Older Adults

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shah, Amil M.; Claggett, Brian; Kitzman, Dalane

2017-01-01

Background: Although age-Associated changes in left ventricular diastolic function are well recognized, limited data exist characterizing measures of diastolic function in older adults, including both reference ranges reflecting the older adult population and prognostically relevant values...

Effect of an AIDS education program for older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Rose, M A

1996-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of an age-specific AIDS education program on HIV/AIDS knowledge, perceived susceptibility to AIDS, and perceived severity of AIDS in older adults. The health belief model served as a framework. The age-specific AIDS education program was developed based on a knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors survey of 458 older adults at senior citizen centers. The program included case study presentations of actual older people with AIDS along with an emphasis on myths identified in the initial survey. There was a significant increase in total knowledge about AIDS (p < .001), perceived susceptibility (p < .01), and perceived severity (p < .001) after the educational program. Based on the results of this study, nurses are in an excellent position to provide primary and secondary AIDS prevention strategies for all age groups, including the older adult population.

Word-stem priming and recognition in type 2 diabetes mellitus, Alzheimer's disease patients and healthy older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Redondo, María Teresa; Beltrán-Brotóns, José Luís; Reales, José Manuel; Ballesteros, Soledad

2015-11-01

The present study investigated (a) whether the pattern of performance on implicit and explicit memory of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) is more similar to those of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) or to cognitively normal older adults and (b) whether glycosylated hemoglobin levels (a measure of glucose regulation) are related to performance on the two memory tasks, implicit word-stem completion and "old-new" recognition. The procedures of both memory tasks included encoding and memory test phases separated by a short delay. Three groups of participants (healthy older adults, DM2 patients and AD patients) completed medical and psychological assessments and performed both memory tasks on a computer. The results of the word-stem completion task showed similar implicit memory in the three groups. By contrast, explicit recognition of the three groups differed. Implicit memory was not affected by either normal or pathological aging, but explicit memory deteriorated in the two groups of patients, especially in AD patients, showing a severe impairment compared to the cognitively healthy older adults. Importantly, glycosylated hemoglobin levels were not related to performance on either implicit or explicit memory tasks. These findings revealed a clear dissociation between explicit and implicit memory tasks in normal and pathological aging. Neuropsychologists and clinicians working with TM2 patients should be aware that the decline of voluntary, long-term explicit memory could have a negative impact on their treatment management. By contrast, the intact implicit memory of the two clinical groups could be used in rehabilitation.

Trunk repositioning errors are increased in balance-impaired older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldberg, Allon; Hernandez, Manuel Enrique; Alexander, Neil B

2005-10-01

Controlling the flexing trunk is critical in recovering from a loss of balance and avoiding a fall. To investigate the relationship between trunk control and balance in older adults, we measured trunk repositioning accuracy in young and balance-impaired and unimpaired older adults. Young adults (N = 8, mean age 24.3 years) and two groups of community-dwelling older adults defined by unipedal stance time (UST)-a balance-unimpaired group (UST > 30 seconds, N = 7, mean age 73.9 years) and a balance-impaired group (UST tested in standing trunk control ability by reproducing a approximately 30 degrees trunk flexion angle under three visual-surface conditions: eyes opened and closed on the floor, and eyes opened on foam. Errors in reproducing the angle were defined as trunk repositioning errors (TREs). Clinical measures related to balance, trunk extensor strength, and self-reported disability were obtained. TREs were significantly greater in the balance-impaired group than in the other groups, even when controlling for trunk extensor strength and body mass. In older adults, there were significant correlations between TREs and three clinical measures of balance and fall risk, UST and maximum step length (-0.65 to -0.75), and Timed Up & Go score (0.55), and between TREs and age (0.63-0.76). In each group TREs were similar under the three visual-surface conditions. Test-retest reliability for TREs was good to excellent (intraclass correlation coefficients > or =0.74). Older balance-impaired adults have larger TREs, and thus poorer trunk control, than do balance-unimpaired older individuals. TREs are reliable and valid measures of underlying balance impairment in older adults, and may eventually prove to be useful in predicting the ability to recover from losses of balance and to avoid falls.

