Physical activity and quality of life in community dwelling older adults

Background  

Physical activity has been consistently associated with enhanced quality of life (QOL) in older adults. However, the nature of this relationship is not fully understood. In this study of community dwelling older adults, we examined the proposition that physical activity influences global QOL through self-efficacy and health-status.     

Dizziness in an older community dwelling population: A multifactorial syndrome

Objectives  

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and related predictors of dizziness in a sample of community-dwelling people 65 years of age and older living in a metropolitan area in Germany.     

Influenza vaccination by race among disabled community dwelling older women

Disabled older adults have been shown to be at risk for underutilization of some preventive services relative to able-bodied individuals. The Women's Health and Aging Study surveyed female Medicare enrollees in Baltimore, Maryland, who were among the most disabled community-dwelling women at the start of the study. Longitudinal survey data from the study were used to test for the existence or emergence of racial variation in influenza vaccination rates, for which racial variation has been shown in the general population. The primary analysis, using data on the same women before and after Medicare flu shot coverage began, suggested that influenza vaccination rates increased after Medicare coverage began and that there was no difference by race. A secondary analysis using data on women who were interviewed only after Medicare flu shot coverage began showed some racial variation, although the difference may have been larger prior to coverage. The utilization rate did not approach the Healthy People 2010 target.     

Cognitive impairment and mortality in older community residents.

OBJECTIVE. Cognitive impairment among the elderly has been linked to mortality in studies of clinical populations. The purpose of this study was to examine the mortality risk associated with cognitive impairment among elderly populations in the community. METHODS. Cognitive impairment and other social and health factors were assessed in 1855 elderly community residents. This sample was reinterviewed periodically to assess changes in health and survival. RESULTS. At baseline 33% of the sample were mildly impaired and 8% were severely impaired. Across a 48-month observation period the survival probability was .85 for the cognitively unimpaired, .69 for the mildly impaired, and .51 for severely impaired respondents. When adjustments were made for the effects of other health and social covariates, severely impaired persons were twice as likely to die as unimpaired persons. Those who were mildly impaired were also at an increased risk. CONCLUSIONS. Other investigators have found that cognitive impairment is a significant predictor of dementia. We found that it is a significant predictor of mortality as well. Early detection of impaired cognition and attention to associated health problems could improve the quality of life of these older adults and perhaps extend their survival.     

A reliable measure of frailty for a community dwelling older population

Background  

Frailty remains an elusive concept despite many efforts to define and measure it. The difficulty in translating the clinical profile of frail elderly people into a quantifiable assessment tool is due to the complex and heterogeneous nature of their health problems. Viewing frailty as a 'latent vulnerability' in older people this study aims to derive a model based measurement of frailty and examines its internal reliability in community dwelling elderly.     

Alcohol consumption in a community sample of older people

OBJECTIVE: To examine the prevalence and pattern of alcohol use among community-living elderly Australians. METHODS: A survey was conducted of randomly selected non-institutionalised people aged 75 years and older living in the inner western suburbs of Sydney. Personal interviews by trained interviewers covered background demographic information and self-reported alcohol use. RESULTS: 72% of men and 54% of women drank alcohol. The median usual daily volume of ethanol consumed by drinkers was 10 grams for men and 1.3 grams for women. However 11% of male drinkers and 6% of female drinkers consumed at defined hazardous or harmful levels. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Although a sizeable majority of these older people were either non-drinkers or very light drinkers, a small but important proportion drank in the hazardous to harmful range. Despite increasing evidence of the health benefits of alcohol consumption it remains important to be alert for potentially harmful alcohol use among older people.     

Assessing healthful eating among community dwelling rural older adults using self-reported fruit and vegetable consumption via a community-wide mail-out health status assessment

This project assessed fruit and vegetable intakes among rural older adults on a regional mail-out community health assessment. Over 95% of respondents answered questions regarding fruit and vegetable consumption. Rural older adults in this sample were willing to respond to questions regarding their fruit and vegetable intake; yet they were not likely to be meeting minimum recommended intakes of these foods. Including questions about dietary healthfulness on such an assessment may provide key stakeholders and policymakers a clearer understanding of their community's overall health status.     

Diminished mental- and physical function and lack of social support are associated with shorter survival in community dwelling older persons of Botswana

Background  

Mortality rates for older persons in Botswana have been unavailable and little is known of predictors of mortality in old age. This study may serve as a precursor for more detailed assessments.     

Coffee consumption and cognitive function among older adults

This study examined the association of caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee intake with cognitive function in a community-based sample of older adults in 1988-1992. Participants were 890 women with a mean age of 72.6 years and 638 men with a mean age of 73.3 years from the Rancho Bernardo Study. Cognitive function was assessed by 12 standardized tests, and lifetime consumption and current coffee consumption were obtained by questionnaire. After adjustment for confounders, higher lifetime coffee consumption in women was associated with better (p < or = 0.05) performance on six of 12 tests, with a trend (p < or = 0.10) on two other cognitive function tests; current caffeinated coffee intake was associated with better performance on two tests (p < 0.05), with a trend (p < 0.10) on one other test. Among women aged 80 or more years, lifetime coffee intake was nonsignificantly associated with better performance on 11 of the 12 tests. No relation was found between coffee intake and cognitive function among men or between decaffeinated coffee intake and cognitive function in either sex. Lifetime and current exposure to caffeine may be associated with better cognitive performance among women, especially among those aged 80 or more years.     

