PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to investigate HRQOL and its associated factors among community-dwelling older people in Kandy district, Sri Lanka.
METHOD: This cross-sectional survey involved 1300 older people. The Euro 5D-3L, International Physical Activity Questionnaire, body mass index, handgrip strength were used to measure HRQOL, physical activity and nutritional status of older people respectively. Factors associated with health-related quality of life were identified through complex sample logistic regression analysis.
RESULTS: Majority of older people (81.9%) reported poor health-related quality of life. Middle old (aOR: 12.06, 95% CI: 5.76, 25.23), very old (aOR: 174.74, 95% CI: 39.74, 768.38), vegetarian diets (aOR: 2.13, 95% CI: 1.14, 3.96), under-nutrition (aOR: 3.41, 95% CI: 1.65, 7.04) and over-nutrition (aOR: 1.85, 95% CI: 1.04, 3.28) were significantly associated with poor HRQOL. Using dentures (aOR: 0.05, 95% CI: 0.28, 0.90) was found as a protective factor for poor HRQOL.
CONCLUSIONS: HRQOL was poor among community-dwelling older people in Kandy district. Nutrition-related factors need to be further investigated to improve HRQOL among older people.
METHODS: This study is part of the Long-term Research Grant Scheme - Towards Useful Ageing cohort study in Malaysia. Of a total of 174 participants with complete trace elements and oxidative and DNA damage data during baseline, only 147 (84.5%) were successfully followed up after 18 months. Participants who experienced any fall events in the previous 18 months during the follow-up were categorized as fallers.
RESULTS: Thirty participants (20.4%) reported at least one fall in the previous 18 months. The mean concentrations of aluminium, lead and zinc were significantly higher (P
METHODS: Data from 1,763 Malaysian community-dwelling older persons aged ≥ 60 years were obtained from the LRGS-TUA longitudinal study. Participants were categorized into three groups according to the presence of a single fall (occasional fallers), ≥two falls (recurrent fallers), or absence of falls (non-fallers) at an 18-month follow-up.
RESULTS: Three hundred and nine (17.53 %) participants reported fall occurrences at an 18-month follow-up, of whom 85 (27.51 %) had two or more falls. The incidence rate for occasional and recurrent falls was 8.47 and 3.21 per 100 person-years, respectively. Following multifactorial adjustments, being female (OR: 1.57; 95 % CI: 1.04-2.36), being single (OR: 5.31; 95 % CI: 3.36-37.48), having history of fall (OR: 1.86; 95 % CI: 1.19-2.92) higher depression scale score (OR: 1.10; 95 % CI: 1.02-1.20), lower hemoglobin levels (OR: 0.90; 95 % CI: 0.81-1.00) and lower chair stand test score (OR: 0.93; 95 % CI: 0.87-1.00) remained independent predictors of occasional falls. While, having history of falls (OR: 2.74; 95 % CI: 1.45-5.19), being a stroke survivor (OR: 8.57; 95 % CI: 2.12-34.65), higher percentage of body fat (OR: 1.04; 95 % CI: 1.01-1.08) and lower chair stand test score (OR: 0.87; 95 % CI: 0.77-0.97) appeared as recurrent falls predictors.
CONCLUSIONS: Having history of falls and lower muscle strength were predictors for both occasional and recurrent falls among Malaysian community-dwelling older persons. Modifying these predictors may be beneficial in falls prevention and management strategies among older persons.
METHODS: The study included 2322 community-dwelling older adults in Malaysia who were randomly selected through a multistage proportional cluster random sampling technique. Global cognition construct was measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination and Montreal Cognitive Assessment; psychosocial stress construct was measured by perceived stress, depression, loneliness, and neuroticism; and processing speed was assessed by the Digit Symbol Substitution Test. Structural equation modelling was used to analyze the mediation and moderation tests.
RESULTS: Processing speed was found to partially mediate the relationship between psychosocial stress and global cognition (β in the direct model = -0.15, P
METHODS: A total of 200 participants (n = 100 kratom users and n = 100 healthy subjects who do not use kratom) were recruited for this analytical cross-sectional study. Data on sociodemographic status, kratom use characteristics, cigarette smoking, physical activity, body mass index (BMI), fasting serum lipid profile, and liver function were collected from all participants.
RESULTS: The liver parameters of the study participants were within normal range. The serum total cholesterol and LDL of kratom users were significantly lower than those of healthy subjects who do not use kratom. There were no significant differences in the serum triglyceride and HDL levels. However, higher average daily frequency of kratom use and increasing age were associated with increased serum total cholesterol among kratom users. Other kratom use characteristics such as age of first kratom intake, duration of kratom use, and quantity of daily kratom intake were not associated with increased serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, LDL, and HDL levels.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest regular kratom consumption was not linked to elevated serum lipids, except when there is a higher frequency of daily kratom intake. However, the study was limited by the small sample size, and hence a more comprehensive study with larger sample size is warranted to confirm the findings.
METHODS: A total of 1875 community-dwelling climacteric women were included in this study. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) were adopted to assess sleep quality and menopausal symptoms, respectively. Data were collected 4 times from March 2019 to December 2019, at a 3-month interval.
RESULTS: The Cross-lagged analysis showed that worse sleep quality and more severe menopausal symptoms over time after controlling for specified covariates, and more severe menopausal symptoms were predicted by declined sleep quality. The Generalized estimation equation model showed that education level, marital status, chronic diseases, life events, income, and age were the influential factors of sleep quality, while menopausal symptoms were impacted by marital status and income.