Plasticity in older adults' theory of mind performance: the impact of motivation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xin; Lecce, Serena; Ceccato, Irene; Cavallini, Elena; Zhang, Linfang; Chen, Tianyong

2017-09-08

Recently, motivation has been found to attenuate the age-related decline in Theory of Mind (ToM) performance (i.e. faux pas recognition). However, whether or not this effect could be generalized to other ToM tasks is still unknown. In the present study, we investigated whether and how motivation could enhance older adults' performance and reduce age differences in ToM tasks (Faux Pas vs. Animation task) that differ in familiarity. Following a previous paradigm, 171 Chinese adults (87 younger adults and 84 older adults) were recruited, and we experimentally manipulated the level of perceived closeness between participants and the experimenter before administering the ToM tasks in order to enhance participants' motivation. Results showed that, for the Faux Pas task, we replicated previous findings such that older adults under the enhanced motivation conditions performed equally well as younger adults. Conversely, for the Animation task, younger adults outperformed older adults, regardless of motivation. These results indicate that motivation can enhance older adults' performance in ToM tasks, however, this beneficial effect cannot be generalized across ToM tasks.

Are HIV-Infected Older Adults Aging Differently?

Science.gov (United States)

Karpiak, Stephen E; Havlik, Richard

With increasing success in treating HIV, infected persons are living longer, and a new challenge has emerged - the need to understand how HIV-infected adults are aging. What are the similarities with typical aging and what are the unique aspects that may have resulted from HIV infection, interacting with characteristic life style factors and other comorbid conditions? Are specific diseases and conditions (comorbidities), typically seen as part of the aging process, occurring at accelerated rates or with higher frequency (accentuated) in HIV-infected adults? At this juncture, conclusions should be tentative. Certainly, biological processes that correlate with aging occur earlier in the older adult HIV population. Clinical manifestations of these biological processes are age-associated illnesses occurring in greater numbers (multimorbidity), but they are not accelerated. Specifically cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, and renal disease are more common with other comorbidities less certain. Management of this elevated risk for developing multimorbidity is a major concern for patients and their health care teams. The medical system must respond to the evolving needs of this aging and growing older adult population who will dominate the epidemic. Adopting a more holistic approach to their health care management is needed to achieve optimal health and well-being in the HIV-infected older adult. Geriatric care principles best embody this approach. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Neighborhood Environment and Self-Rated Health Among Urban Older Adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arlesia Mathis PhD

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Objective: This study examines associations between neighborhood environment and self-rated health (SRH among urban older adults. Method: We selected 217 individuals aged 65+ living in a de-industrialized Midwestern city who answered questions on the 2009 Speak to Your Health survey. The relationship between neighborhood environment and SRH was analyzed using regression models. Neighborhood variables included social support and participation, perceived racism, and crime. Additional models included actual crime indices to compare differences between perceived and actual crime. Results: Seniors who have poor SRH are 21% more likely to report fear of crime than seniors with excellent SRH ( p = .01. Additional analyses revealed Black seniors are 7% less likely to participate in social activities ( p = .005 and 4% more likely to report experiencing racism ( p < .001. Discussion: More than 80% of older adults live in urban areas. By 2030, older adults will account for 20% of the U.S. population. Given the increasing numbers of older adults living in urban neighborhoods, studies such as this one are important. Mitigating environmental influences in the neighborhood that are associated with poor SRH may allow urban older adults to maintain health and reduce disability.

Self-rated Driving and Driving Safety in Older Adults

OpenAIRE

Ross, Lesley A.; Dodson, Joan; Edwards, Jerri D.; Ackerman, Michelle L.; Ball, Karlene

2012-01-01

Many U.S. states rely on older adults to self-regulate their driving and determine when driving is no longer a safe option. However, the relationship of older adults’ self-rated driving in terms of actual driving competency outcomes is unclear. The current study investigates self-rated driving in terms of (1) systematic differences between older adults with high (good/excellent) versus low (poor/fair/average) self-ratings, and (2) the predictive nature of self-rated driving to adverse driving...

Conceptualizations of frailty in relation to older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Markle-Reid, Maureen; Browne, Gina

2003-10-01

The aim of this article is to discuss the concept of frailty and its adequacy in identifying and describing older adults as frail. Despite the dramatic increase in use of the term 'frailty' over the past two decades, there is a lack of consensus in the literature about its meaning and use, and no clear conceptual guidelines for identifying and describing older adults as frail. Differences in theoretical perspectives will influence policy decisions regarding eligibility for, and allocation of, scarce health care resources among older adults. The article presents a literature review and synthesis of definitions and conceptual models of frailty in relation to older adults. The first part of the paper is a summary of the synonyms, antonyms and definitions of the term frailty. The second part is a critical evaluation of conceptual models of frailty. Six conceptual models are analysed on the basis of four main categories of assumptions about: (1) the nature of scientific knowledge; (2) the level of analysis; (3) the ageing process; (4) the stability of frailty. The implications of these are discussed in relation to clinical practice, policy and research. The review gives guidelines for a new theoretical approach to the concept of frailty in older adults: (1) it must be a multidimensional concept that considers the complex interplay of physical, psychological, social and environmental factors; (2) the concept must not be age-related, suggesting a negative and stereotypical view of ageing; (3) the concept must take into account an individual's context and incorporate subjective perceptions; (4) the concept must take into account the contribution of both individual and environmental factors.