中国成年人饮茶与死亡风险的前瞻性关联研究

目的分析中国成年人饮茶与全因死亡和死因别死亡风险间的关联。方法本研究分析基于中国慢性病前瞻性研究项目。饮茶信息为基线自报。死亡信息主要通过链接死亡监测系统获取。使用Cox比例风险回归模型计算风险比(HR)及其95%CI。结果纳入分析的438 443例研究对象随访11.1年共发生死亡34 661例。与从不饮茶者相比, 当前非每日饮茶者和每日饮茶者全因死亡HR值(95%CI)依次为0.89(0.86～0.91)和0.92(0.88～0.95)。分性别分析显示, 饮茶对全因死亡风险的保护作用主要见于男性(交互P<0.05)。与从不饮茶者相比, 当前每日饮茶者死于缺血性心脏病、缺血性脑卒中、出血性脑卒中、恶性肿瘤、呼吸系统疾病及其他死因的HR值(95%CI)依次为0.83(0.76～0.92)、0.82(0.69～0.97)、0.86(0.78～0.94)、1.03(0.97～1.09)、1.00(0.87～1.16)、0.84(0.78～0.90)。在不吸烟且不过量饮酒者中, 每日饮茶与恶性肿瘤死亡风险间不存在有统计学显著性的关联, 但在吸烟或过量饮酒者中, 每日饮茶者死于恶性肿瘤的风...     

Living arrangements, changes in living arrangements, and survival among community dwelling older adults.

OBJECTIVES: This study examines whether living arrangements and changes in living arrangements are associated with survival among older community-dwelling adults, and whether differences in health status account for observed differences in survival. METHODS: The sample consisted of 5085 persons aged 70 years or older who had participated in the Longitudinal Study of Aging in 1984 and 1986. Proportional hazards models were used to examine associations of survival time through 1990 with living arrangements in 1984 and with changes in living arrangements from 1984 to 1986. RESULTS: Women who lived with someone other than a spouse at baseline or who changed from living with a spouse to living with someone other than a spouse were at greater risk of dying than women in other living arrangements, independent of health status or functioning. Among men, survival time was not generally associated with baseline living arrangements. CONCLUSIONS: Older adults who live alone or who change from living with someone to living alone do not have an increased mortality risk. However, living with or changing to living with someone other than a spouse may be associated with increased mortality risk.     

Tea consumption and cognitive impairment and decline in older Chinese adults

BACKGROUND: Laboratory research suggests that tea has potential neurocognitive protective effects, but this is not established in humans. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to examine the relation between tea intake and cognitive impairment and decline. DESIGN: Among community-living Chinese adults aged > or = 55 y in the Singapore Longitudinal Ageing Studies cohort, we measured tea consumption at baseline and administered the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) at baseline and 1-2 y later. Cognitive impairment was defined as an MMSE score < or = 23 and cognitive decline as a drop in MMSE score of > or = 1 point. We performed cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from 2501 participants and longitudinal analysis of data from 1438 cognitively intact participants. Odds ratios (ORs) of association were calculated in logistic regression models that adjusted for potential confounders. RESULTS: Total tea intake was significantly associated with a lower prevalence of cognitive impairment, independent of other risk factors. Compared with the ORs for rare or no tea intake, the ORs for low, medium, and high levels of tea intake were 0.56 (95% CI: 0.40, 0.78), 0.45 (95% CI: 0.27, 0.72), and 0.37 (95% CI: 0.14, 0.98), respectively (P for trend < 0.001). For cognitive decline, the corresponding ORs were 0.74 (95% CI: 0.54, 1.00), 0.78 (95% CI: 0.55, 1.11), and 0.57 (95% CI: 0.32, 1.03), respectively (P for trend = 0.042). These effects were most evident for black (fermented) and oolong (semi-fermented) teas, the predominant types consumed by this population. In contrast, no association between coffee intake and cognitive status was found. CONCLUSION: Regular tea consumption was associated with lower risks of cognitive impairment and decline.     

轻度认知功能损害患者睡眠障碍的临床研究

  目的  了解贵州省农村老年人睡眠障碍对认知功能损害的影响,为改善老年人认知功能提供参考依据。  方法  于2019年7 — 8月采用多阶段整群随机抽样方法在贵州省花溪区和贵定县抽取5个乡（镇）共1651名 ≥ 60岁老年人进行问卷调查,分析老年人睡眠障碍对认知功能损害的影响。  结果  贵州省1651名农村老年人中,有认知功能损害者517例,认知功能损害率为31.3 %;其中,定向力、即刻回忆力、注意力和计算力、延时回忆、语言能力损害者分别为296、199、518、752、179例,损害率分别为17.9 %、12.1 %、31.4 %、45.5 %、10.8 %;无睡眠障碍老年人1167人（70.7 %）,有睡眠障碍老年人484人（29.3 %）。在控制了性别、年龄、民族、文化程度、婚姻状况、职业等混杂因素后,多因素非条件logistic回归分析结果显示,贵州省有睡眠障碍农村老年人发生认知功能损害、即刻回忆力损害、注意力和计算力损害的风险分别为无睡眠障碍老年人的1.348倍（OR = 1.348,95 % CI = 1.056～1.719）、1.410倍（OR = 1.410,95 % CI = 1.024～1.943）、1.302倍（OR = 1.302,95 % CI = 1.025～1.654）。  结论  贵州省农村老年人的认知功能损害率较高,睡眠障碍是其认知功能损害的主要危险因素,主要对其即刻回忆力、注意力和计算力影响较大。     

Falls in young,middle-aged and older community dwelling adults: perceived cause,environmental factors and injury

Background  

Falls in older people have been characterized extensively in the literature, however little has been reported regarding falls in middle-aged and younger adults. The objective of this paper is to describe the perceived cause, environmental influences and resultant injuries of falls in 1497 young (20–45 years), middle-aged (46–65 years) and older (> 65 years) men and women from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging.