Polypharmacy, drug-drug interactions, anticholinergic burden and cognitive outcomes: a snapshot from a community-dwelling sample of older men and women in northern Italy
AbstractPolypharmacy (PP) use is very common in older people and may lead to drug-drug interactions (DDIs) and anticholinergic burden (ACB) that may affect cognitive function. We aimed to determine the occurrence of PP, potential DDIs and ACB and their role in cognitive outcomes in an older population. Cross-sectional data from 636 community-dwelling adults (73.2 ± 6.0 SD, 58.6% women) participating in the NutBrain study (2019–2023) were analyzed. Participants were asked about their medication use, and data on potential DDIs and ACB were extracted. The associations of PP (≥ 5 drugs/day), potential DDIs, and ACB...
Source: European Journal of Ageing - March 29, 2024 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Informing existing technology acceptance models: a qualitative study with older persons and caregivers
AbstractNew technologies can help older persons age in place and support their caregivers. However, they need to be accepted by the end-users to do so. Technology acceptance models, such as TAM and UTAUT and their extensions, use factors like performance expectancy and effort expectancy to explain acceptance. Furthermore, they are based on quantitative methods. Our qualitative study investigates factors fostering and hindering acceptance among older persons and their caregivers for a variety of assistive technologies, including wearables, ambient sensors at home with and without cameras and social companion robots. The goa...
Source: European Journal of Ageing - March 29, 2024 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Psychometric properties of the World Health Organization WHOQOL-AGE Scale in Singapore
This study was cross-sectional and used data (N = 593) from the Community Health and Intergenerational study that interviewed older adults between 2018 and 2021. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the factor structure of the WHOQOL-AGE, and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were employed to examine internal consistency. Spe arman’s rho correlations coefficients between WHOQOL-AGE and other related scales (Satisfaction with Life and the Friendship) examined convergent validity. A Pearson’s correlation coefficient between WHOQOL-AGE and compassion scale examined discriminant validity. An independent...
Source: European Journal of Ageing - March 20, 2024 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Detecting implicit and explicit facial emotions at different ages
AbstractEmotions are processed in the brain through a cortical route, responsible for detailed-conscious recognition and mainly based on image High Spatial Frequencies (HSF), and a subcortical route, responsible for coarse-unconscious processing and based on Low SF (LSF). However, little is known about possible changes in the functioning of the two routes in ageing. In the present go/no-go online task, 112 younger adults and 111 older adults were asked to press a button when a happy or angry face appeared (go) and to inhibit responses for neutral faces (no-go). Facial stimuli were presented unfiltered (broadband image), fi...
Source: European Journal of Ageing - March 19, 2024 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
The causal relationship between sleep disturbances and the risk of frailty: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study
ConclusionsOur research showed that there is a causal relationship between sleep disturbances and frailty. This result was obtained by a TSMR analysis, which involves the use of genetic variation as an IV to determine causal relationships between exposure and outcome. Future TSMR studies should include a larger sample for analysis. (Source: European Journal of Ageing)
Source: European Journal of Ageing - March 19, 2024 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Detecting implicit and explicit facial emotions at different ages
AbstractEmotions are processed in the brain through a cortical route, responsible for detailed-conscious recognition and mainly based on image High Spatial Frequencies (HSF), and a subcortical route, responsible for coarse-unconscious processing and based on Low SF (LSF). However, little is known about possible changes in the functioning of the two routes in ageing. In the present go/no-go online task, 112 younger adults and 111 older adults were asked to press a button when a happy or angry face appeared (go) and to inhibit responses for neutral faces (no-go). Facial stimuli were presented unfiltered (broadband image), fi...
Source: European Journal of Ageing - March 19, 2024 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
The causal relationship between sleep disturbances and the risk of frailty: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study
ConclusionsOur research showed that there is a causal relationship between sleep disturbances and frailty. This result was obtained by a TSMR analysis, which involves the use of genetic variation as an IV to determine causal relationships between exposure and outcome. Future TSMR studies should include a larger sample for analysis. (Source: European Journal of Ageing)
Source: European Journal of Ageing - March 19, 2024 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Are changes in sleep problems associated with changes in life satisfaction during the retirement transition?
AbstractRetirement reduces sleep problems, but changes in life satisfaction during the retirement transition are multifactorial and partly unknown. The aim of this prospective cohort study was to examine whether changes in sleep problems are associated with changes in total and domain-specific life satisfaction during the retirement transition (on average 0.5 years before and 0.5 years after retirement). The study population consisted of Finnish public sector employees (n = 3518) from the Finnish Retirement and Aging (FIREA) study who responded to annual surveys before and after transition to statutory retirement. S...
Source: European Journal of Ageing - March 12, 2024 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Comparing the cross-national impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on care received by community-dwelling older adults in 2020 and 2021: restoring formal home care versus polarizing informal care?
This study aims to compare the initial picture of how the supply of formal and informal home care to older adults in European countries and Israel changed during the first pandemic year (from mid-2020 to mid-2021) and to examine the changes that these countries made in the provision of adequate care to older adults. Using data from the two COVID-19 waves of SHARE, we show that the provision of formal home care services improved in the investigated period, as in 2021 the share of those who reported difficulties in receiving formal home care dropped significantly compared to the previous year. By contrast, informal care prov...
Source: European Journal of Ageing - January 24, 2024 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Social network type contributes to purpose in life among older people, mediated by social support
AbstractA sense of Purpose in Life is an important aspect of ageing well which is related to older adult ’s social relationships. Social network types and the different sources of support they provide are theorized here as a pathway to maintaining a sense of purpose as we age. The study utilized a population sample from the 2016 and 2020 NZ Health, Work, and Retirement (NZHWR) longitudinal survey wav es;N = 2869 (mean age of 65.82 years (SD = 6.40). A structural equation model investigated the relationship between Social Network Type and Purpose in Life and the mediating role of Social Support. The final model h...
Source: European Journal of Ageing - January 17, 2024 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Caregiving intensity and its association with subjective views of ageing among informal caregivers with different sociodemographic background: a longitudinal analysis from Germany
AbstractWe analysed whether care time, burden and range of caregiving tasks were associated with informal caregivers ’ subjective views of ageing (measured as attitudes towards own age (ATOA), subjective age (SA), and onset of old age (OOA)), and whether these associations differed as a function of the caregivers’ age and gender. Adjusted cluster-robust fixed effects regression analyses were conducted with gen der and age as moderators using data of informal caregivers (≥ 40 years) of the population-based German Ageing Survey (2014, 2017). All three aspect of care intensity were associated with changes in subjecti...
Source: European Journal of Ageing - January 13, 2024 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