Comparison of access, outcomes and experiences of older adults and working age adults in psychological therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaplin, Robert; Farquharson, Lorna; Clapp, Melissa; Crawford, Mike

2015-02-01

This study aimed to evaluate the access, experiences and outcomes of older adults receiving psychological therapies in comparison with adults of working age Primary and secondary care providers of psychological therapy services participated in the National Audit of Psychological Therapies. The main standards of access, experience and outcomes were measured by retrospective case records audits of people who completed therapy and a service user questionnaire. Outcomes were measured pre-treatment and post-treatment on the PHQ-9 and GAD-7. A total of 220 services across 97 organisations took part, 137 (62%) in primary care. Service user questionnaires were received from 14 425 (20%) respondents. A total of 122 740 records were audited, of whom 7794 (6.4%) were older adults. They were under represented as 13% of the sample would have been expected to be over 65 years according to age adjusted psychiatric morbidity figures. People over 75 years had the third expected referral rate. Significantly, more older adults than working age adults completed therapy (59.6% vs 48.6%) and were assessed as having 'recovered' post-treatment (58.5% vs 45.5%). Older adults were more satisfied with waiting times and numbers of sessions, but there were no differences in self-reported experience of therapy. Although older adults are less likely to gain access to psychological therapies, they appear to have better outcomes than working age adults. Further work is needed to improve access for older people. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

"Old Oxen Cannot Plow": Stereotype Themes of Older Adults in Turkish Folklore.

Science.gov (United States)

Marcus, Justin; Sabuncu, Neslihan

2016-12-01

Although much research has established the nature of attitudes and stereotypes toward older adults, there are conflicting explanations for the root cause of ageism, including the sociocultural view and interpersonal views, that age bias against older adults is uniquely a product of modernity and occurs through social interactions, and the evolutionary view and intraindividual views, that age bias against older adults is rooted in our naturally occurring and individually held fear of death. We make initial investigations into resolving this conflict, by analyzing literature from a society predating the Industrial Revolution, the society of Ottoman Turks. Using Grounded Theory, we analyzed 1,555 Turkish fairy tales of the most well-known older adult in Turkish folklore, Nasreddin Hoca, for stereotype themes of older adults. Using the same method, we then analyzed 22,000+ Turkish sayings and proverbs for the same themes. Results indicated older adults to be viewed both positively and negatively. Positive stereotypes included wisdom, warmth, deserving of respect, and retirement. Negative stereotypes included incompetence, inadaptability, and frailty/nearing of death. Older females were viewed more negatively relative to older males. Results indicated views of older adults to parallel those found in contemporary research. Results have implications for the design of interventions to reduce ageism and on the cross-cultural generalizability of age-based stereotypes. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Older adults in jail: high rates and early onset of geriatric conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Greene, Meredith; Ahalt, Cyrus; Stijacic-Cenzer, Irena; Metzger, Lia; Williams, Brie

2018-02-17

The number of older adults in the criminal justice system is rapidly increasing. While this population is thought to experience an early onset of aging-related health conditions ("accelerated aging"), studies have not directly compared rates of geriatric conditions in this population to those found in the general population. The aims of this study were to compare the burden of geriatric conditions among older adults in jail to rates found in an age-matched nationally representative sample of community dwelling older adults. This cross sectional study compared 238 older jail inmates age 55 or older to 6871 older adults in the national Health and Retirement Study (HRS). We used an age-adjusted analysis, accounting for the difference in age distributions between the two groups, to compare sociodemographics, chronic conditions, and geriatric conditions (functional, sensory, and mobility impairment). A second age-adjusted analysis compared those in jail to HRS participants in the lowest quintile of wealth. All geriatric conditions were significantly more common in jail-based participants than in HRS participants overall and HRS participants in the lowest quintile of net worth. Jail-based participants (average age of 59) experienced four out of six geriatric conditions at rates similar to those found in HRS participants age 75 or older. Geriatric conditions are prevalent in older adults in jail at significantly younger ages than non-incarcerated older adults suggesting that geriatric assessment and geriatric-focused care are needed for older adults cycling through jail in their 50s and that correctional clinicians require knowledge about geriatric assessment and care.

