Search results for "gero"
showing 10 items of 2629 documents
Factors associated with maximal walking speed among older community-living adults.
2011
Background and aims: The relative contribution of different domains on walking speed is largely unknown. This study investigated the central factors associated with maximal walking speed among older people. Methods: Cross-sectional analyses of baseline data from the SCAMOB study (ISRCTN 07330512) involving 605 community-living ambulatory adults aged 75–81 years. Maximal walking speed, leg extensor power, standing balance and body mass index were measured at the research center. Physical activity, smoking, use of alcohol, chronic diseases and depressive symptoms were self-reported by standard questionnaires. Results: The mean maximal walking speed was 1.4 m/s (range 0.3–2.9). In linear regre…
Balance control interferes with the tracing performance of a pattern with mirror-reversed vision in older persons
2014
When tracing a template with mirror-reversed vision (or distorted vision), the sensory information arising from the movement does not match the expected sensory consequences. In such situations, participants have to learn a new visuomotor mapping in order to trace the template with an accuracy and speed approaching that observed when tracing with direct vision. There are several suggestions that such visuomotor learning requires lowering the gain of the proprioceptive inputs. Generally, subjects learn this task in a seated condition offering a stable postural platform. Adapting to the new visuomotor relationship in a standing condition could add complexity and even hinder sensorimotor adapt…
Apolipoprotein E Genotypic Frequencies Among Down Syndrome Patients Imply Early Unsuccessful Aging for ApoE4 Carriers
2007
Down syndrome (DS) might be considered a model for unsuccessful and early aging, possibly accelerated for those who carry the APOE4 allele associated with common age-related diseases, e.g., Alzheimer's disease and a poor prognosis after acute myocardial infarction, causing lower ApoE4 frequencies among the very old in general populations. We compared ApoE genotypic frequencies found for healthy adults (n = 211, age 90) to those found for DS patients (n = 106, mean age 9 years), all living in western Sicily. We found that the frequency of the ApoE23 genotype increased with age among the healthy adults (8.5%, 6.4%, 19.7%; p = 0.024) while ApoE34 frequency decreased (16.1%, 12.6%, 4.1%; p = 0.…
When the social discourse on violation behaviors is challenged by the perception of everyday life experiences: Effects of non-accident experiences on…
2016
International audience; The aim of this article is to introduce the concept of the Non-Accident Experience (NAE) with regard to violations of traffic safety regulations. An NAE refers to the fact of not having been involved in an accident following the adoption of a behaviour socially recognised as promoting its occurrence. We hypothesise that this type of experiences has a strong effect on attitudes (valence and strength) and habits with regard to traffic offences such as speeding and drink-drive. An empirical study was conducted to test the relevance of this set of hypotheses. 543 French drivers participated to a survey designed to measure all these theoretical constructs. As expected, th…
Predicting right-wing authoritarianism via personality and dangerous world beliefs: Direct, indirect, and interactive effects
2012
In an Italian sample (N=483, 78.23% women, mean age = 27.61 years old), we used structural equation modeling with latent variables and interactions to analyze the direct, indirect, and interactive effects exerted on right-wing authoritarianism by the Big Five factors of personality and by dangerous world beliefs. Openness, Neuroticism, and Conscientiousness exerted direct effects on right-wing authoritarianism; the first two relationships were partially mediated by dangerous world beliefs. Most importantly, the relationship between dangerous world beliefs and right-wing authoritarianism was moderated by Openness: dangerous world beliefs significantly influenced right-wing authoritarianism s…
Sexual desire and sexual activity of men and women across their lifespans: results from a representative German community survey
2007
OBJECTIVES To present data on sexual desire and sexual activity from a representative survey of men and women covering the total age range of the adult German population, as previous studies have usually been based on samples selected for gender (either men or women) and age (ageing populations). SUBJECTS AND METHODS A representative sample of 2341 men and women aged 18-93 years were surveyed to determine frequency and intensity of sexual desire and sexual activity, and their social, individual and interpersonal characteristics. RESULTS Sexual desire declined with advancing age; overall, men reported more frequent and stronger sexual desire than women. However, there were important interact…
Clinical studies on the appearance of natural anterior teeth in young and old adults
2004
Objectives: To evaluate the typical appearance of natural anterior teeth in young and elderly people and to develop guidelines for the natural appearance of dentures. Design: Clinical examination and photography. Inclusion criteria were a dental state with natural anterior teeth and no more than two crowns. Subjects: A study group (SG) consisting of 64 patients ranging in age from 60 to 86 years (67.3 ± 5.8) and a control group (CG) composed of 64 dental students aged 21–33 years (25.8 ± 2.4). Setting: Dental schools of the Johannes-Gutenberg-University Mainz and the University of Leipzig. Results: Most participants were content with the appearance of their own natural teeth. With rela…
Altered orientation of spatial attention in depersonalization disorder
2013
Difficulties with concentration are frequent complaints of patients with depersonalization disorder (DPD). Standard neuropsychological tests suggested alterations of the attentional and perceptual systems. To investigate this, the well-validated Spatial Cueing paradigm was used with two different tasks, consisting either in the detection or in the discrimination of visual stimuli. At the start of each trial a cue indicated either the correct (valid) or the incorrect (invalid) position of the upcoming stimulus or was uninformative (neutral). Only under the condition of increased task difficulty (discrimination task) differences between DPD patients and controls were observed. DPD patients sh…
Job satisfaction and quality of life among home care workers: a comparison of home care workers who are and who are not informal carers
2010
ABSTRACTBackground: Job satisfaction and quality of life among home care workers who serve simultaneously as informal carers for their own family members have seldom been explored. This study examined how this dual role influences job satisfaction and quality of life by comparing these dual carers with home care workers who do not provide informal care. The study also explored whether the factors related to job satisfaction and quality of life between these two groups were different.Method: Standardized self-administered questionnaires (Job Satisfaction Survey, the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) scales and various social demographic questions) were administered to the tw…
Further evidence of genetic heterogeneity in familial essential tremor.
2007
Familial essential tremor (FET) is a common hereditary movement disorder with phenotypic variability and genetic heterogeneity. To date, linkage analyses revealed three loci associated to essential tremor (ET) (ETM1 on 3q13, ETM2 on 2p22-25, and a locus on 6p23). We performed a genetic analysis of these candidate chromosomal regions in a fifth-generation Italian kindred with autosomal-dominant ET. Of the 22 clinically evaluated family members, nine were affected by ET. The genetic study indicates that the ET in this family is not associated to any of the known ET loci. These findings support evidence of further genetic heterogeneity for such disease. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserv…