OBJECTIVE: This study sought to test a hypothetical model to quantitatively evaluate the relationship between hope, life satisfaction, and socioeconomic status with aging perception.
DESIGN: A cross-sectional design was used with 504 older aged participants who live in Qazvin, Iran. Data were collected using the Barker's Aging Perception Questionnaire, Life Satisfaction Index-Z, and Herth Hope Index.
RESULTS: The results of path analysis showed that hope was the most important factor affecting aging perception. Results drawn from correlation analysis indicated that there was a positive significant correlation ( r = .383, p < .001) between hope and aging perception. Further analysis found that hope had the strongest impact on aging perception compared with the other variables analyzed (e.g., life satisfaction and socioeconomic status).
CONCLUSIONS: A model of aging perception in Iranian elders is presented. The findings suggested that hope had a significant and positive impact on aging perception. Implications for clinical practice and research are discussed.
METHODS: A cross sectional study by adopting European Quality of Life scale (EQ-5D) for the assessment of HRQoL was conducted. All registered HB patients attending two public hospitals in Quetta, Pakistan were approached for study. Descriptive statistics were used to describe demographic and disease related characteristics of the patients. HRQoL was scored using values adapted from the United Kingdom general population survey. EQ-5D scale scores were compared with Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis test. Standard multiple regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of HRQoL. All analyses were performed using SPSS v 16.0.
RESULTS: Three hundred and ninety HB patients were enrolled in the study. Majority of the participants (n = 126, 32.3%) were categorized in the age group of 18-27 years (36.07 ± 9.23). HRQoL was measured as poor in the current study patients (0.3498 ± 0.31785). The multivariate analysis revealed a significant model (F(10, 380) = 40.04, P
OBJECTIVES: The objective of the present study was to assess the ability to pay among Malaysian households as preparation for a future national health financing scheme.
METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study involving representative samples of 774 households in Peninsular Malaysia.
FINDINGS: A majority of households were found to have the ability to pay for their health care. Household expenditure on health care per month was between MYR1 and MYR2000 with a mean (standard deviation [SD]) of 73.54 (142.66), or in a percentage of per-month income between 0.05% and 50% with mean (SD) 2.74 (5.20). The final analysis indicated that ability to pay was significantly higher among younger and higher-income households.
CONCLUSIONS: Sociodemographic and socioeconomic statuses are important eligibility factors to be considered in planning the proposed national health care financing scheme to shield the needed group from catastrophic health expenditures.
OBJECTIVE: Given this information, this study systematically explores what risk factors may be associated with ADRD in Indigenous populations.
METHODS: A search of all published literature was conducted in October 2016, March 2018, and July 2019 using Medline, Embase, and PsychINFO. Subject headings explored were inclusive of all terms related to Indigenous persons, dementia, and risk. All relevant words, phrases, and combinations were used. To be included in this systematic review, articles had to display an association of a risk factor and ADRD. Only studies that reported a quantifiable measure of risk, involved human subjects, and were published in English were included.
RESULTS: Of 237 articles originally identified through database searches, 45 were duplicates and 179 did not meet a priori inclusion criteria, resulting in 13 studies eligible for inclusion in this systematic review.
CONCLUSION: The large number of potentially modifiable risk factors reported relative to non-modifiable risk factors illustrates the importance of socioeconomic context in the pathogenesis of ADRD in Indigenous populations. The tendency to prioritize genetic over social explanations when encountering disproportionately high disease rates in Indigenous populations can distract from modifiable proximal, intermediate, and distal determinants of health.
METHODS: This study has an ecological design. As a measure of socioeconomic status, we used principal component analysis to construct a socioeconomic index using census data. Districts were ranked according to the standardised median index of households and assigned to each individual in the 5-year mortality data. The mortality indicators of interest were potential years of life lost (PYLL), standardised mortality ratio (SMR), infant mortality rate (IMR) and under-5 mortality rate (U5MR). Both socioeconomic status and mortality outcomes were used compute the concentration index which provided the summary measure of the magnitude of inequality.
RESULTS: Socially disadvantaged districts were found to have worse mortality outcomes compared to more advantaged districts. The values of the concentration index for the overall population of the Peninsula are C = -0.1334 (95% CI: -0.1605 to -0.1063) for the PYLL, C = -0.0685 (95% CI: -0.0928 to -0.0441) for the SMR, C = -0.0997 (95% CI: -0.1343 to -0.0652) for the IMR and C = -0.1207 (95% CI: -0.1523 to -0.0891) for the U5MR. Mortality outcomes within ethnic groups were also found to be less favourable among the poor.
CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest that socioeconomic inequalities disfavouring the poor exist in Malaysia.