CircleRides: developing an older adult transportation application and evaluating feedback.

Science.gov (United States)

Heinz, Melinda; Kelly, Norene

2015-05-01

The purpose of the current study was to assess perceptions of CircleRides, a paper prototype of a service website designed to meet older adult transportation needs. Researchers used purposive sampling to conduct two focus groups comprised of older adults to obtain feedback on the CircleRides prototype at the beginning of its iterative design process. One focus group was conducted in a continuing care retirement community (n = 13) and the other in an independent living community for older adults (n = 11). The study assessed perceptions of the CircleRides prototype as well as self-reported older adult transportation preferences and needs. Three themes emerged from the data: (a) trust and concern, (b) socialization, and (c) flexibility and options. Researchers found that participants are interested in transportation options; however, concern exists about trusting a new system or prototype that has not established a reputation. Findings from the current study offer lessons learned for future iterations and for creating transportation prototypes for older adults. Copyright 2015, SLACK Incorporated.

Social Workers' Attitudes toward Older Adults: A Review of the Literature

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Donna; Chonody, Jill

2013-01-01

Ageist attitudes toward older adults have been recognized as barriers to recruiting and training competent social workers. This article provides a systematic review of the literature that focused on social workers' and social work students' attitudes toward older adults and working with older adults. The authors sought empirical studies…

Hypermnesia: a further examination of age differences between young and older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Otani, Hajime; Kato, Koichi; Von Glahn, Nicholas R; Nelson, Meghann E; Widner, Robert L; Goernert, Phillip N

2008-05-01

Previous studies that examined age differences in hypermnesia reported inconsistent results. The present experiment investigated whether the different study materials in these studies were responsible for the inconsistency. In particular, the present experiment examined whether the use of a video, as opposed to words and pictures, would eliminate previously reported age differences in hypermnesia. Fifteen college students and 15 older adults viewed a 3-minute video clip followed by two free-recall tests. The results indicated that older adults, as a whole, did not show hypermnesia. However, when older adults were divided into low and high memory groups based on test 1 performance, the high memory group showed hypermnesia whereas the low memory group did not show hypermnesia. The older adults in the low memory group were significantly older than the older adults in the high memory group - indicating that hypermnesia is inversely related to age in older adults. Reminiscence did not show an age-related difference in either the low or high memory group whereas inter-test forgetting did show an age difference in the low memory group. As expected, older adults showed greater inter-test forgetting than young adults in the low memory group. Findings from the present experiment suggest that video produces a pattern of results that is similar to the patterns obtained when words and pictures are used as study material. Thus, it appears that the nature of study material is not the source of inconsistency across the previous studies.

Physical activity and depression in older adults with and without cognitive impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Yuenyongchaiwat, Kornanong; Pongpanit, Khajonsak; Hanmanop, Somrudee

2018-01-01

Low physical activity and depression may be related to cognitive impairment in the elderly. To determine depression and physical activity (PA) among older adults with and without cognitive impairment. 156 older adults, both males and females, aged ≥60 years, were asked to complete the Thai Mini-Mental State Examination (Thai-MMSE), a global cognitive impairment screening tool. Seventy-eight older adults with cognitive impairment and 78 older adults without cognitive impairment were then separately administered two questionnaires (i.e., the Thai Geriatric Depression Scale; TGDS and Global Physical Activity Questionnaire; GPAQ). Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the risk of developing cognitive impairment in the groups of older individuals with and without cognitive impairment. A cross-sectional study of elderly with a mean age of 74.47 ± 8.14 years was conducted. There were significant differences on the depression scale and in PA between older adults with and without cognitive impairment. Further, participants with low PA and high level of depressive symptoms had an increased risk of cognitive impairment (Odds ratio = 4.808 and 3.298, respectively). Significant differences were noted in PA and on depression scales between older adults with and without cognitive impairment. Therefore, increased PA and decreased depressive symptoms (i.e., having psychological support) are suggested to reduce the risks of cognitive impairment in older adults.

How Can Older Adults Prevent Falls? | NIH MedlinePlus the Magazine

Science.gov (United States)

... please turn JavaScript on. Feature: Falls and Older Adults How Can Older Adults Prevent Falls? Past Issues / Winter 2014 Table of Contents Falls are not inevitable, even as we age. But ... you could break a bone. For older people, breaks can lead to more serious problems. ...

