Search results for "the elderly"

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…

Aortic stenosis: insights on pathogenesis and clinical implications

2016

Aortic stenosis (AS) is a common valvular heart disease in the Western populations, with an estimated overall prevalence of 3% in adults over 75 years. To understand its patho-biological processes represents a priority. In elderly patients, AS usually involves trileaflet valves and is referred to as degenerative calcific processes. Scientific evidence suggests the involvement of an active "atherosclerosis-like" pathogenesis in the initiation phase of degenerative AS. To the contrary, the progression could be driven by different forces (such as mechanical stress, genetic factors and interaction between inflammation and calcification). The improved understanding presents potentially new thera…

Wydatki gmin na usługi opiekuńcze a zmiany demograficzne w Polsce

2020

Local governments as the smallest units of territorial self‑government in Poland are responsible for providing care services. The growing number of the elderly can influence the expenditures level connected with ensuring proper care for them, and it may constitute a growing problem for local government, especially for districts with a lower level of socio‑economic development. In recent years, a quite high increase in benefits amount due to care services and specialist care services has been observed. Therefore, a question arises whether a significant dependence can be observed between the share of the elderly in the population and the degree of local governments’ financial burden due to pr…

Statin treatment in the elderly: how much do we know?

2013

Family caregivers’ involvement in caring for frail older family members using welfare technology: a qualitative study of home care in transition

2022

Abstract Background Demographic, economic and organisational changes challenge home care services. Increased use of welfare technology and involvement of family members as co-producers of care are political initiatives to meet these challenges. However, these initiatives also involve ethical aspects. Method The aim of this qualitative study was to explore family caregivers’ experience of involvement and possible ethical aspects of caring for frail older family members receiving home care services supported by welfare technology. This study used a qualitative explorative and descriptive design within a phenomenological-hermeneutical approach. Sixteen interviews with eighteen family caregiver…

Early life conditions and later life inequality in health

2013

Abstract Prenatal exposure to adverse conditions is known to affect health throughout the life span. It has also been shown that health is unevenly distributed at advanced ages. This chapter investigates whether health inequalities at old age may be partially caused by prenatal circumstances. We use a sample of people aged 71–91 from eight European countries and assess how shocks in GDP that occurred while the respondents were still in utero affect four important dimensions of later-life health: cognition, depression, functional limitations, and grip strength. We find that early-life macro-economic circumstances do not affect health at advanced ages, nor do they affect inequalities in healt…

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…

Tools to identify nutritional risk for older people in the home

2012

Author's version of an article in the journal: British Journal of Community Nursing. Community nurses are in an ideal position to identify older home-dwelling people at nutritional risk and thereby to prevent undernutrition. The aim of this paper is to present some nutritional screening instruments for older home-dwelling people and to discuss nutritional issues of importance for community nurses in order to assess nutritional risk and prevent undernutrition. The screening instruments Nutritional Form For the Elderly (NUFFE) and Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) are especially developed for screening older people. The Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) is recommended for screening…

Psychometric testing of the Norwegian version of the Nutritional Form For the Elderly among older home-dwelling people

2012

Ulrika Söderhamn, Bjørg Dale, Kari Sundsli, Solveig T Tomstad, Olle SöderhamnCenter for Caring Research, Southern Norway, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Agder, Grimstad, NorwayBackground: Nutritional screening instruments need to be evaluated in terms of reliability and validity and being able to demonstrate sensitivity and specificity for use in clinical practice and research. The aims of this study were to test the reliability and validity of the Norwegian version of the Nutritional Form For the Elderly (NUFFE-NO) in a sample of older home-dwelling people, and to use the short form of the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA-SF) as a standard.…

Perceived and objective entrance-related environmental barriers and daily out-of-home mobility in community-dwelling older people

2017

Abstract Purpose We studied whether entrance-related environmental barriers, perceived and objectively recorded, were associated with moving out-of-home daily in older people with and without limitations in lower extremity performance. Methods Cross-sectional analyses of the “Life-space mobility in old age” cohort including 848 community-dwelling 75–90-year-old of central Finland. Participants reported their frequency of moving out-of-home (daily vs. 0–6 times/week) and perceived entrance-related environmental barriers (yes/no). Lower extremity performance was assessed (Short Physical Performance Battery) and categorized as poorer (score 0–9) or good (score 10–12). Environmental barriers at…