RESULTS: A total of 208 participants aged ≥ 60 were recruited from the population-based longitudinal study on neuroprotective model for healthy longevity. Habitual near VA and CS were measured using Lighthouse near VA chart and Pelli-Robson CS chart, respectively. Lawton instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) was used to assess ADL. There are 41.8% participants with near visual impairment and 28.7% among them had IADL disability. Independent t test showed significant lower mean IADL score among visually impaired participants [t(206) = 2.03, p = 0.04]. IADL score significantly correlated with near VA (r = - 0.21, p = 0.05) but not with CS (r = - 0.14, p = 0.21). Near VA (B = - 0.44, p = 0.03) and age (B = - 0.07, p = 0.01) significantly predicted IADL. The findings show poorer VA renders higher IADL disability, which may necessitate interventions to improve ADL among visually impaired older adults.
METHODS: A retrospective, longitudinal study was conducted among paediatric DTC patients treated with RAI in HKL and followed up between 2000-2016. Sixty-five patients were studied (mean period: 58.8±36 months). The clinicopathological data of the patients was recorded, and descriptive analysis was made. The association between categorical and continuous data with disease status was assessed using chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests, p-value <0.05 taken as statistically significant.
RESULTS: Most patients were female (78.5%), and adolescents comprised 89.2%. Pre-pubertal age, those presenting with cervical nodal involvement, extra-thyroidal extension and lymphovascular invasion were significantly associated with distant metastases at presentation. There was no mortality reported during the follow-up period. Sixty per cent of patients achieved remission, while 40% had persistent disease. The persistent disease was significantly correlated with distant metastasis at presentation (p=0.025).
CONCLUSIONS: Paediatric DTC manifests with a more extensive disease burden at presentation and requires multiple RAI doses. Despite this, it carries an excellent overall prognosis.
METHODS: We searched for studies published and indexed in three databases (PubMed, AMED, and CINAHL Plus) from inception until 31 March 2020, complemented with a search of cited literature for articles describing the effects of greenness on mortality in Asia-Pacific region. Eligible articles were screened and data were extracted independently by two reviewers. A random-effects model was utilised to obtain pool hazard ratio (HR) and risk ratio of all-cause mortality outcome.
RESULTS: The search identified 3239 studies, of which 20 studies reporting 133,363 participants from longitudinal cohort studies and 202 million people from population-based prevalence studies were included in the review. The majority of the studies (60%) were conducted in high-income countries in Asia-Pacific. All participants of the longitudinal cohort studies were aged 60 years or older, whereas the prevalence studies involved people of all age groups. A significant protective association of green environment exposure with all-cause mortality was reported in 18 studies. Pooled results from five studies showed increased level of greenness exposure was associated with a significant decrease in all-cause mortality (pooled HR = 0.97; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.93 to 1.02; p
METHODS: This study reports baseline data from a longitudinal study that was conducted at a hospital in Vietnam. KTRs aged ≥18 years and >3 months post-transplantation were recruited. Assessments included sociodemographic and blood biomarkers. Dietary intake was estimated from 24-hour recalls. A Short Form-36 Health Survey, comprising physical (PCS) and mental component summaries (MCS), was administered to assess QoL. Multivariate linear regression models were performed.
RESULTS: The study included 106 patients (79 men) with a mean age of 43.2 years (± 11.9). Mean duration after kidney transplantation was 28.5 months (± 14.9). Patients with MetS had 6.43 lower PCS score (P < .05) and 3.20 lower MCS score (P < .05) than their counterparts without MetS. Calcium intake (β = -0.01; 95% CI, -0.03 to 0.00) and inadequate protein (β = -14.8; 95% CI, -23 to -6.65) were negatively associated with PCS score. MCS score was negatively associated with calcium intake (β = -0.02; 95% CI, -0.04 to -0.01) and inadequate protein intake (β = -15.1; 95% CI, -24.3 to -5.86), and positively associated with fat intake (β = 0.43, 95% CI, 0.02-0.85).
CONCLUSIONS: MetS and poor dietary intake are independently associated with the QoL of KTRs. Nutritional intervention plans developed specifically for the recipients will improve dietary intake, reduce the incidence of MetS, and help enhance QoL.
METHODS: A group of healthcare university students completed the RSES across three waves: baseline, 1-week follow-up, and 15-week follow-up. A total of 481 valid responses were collected through the three-wave data collection process. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed on the baseline data to explore the potential factorial structure, while confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed on the follow-up data to determine the best-fit model. Additionally, the cross-sectional and longitudinal measurement invariances were tested to assess the measurement properties of the RSES for different groups, such as gender and age, as well as across different time points. Convergent validity was assessed against the Self-Rated Health Questionnaire (SRHQ) using Spearman's correlation. Internal consistency was examined using Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega coefficients, while test-retest reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficient.