Atomoxetine Treatment for ADHD: Younger Adults Compared with Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Durell, Todd; Adler, Lenard; Wilens, Timothy; Paczkowski, Martin; Schuh, Kory

2010-01-01

Objective: Atomoxetine is a nonstimulant medication for treating child, adolescent, and adult ADHD. This meta-analysis compared the effects in younger and older adults. Method: A post hoc analysis was conducted using data from two double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials. Data from patients aged 18-25 years were compared with data from…

Comparison of anxiety as reported by older people with intellectual disabilities and by older people with normal intelligence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hermans, H.; Beekman, A.T.F.; Evenhuis, H.M.

2014-01-01

Objectives Older people with intellectual disabilities (ID) may experience more and different symptoms of anxiety than older people with normal intelligence. Study questions: (1) Is the reported severity of anxiety in this group similar to that in the general older population; (2) Are specific

Reward-Enhanced Memory in Younger and Older Adults

OpenAIRE

Julia Spaniol; Cécile Schain; Holly J. Bowen

2014-01-01

Objectives. We investigated how the anticipation of remote monetary reward modulates intentional episodic memory formation in younger and older adults. On the basis of prior findings of preserved reward–cognition interactions in aging, we predicted that reward anticipation would be associated with enhanced memory in both younger and older adults. On the basis of previous demonstrations of a time-dependent effect of reward anticipation on memory, we expected the memory enhancement to increase ...

Journal Writing with Web 2.0 Tools: A Vision for Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Shepherd, Craig E.; Aagard, Steven

2011-01-01

This article describes how Web 2.0 technologies may facilitate journaling and related inquiry methods among older adults. Benefits and limitations of journaling are summarized as well as computer skills of older adults. We then describe how Web 2.0 technologies can enhance journaling among older adults by diminishing feelings of isolation,…

Gender differences of foot characteristics in older Japanese adults using a 3D foot scanner.

Science.gov (United States)

Saghazadeh, Mahshid; Kitano, Naruki; Okura, Tomohiro

2015-01-01

Knowledge of gender differences in foot shape assists shoe manufactures with designing appropriate shoes for men and women. Although gender differences in foot shapes are relatively known among young men and women, less is known about how the older men and women's feet differ in shape. A recent development in foot shape assessment is the use of 3D foot scanners. To our knowledge this technology has yet to be used to examine gender differences in foot shape of Japanese older adults. This cross-sectional study included 151 older men (74.5 ± 5.6 years) and 140 older women (73.9 ± 5.1 years) recruited in Kasama City, Japan. Foot variables were measured in sitting and standing positions using Dream GP Incorporated's 3D foot scanner, Footstep PRO (Osaka, Japan). Scores were analyzed as both raw and normalized to truncated foot length using independent samples t-test and analysis of covariance, respectively. In men, the measurement values for navicular height, first and fifth toe and instep heights, ball and heel width, ball girth, arch height index (just standing), arch rigidity index and instep girth were significantly greater than the women's, whereas the first toe angle, in both sitting and standing positions was significantly smaller. However, after normalizing, the differences in ball width, heel width, height of first and fifth toes in both sitting and standing and ball girth in sitting position were nonsignificant. According to Cohen's d, among all the foot variables, the following had large effect sizes in both sitting and standing positions: truncated foot length, instep, navicular height, foot length, ball girth, ball width, heel width and instep girth. This study provides evidence of anthropometric foot variations between older men and women. These differences need to be considered when manufacturing shoes for older adults.

Both Younger and Older Adults Have Difficulty Updating Emotional Memories

OpenAIRE

Nashiro, Kaoru; Sakaki, Michiko; Huffman, Derek; Mather, Mara

2012-01-01

Objective. The main purpose of the study was to examine whether emotion impairs associative memory for previously seen items in older adults, as previously observed in younger adults. \\ud Method. Thirty-two younger adults and 32 older adults participated. The experiment consisted of 2 parts. In Part 1, participants learned picture–object associations for negative and neutral pictures. In Part 2, they learned picture–location associations for negative and neutral pictures; half of these pictur...

Testing the Limits of Optimizing Dual-Task Performance in Younger and Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Strobach, Tilo; Frensch, Peter; Müller, Herrmann Josef; Schubert, Torsten

2012-01-01

Impaired dual-task performance in younger and older adults can be improved with practice. Optimal conditions even allow for a (near) elimination of this impairment in younger adults. However, it is unknown whether such (near) elimination is the limit of performance improvements in older adults. The present study tests this limit in older adults under conditions of (a) a high amount of dual-task training and (b) training with simplified component tasks in dual-task situations. The data showed that a high amount of dual-task training in older adults provided no evidence for an improvement of dual-task performance to the optimal dual-task performance level achieved by younger adults. However, training with simplified component tasks in dual-task situations exclusively in older adults provided a similar level of optimal dual-task performance in both age groups. Therefore through applying a testing the limits approach, we demonstrated that older adults improved dual-task performance to the same level as younger adults at the end of training under very specific conditions. PMID:22408613

Health Equity and Aging of Bisexual Older Adults: Pathways of Risk and Resilience.