CONCLUSIONS: Increasing negative sleep quality and more severe menopausal symptoms over time contribute to the health burden of climacteric women. Menopausal symptoms could be alleviated by sleep quality improvement, which is influenced by education level, marital status, chronic diseases, life events, age, and economic factors.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in the central region of Malaysia from January to August 2015. The older adults enrolled in an ongoing prospective community-based geriatric cohort study and prescribed with medicines were interviewed using a 50-item validated questionnaire.
RESULTS: Of the 79 older adults interviewed, 39.2% had ≥4 prescribed medications. Most obtained their medications free-of-charge from government hospitals (66, 83.5%). Nearly half (35, 44.3%) had trouble reading labels for medicines that they had received. Chinese older adults (P = 0.001) and those with lower monthly household income (P
METHODS: The study included 2322 nationally represented community-dwelling older persons in Malaysia who participated in the baseline study of Neuroprotective Model for Healthy Longevity. In order to test the moderating effect of emotional support on the association between disability and life satisfaction, a series of hierarchical multiple linear regression models were utilized, after controlling for potential covariates associated with life satisfaction.
RESULTS: Bivariate analyses showed that disability negatively predicted life satisfaction, whereas emotional support positively predicted life satisfaction. Furthermore, the moderated hierarchical regression analysis showed that emotional support moderated the association between disability and life satisfaction, after controlling for potential covariates, such that the negative relationship between disability and life satisfaction was stronger for individuals with lower levels of emotional support.
CONCLUSIONS: The presence of emotional support might reduce the negative effects of disability on life satisfaction. These findings have important clinical implications, especially in developing better strategies to help disabled older persons to cope with their disabilities; with the hope that in the long term, a society with healthy longevity can be established. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2018; 18: 1361-1365.
METHOD: The study included 2322 nationally representative community-dwelling elderly in Malaysia, randomly selected through a multi-stage proportional cluster random sampling from Peninsular Malaysia. The elderly were surveyed on socio-demographic information, cognitive function, depression and intrinsic religiosity. A four-step moderated hierarchical regression analysis was employed to test the moderating effect. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (version 15.0).
RESULTS: Bivariate analyses showed that both depression and intrinsic religiosity had significant relationships with cognitive function. In addition, four-step moderated hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the intrinsic religiosity moderated the association between depression and cognitive function, after controlling for selected socio-demographic characteristics.
CONCLUSION: Intrinsic religiosity might reduce the negative effect of depression on cognitive function. Professionals who are working with depressed older adults should seek ways to improve their intrinsic religiosity as one of the strategies to prevent cognitive impairment.
Patients and Methods: A total of 253 participants aged 60 years and above participated in this cross-sectional study. The participants were subjected to pure tone audiometric assessment. The hearing threshold was calculated for the better ear and classified into pure-tone average (PTA) for the octave frequencies from 0.5 to 4 kHz and high-frequency pure-tone average (HFA) for the octave from 2 to 8kHz. Then, the risk factors associated with PTA hearing loss (HL) and HFAHL were identified by using multivariate logistic regression analysis.
Results: The prevalence of ARHL based on PTA and HFA among the community-dwelling older adults was 75.5% and 83.0%, respectively. Following multifactorial adjustments, being older (OR: 1.239; 95% CI: 1.062-1.445), having higher waist circumference (OR: 1.158; 95% CI: 1.015-1.322), lower intake of niacin (OR: 0.909; 95% CI: 0.831-0.988) and potassium (OR: 0.998; 95% CI: 0.996-1.000), and scoring lower in RAVLT T5 (OR: 0.905; 95% CI: 0.838-0.978) were identified as the risk factors of PTAHL. Meanwhile, being older (OR: 1.117; 95% CI: 1.003-1.244), higher intake of carbohydrate (OR: 1.018; 95% CI: 1.006-1.030), lower intake of potassium (OR: 0.998; 95% CI: 0.997-0.999), and lower scores on the RAVLT T5 (OR: 0.922; 95% CI: 0.874-0.973) were associated with increased risk of having HFAHL.
Conclusion: Increasing age, having higher waist circumference, lower intake of niacin and potassium, higher intake of carbohydrates and having lower RAVLT T5 score were associated with increased risk of ARHL. Modifying these risk factors may be beneficial in preventive and management strategies of ARHL among older persons.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of our present study is to determine the effectiveness of a comprehensive, multidomain intervention on CF; to evaluate its cost effectiveness and the factors influencing adherence toward this intensive intervention.
METHODS: A total of 1,000 community dwelling older adults, aged 60 years and above will be screened for CF. This randomized controlled trial involves recruitment of 330 older adults with CF from urban, semi-urban, and rural areas in Malaysia. Multidomain intervention comprised of physical, nutritional, cognitive, and psychosocial aspects will be provided to participants in the experimental group (n = 165). The control group (n = 165) will continue their usual care with their physician. Primary outcomes include CF status, physical function, psychosocial and nutritional status as well as cognitive performance. Vascular health and gut microbiome will be assessed using blood and stool samples. A 24-month intensive intervention will be prescribed to the participants and its sustainability will be assessed for the following 12 months. The effective intervention strategies will be integrated as a personalized telerehabilitation package for the reversal of CF for future use.
RESULTS: The multidomain intervention developed from this trial is expected to be cost effective compared to usual care as well as able is to reverse CF.
CONCLUSION: This project will be part of the World-Wide FINGERS (Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability) Network, of which common identifiable data will be shared and harmonized among the consortia.