Search results for "geriatric"
showing 10 items of 1602 documents
Hearing loss and use of health services : a population-based cross-sectional study among Finnish older adults
2015
Background Older adults with hearing difficulties face problems of communication which may lead to underuse of health services. This study investigated the association of hearing loss and self-reported hearing difficulty with the use of health services and unmet health care needs in older adults. Methods Data on persons aged 65 and older (n = 2144) drawn from a population-based study, Health 2000, were analyzed. Hearing loss was determined with screening audiometry (n = 1680). Structured face-to-face interviews were used to assess self-reported hearing difficulty (n = 1962), use of health services (physician and nurse visits, health examinations, mental health services, physical therapy, he…
Role of prothrombotic polymorphisms in successful or unsuccessful aging.
2011
The study of the genetic profile of centenarians aims to identify the genes and allelic variants which may influence a greater life expectancy and that can be considered as predisposing factors associated to the aging diseases, such as Alzheimer. Centenarians, that represent a cohort of selected survivors, show an hypercoagulability state characterised by striking signs of high coagulation enzyme activity, as directly assessed by the tested higher plasma level of some important factors involved in the haemostasis balance. Anyway, these individuals seem to have a reduced susceptibility to dementia, as well as to cardiovascular events. In this study we analyze the frequencies of Leiden Factor…
Dimensions underlying frailty indicators in the Kihon Checklist.
2019
Aim Frailty has become a current topic of debate in recent years among researchers as a key concept of clinical care in old age. One of the scales developed for its measurement is the Kihon Checklist (KCL). However, the dimensionality of the KCL has not been tested yet, and therefore the aim of the present study was to validate its dimensional structure. Methods This was a cross-sectional study carried out between March and September 2018 in Valencia province (Spain). Participation in the study was voluntary. A total of 251 participants were sampled. They answered sociodemographic and medical indicators, as well as five frailty scales, including the KCL. Results Five confirmatory models wit…
Nutritional screening of older home-dwelling Norwegians: a comparison between two instruments.
2012
Ulrika Söderhamn, Bjørg Dale, Kari Sundsli, Olle SöderhamnCentre for Caring Research-Southern Norway, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Agder, Grimstad, NorwayBackground: It is important to obtain knowledge about the prevalence of nutritional risk and associated factors among older home-dwelling people in order to be able to meet nutritional challenges in this group in the future and to plan appropriate interventions. The aim of this survey was to investigate the prevalence of home-dwelling older people at nutritional risk and to identify associated factors using two different nutritional screening instruments as self-report instruments.Methods…
Quality of life (QOL) of older adult community choral singers in Finland.
2013
ABSTRACTBackground: Enhancing quality of life (QOL) of older adults is an international area of focus. Identifying factors and experiences that contribute to QOL of older adults helps promote optimal levels of functioning. This study examines the relationship between perceived benefits associated with choral singing and QOL among community-dwelling older adults.Methods: One hundred seventeen older adults who sing in community choirs in Jyväskylä, Finland, completed self-report measures of QOL (WHOQOL-Bref), depressive symptoms, and a questionnaire about the benefits of singing in choir. Correlational analyses and linear regression models were used to examine the association between the bene…
Socio-demographic characteristics associated with emotional and social loneliness among older adults.
2021
Abstract Background International studies provide an overview of socio-demographic characteristics associated with loneliness among older adults, but few studies distinguished between emotional and social loneliness. This study examined socio-demographic characteristics associated with emotional and social loneliness. Methods Data of 2251 community-dwelling older adults, included at the baseline measure of the Urban Health Centers Europe (UHCE) project, were analysed. Loneliness was measured with the 6-item De Jong-Gierveld Loneliness Scale. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to evaluate associations between age, sex, living situation, educational level, migration background…
Nutritional form for the elderly is a reliable and valid instrument for the determination of undernutrition risk, and it is associated with health-re…
2007
Undernutrition is a common problem associated with clinical complications such as impaired immune response, reduced muscle strength, impaired wound healing, and susceptibility to infections; therefore, it is an important treatment target to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with chronic diseases and aging. The aim of the present study was to apply a reliable and valid instrument for the determination of undernutrition risk in an in-hospital patient population and to describe possible associations between risk of undernutrition and some aspects of health-related quality of life in patients with chronic diseases. Fifty-six adult patients with different chronic diseases were interviewe…
Vitamin D deficiency and leisure time activities in the elderly: are all pastimes the same?
2014
Background Optimal vitamin D status is important for overall health and well-being, particularly in the elderly. Although vitamin D synthesis in the skin declines with age, exposure to sunlight still seems to help older-aged adults to achieve adequate serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) levels. Elderly people would therefore benefit from outdoor leisure activities, but the effects of different types of pastime on serum 25OHD levels have yet to be thoroughly investigated. Aims To assess the association of different pastimes with 25OHD deficiency in elderly subjects. Methods A sample of 2,349 community-dwelling elderly individuals (1,389 females and 960 males) enrolled in the Progetto Veneto An…
Leisure-time physical activity from mid- to late life, body mass index, and risk of dementia
2013
Abstract Background Physical activity may be beneficial for cognition, but the effect may vary depending on personal characteristics. Methods We investigated the associations between leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) from mid- to late life, the risk of dementia, and the role of body mass index, sex, and APOE in the CAIDE study during 28-year follow-up. Cognitive function of a random subsample was assessed at a mean age of 78.8 years (n = 1511), and dementia/Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnoses were identified from national registers for the entire target population (n = 3559). Results Moderate (hazard ratio [HR], 1.46; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08–1.99) and low levels of midlife LTP…
Frailty and Depression in Older Adults: A High-Risk Clinical Population
2014
Objective To identify salient characteristics of frailty that increase risk of death in depressed elders. Methods Data were from the Nordic Research on Ageing Study from research sites in Denmark, Sweden, and Finland. Participants were 1,027 adults aged 75 years (436 men and 591 women). Time of death was obtained, providing a maximum survival time of 11.08 years (initial evaluation took place between 1988 and 1991). Results Depressed elders showed greater baseline impairments in each frailty characteristic (gait speed, grip strength, physical activity levels, and fatigue). Simultaneous models including all four frailty characteristics showed slow gait speed (hazard ratio: 1.84; 95% confiden…