Science.gov (United States)

Fredriksen-Goldsen, Karen I; Shiu, Chengshi; Bryan, Amanda E B; Goldsen, Jayn; Kim, Hyun-Jun

2017-05-01

Bisexual older adults are a growing yet largely invisible, underserved, and understudied population. Utilizing the Health Equity Promotion Model, we examined hypothesized mechanisms accounting for health disparities between bisexual older adults and lesbian and gay older adults. Based on data from Caring and Aging with Pride, the largest national survey of LGBT older adults, this study (N = 2,463) utilized structural equation modeling to investigate direct and indirect associations between sexual identity (bisexual vs. lesbian and gay) and health via sexual identity factors (identity disclosure and internalized stigma), social resources, and socioeconomic status (SES). Bisexual older adults reported significantly poorer health compared with lesbian and gay older adults. Indirect effects involving sexual identity factors, social resources, and SES explained the association between bisexual identity and poorer health. A potentially protective pathway was also identified wherein bisexuals had larger social networks after adjusting for other factors. Bisexual older adults face distinct challenges and health risks relative to other older adults, likely because of the accumulation of socioeconomic and psychosocial disadvantages across the life course. Interventions taking into account older bisexuals' unique risk and protective factors may be helpful in reducing health inequities. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Mental health literacy in korean older adults: A cross-sectional survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Y S; Lee, H Y; Lee, M H; Simms, T; Park, B H

2017-09-01

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: Mental health literacy is a fairly new concept, first introduced in 1997. It refers to what people know and believe about mental health disorders. People's knowledge and beliefs help them to recognize, manage and prevent mental disorders. Generally, older adults have lower health literacy compared to young and middle-aged adults. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: This is the first study on the mental health literacy of Korean older adults. This study looks beyond peoples' ability to recognize mental health disorders and their opinions about them. It identifies factors that are associated with mental health literacy (level of education and social support, the number of people in one's social circles and how individuals rate their health). WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: Older adults might get more out of mental health literacy programmes in group or social settings. Programmes that use older adult peer educators/supporters, such as the "older people's champions" of the Healthy Passport programme in England, might make the programmes more effective. Mental health campaigns, such as Australia's beyondblue, might increase mental health literacy of older adults. Introduction Korea is experiencing rapid population ageing, spurring an increased need for mental health services for the elderly. Approximately one-third of Korean older adults experience depressive symptoms, and Korea has the highest elder suicide rate among 34 developed nations. Mental health literacy is an important component of promoting mental health, yet studies on the concept have been conducted in few countries. Aim This study examines the level of mental health literacy among Korean older adults and identifies factors associated with their mental health literacy. Method A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 596 community-dwelling Korean adults aged 65 and older. Andersen's Behavioral Model of Health Services Use framed the study. Results Overall

Factors associated with cognitive function in older adults in Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jenny Miu

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Background: As populations age, cognitive decline and dementia pose significant burdens for societies and health care systems, including low- and middle-income countries such as Mexico. Minor age-related declines in cognitive function appear to represent a stable but heterogeneous phase in the continuum between normal cognitive ageing and dementia. Loss of cognitive function has impacts at societal and individual levels and understanding the risk factors can help provide a framework for health policies and interventions to target at-risk groups. Design: A cohort of older Mexican adults (50+ from the World Health Organization's Study on global AGEing and adult health (WHO SAGE was used to examine cognitive function, including a total of 2315 respondents, with 325 respondents aged 80 years and older. Cognition was objectively evaluated using verbal recall, verbal fluency, forward digit span and backward digit span, with differences in an overall cognitive score assessed against sociodemographic variables, and associated factors using linear regression. Results: The most significant predictors of poorer cognitive function were found to be older age (β=−13.88, rural living (β=−2.25, low income (β=−8.28, self-reported severe or extreme memory difficulties (β=−6.62, and difficulty with two or more activities of daily living (β=−2.02. Conclusions: These findings can inform public health initiatives to address cognitive impairment in ageing populations in Mexico and other middle-income countries.

Do older adults change their eyewitness reports when re-questioned?

Science.gov (United States)

Henkel, Linda A

2014-05-01

This study examined how older adults responded to different types of pressure to change their responses when questioned a second time about their memory for a crime. After watching a video of a crime and answering questions about remembered details, younger (18-22 years) and older adults (64-91 years) were either given negative feedback about their memory performance, were told that most people their age did poorly on the memory test (stereotype threat), or were simply asked to answer the questions again. This was done regardless of their actual accuracy, and the questions were then repeated. Results showed that both younger and older adults changed significantly more responses following negative feedback and changed more responses on misleading than on nonleading questions. Among older adults, as age increased, accuracy decreased and rate of response change increased. People were moderately confident overall about both their correct and incorrect responses. These results highlight the dangers of repeatedly questioning older witnesses with misleading questions and suggest that the responses that are changed may come to be remembered confidently-regardless of whether they are correct or incorrect.

Asymmetry of the structural brain connectome in healthy older adults.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leonardo eBonilha

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background: It is now possible to map neural connections in vivo across the whole brain (i.e., the brain connectome. This is a promising development in neuroscience since many health and disease processes are believed to arise from the architecture of neural networks.Objective: To describe the normal range of hemispheric asymmetry in structural connectivity in healthy older adults.Methods: We obtained high-resolution structural magnetic resonance images (MRI from 17 healthy older adults. For each subject, the brain connectome was reconstructed by parcelating the probabilistic map of gray matter into anatomically defined regions of interested (ROIs. White matter fiber tractography was reconstructed from diffusion tensor imaging and streamlines connecting gray matter ROIs were computed. Asymmetry indices were calculated regarding ROI connectivity (representing the sum of connectivity weight of each cortical ROI and for regional white matter links. All asymmetry measures were compared to a normal distribution with mean=0 through one sample t-tests.Results: Leftward cortical ROI asymmetry was observed in medial temporal, dorsolateral frontal and occipital regions. Rightward cortical ROI asymmetry was observed in middle temporal and orbito-frontal regions. Link-wise asymmetry revealed stronger connections in the left hemisphere between the medial temporal, anterior and posterior peri-Sylvian and occipito-temporal regions. Rightward link asymmetry was observed in lateral temporal, parietal and dorsolateral frontal connections.Conclusions: We postulate that asymmetry of specific connections may be related to functional hemispheric organization. This study may provide reference for future studies evaluating the architecture of the connectome in health and disease processes in senior individuals.

Linguistic Context Versus Semantic Competition in Word Recognition by Younger and Older Adults With Cochlear Implants.

Science.gov (United States)

Amichetti, Nicole M; Atagi, Eriko; Kong, Ying-Yee; Wingfield, Arthur

The increasing numbers of older adults now receiving cochlear implants raises the question of how the novel signal produced by cochlear implants may interact with cognitive aging in the recognition of words heard spoken within a linguistic context. The objective of this study was to pit the facilitative effects of a constraining linguistic context against a potential age-sensitive negative effect of response competition on effectiveness of word recognition. Younger (n = 8; mean age = 22.5 years) and older (n = 8; mean age = 67.5 years) adult implant recipients heard 20 target words as the final words in sentences that manipulated the target word's probability of occurrence within the sentence context. Data from published norms were also used to measure response entropy, calculated as the total number of different responses and the probability distribution of the responses suggested by the sentence context. Sentence-final words were presented to participants using a word-onset gating paradigm, in which a target word was presented with increasing amounts of its onset duration in 50 msec increments until the word was correctly identified. Results showed that for both younger and older adult implant users, the amount of word-onset information needed for correct recognition of sentence-final words was inversely proportional to their likelihood of occurrence within the sentence context, with older adults gaining differential advantage from the contextual constraints offered by a sentence context. On the negative side, older adults' word recognition was differentially hampered by high response entropy, with this effect being driven primarily by the number of competing responses that might also fit the sentence context. Consistent with previous research with normal-hearing younger and older adults, the present results showed older adult implant users' recognition of spoken words to be highly sensitive to linguistic context. This sensitivity, however, also resulted in a

Exploring Older Adults' Patterns and Perceptions of Exercise after Hip Fracture

OpenAIRE

Gorman, Erin; Chudyk, Anna M.; Hoppmann, Christiane A.; Hanson, Heather M.; Guy, Pierre; Sims-Gould, Joanie; Ashe, Maureen C.

2013-01-01

Purpose: To identify exercise patterns and perceived barriers, enablers, and motivators to engaging in exercise for older adults following hip fracture. Method: Telephone interviews were conducted with older adults (aged 62–97 y) within 1 year after hip fracture. Participants were asked about basic demographic information; level of mobility before hip fracture; current level of mobility; and barriers, enablers, and motivators to participating in exercise. Results: A total of 32 older adults s...

Listening to Older Adult Parents of Adult Children with Mental Illness

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Judith R.

2012-01-01

This article uses qualitative research and narrative analysis to examine the experience of women age 55 and older who are parents caring for adult children with mental illness. Knowledge about the conflicts of older parents with dependent children is underdeveloped. In this study, analysis of women's stories about parenting in later life reveal…

Hydrate for health: listening to older adults' need for information.

Science.gov (United States)

Palmer, Mary H; Marquez, Celine S; Kline, Katherine V; Morris, Erin; Linares, Brenda; Carlson, Barbara W

2014-10-01

An interdisciplinary team of faculty and students developed the Hydrate for Health project to provide relevant and evidence-based information to community-dwelling older adults. Evidence-based factsheets on bladder health, nighttime urination, medication safety, and physical activity/exercise, as well as a fluid intake self-monitoring tool, were developed. Four focus groups were conducted and included older adults (N = 21) who participated in activities at two local senior centers to obtain their feedback about the relevance of the factsheets. Extensive revisions were required based on the feedback received. Older adults expressed a desire for pragmatic information (i.e., how to determine fluid sources from food, how to measure water, how to determine their own fluid needs). They also wanted information that could be easily incorporated into daily life. Nurses play a central role in listening to and incorporating older adults' voices into consumer education materials. Copyright 2014, SLACK Incorporated.

Young and Older Adults' Gender Stereotype in Multitasking.

Science.gov (United States)

Strobach, Tilo; Woszidlo, Alesia

2015-01-01

In the present study, we investigated discrepancies between two components of stereotyping by means of the popular notion that women are better at multitasking behaviors: the cognitive structure in individuals (personal belief) and the perceived consensus regarding certain beliefs (perceived belief of groups). With focus on this notion, we examined whether there was empirical evidence for the stereotype's existence and whether and how it was shared among different age groups. Data were collected from 241 young (n = 129) and older (n = 112) German individuals. The reported perceptions of gender effects at multitasking were substantial and thus demonstrated the existence of its stereotype. Importantly, in young and older adults, this stereotype existed in the perception of attributed characteristics by members of a collective (perceived belief of groups). When contrasting this perceived belief of groups and the personal belief, older adults showed a similar level of conformation of the gender stereotype while young adults were able to differentiate between these perspectives. Thus, young adults showed a discrepancy between the stereotype's components cognitive structure in individuals and perceived consensus regarding certain beliefs.

Working memory training and transfer in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Richmond, Lauren L; Morrison, Alexandra B; Chein, Jason M; Olson, Ingrid R

2011-12-01

There has been a great deal of interest, both privately and commercially, in using working memory training exercises to improve general cognitive function. However, many of the laboratory findings for older adults, a group in which this training is of utmost interest, are discouraging due to the lack of transfer to other tasks and skills. Importantly, improvements in everyday functioning remain largely unexamined in relation to WM training. We trained working memory in older adults using a task that encourages transfer in young adults (Chein & Morrison, 2010). We tested transfer to measures of working memory (e.g., Reading Span), everyday cognitive functioning [the Test of Everyday Attention (TEA) and the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT)], and other tasks of interest. Relative to controls, trained participants showed transfer improvements in Reading Span and the number of repetitions on the CVLT. Training group participants were also significantly more likely to self-report improvements in everyday attention. Our findings support the use of ecological tasks as a measure of transfer in an older adult population.

Spirituality, depression, living alone, and perceived health among Korean older adults in the community.

Science.gov (United States)

You, Kwang Soo; Lee, Hae-Ok; Fitzpatrick, Joyce J; Kim, Susie; Marui, Eiji; Lee, Jung Su; Cook, Paul

2009-08-01

Both theoretical and empirical studies have documented the protective effect of religiosity and spirituality on general health in older adults in community and hospital settings; however, no study has documented the relationship between spirituality and depression among older adults living alone in communities in Korea. We tested two hypotheses: Hypothesis 1: Korean older adults living alone would be more depressed and less healthy than older adults living with family, and Hypothesis 2: Individuals who are more religious and spiritual would report a lower level of depression and a higher level of general health even when other demographic and living status variables are controlled. A descriptive, comparative, and correlational design with a convenience sampling method was conducted among community-dwelling Korean older adults in Chounbook Providence, South Korea. This study included 152 men and women older than 65 years old. Hypothesis 1 was supported as Korean older adults living alone were significantly more depressed than were older adults living with family (Preligion with general health and depression.

Factors Influencing Food Choices Among Older Adults in the Rural Western USA.

Science.gov (United States)