RESULTS: The results of EFA revealed that Items 5, 8, and 9 had inadequate or cross-factor loadings, leading to their removal from further analysis. Analysis of the remaining seven items using EFA suggested a two-factor solution. A comparison of several potential models for the 10-item and 7-item RSES using CFA showed a preference for the 7-item form (RSES-7) with two factors. Furthermore, the RSES-7 exhibited strict invariance across different groups and time points, indicating its stability and consistency. The RSES-7 also demonstrated adequate convergent validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability, which further supported its robustness as a measure of self-esteem.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the RSES-7 is a psychometrically sound and brief self-report scale for measuring self-esteem in the Chinese context. More studies are warranted to further verify its usability.
METHODS: We harmonised data from 13 longitudinal cohort studies of ageing in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they had baseline data for social connection markers and at least two waves of cognitive scores. Follow-up periods ranged from 0 years to 15 years across cohorts. We included participants with cognitive data for at least two waves and social connection data for at least one wave. We then identified and excluded people with dementia at baseline. Primary outcomes were annual rates of change in global cognition and cognitive domain scores over time until final follow-up within each cohort study analysed by use of an individual participant data meta-analysis. Linear mixed models within cohorts used baseline social connection markers as predictors of the primary outcomes. Effects were pooled in two stages using random-effects meta-analyses. We assessed the primary outcomes in the main (partially adjusted) and fully adjusted models. Partially adjusted models controlled for age, sex, and education; fully adjusted models additionally controlled for diabetes, hypertension, smoking, cardiovascular risk, and depression.
FINDINGS: Of the 40 006 participants in the 13 cohort studies, we excluded 1392 people with dementia at baseline. 38 614 individual participants were included in our analyses. For the main models, being in a relationship or married predicted slower global cognitive decline (b=0·010, 95% CI 0·000-0·019) than did being single or never married; living with others predicted slower global cognitive (b=0·007, 0·002-0·012), memory (b=0·017, 0·006-0·028), and language (b=0·008, 0·000-0·015) decline than did living alone; and weekly interactions with family and friends (b=0·016, 0·006-0·026) and weekly community group engagement (b=0·030, 0·007-0·052) predicted slower memory decline than did no interactions and no engagement. Never feeling lonely predicted slower global cognitive (b=0·047, 95% CI 0·018-0·075) and executive function (b=0·047, 0·017-0·077) decline than did often feeling lonely. Degree of social support, having a confidante, and relationship satisfaction did not predict cognitive decline across global cognition or cognitive domains. Heterogeneity was low (I2=0·00-15·11%) for all but two of the significant findings (association between slower memory decline and living with others [I2=58·33%] and community group engagement, I2=37·54-72·19%), suggesting robust results across studies.
INTERPRETATION: Good social connections (ie, living with others, weekly community group engagement, interacting weekly with family and friends, and never feeling lonely) are associated with slower cognitive decline.
FUNDING: EU Joint Programme-Neurodegenerative Disease Research grant, funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council Australia, and the US National Institute on Aging of the US National Institutes of Health.
METHODS: The present study constructed a three-wave cross-lag panel model to explore the relationships between MIL and college students' SA. Three waves of data were collected from 705 college students (male: 338; female: 367) in China for three consecutive years, and the interval of data collection was 1 year. These college students completed the same online questionnaire regarding MIL and SA.
RESULTS: (1) The MIL of male college students was significantly stronger than that of female college students at time 1, time 2, and time 3, (2) Female college students' SA at time 1, time 2, and time 3 was more serious than that of male college students, (3) There were reciprocal relationships between MIL and college students' SA, (4) The influence of MIL on female college students' SA was significantly stronger than that of male college students, and (5) The influence of SA on female college students' MIL was significantly stronger than that of male college students.
CONCLUSION: This study showed reciprocal relationships between MIL and SA among male college students and female college students. The findings further deepen our understanding of the relationship between MIL and SA and provide a gender perspective for preventing or intervening with college students' SA.
METHODS: Data for this study came from the four waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey. A latent growth model was used to analyze the functional disability of 5044 older adults aged 60 and over in 2011 who survived to 2018.
RESULTS: Pathologies are closely associated with functional disability trajectories, and higher numbers of comorbidities relate to more disabilities. Risk factors and intra- and extra-individual factors affect functional disability trajectories and work through independent and shared mechanisms. The effects of risk factors can be traced to childhood conditions, and higher childhood and adulthood socioeconomic status is related to fewer functional disabilities.
CONCLUSION: Functional disability trajectories are dynamic processes related to pathologies, intra-, and extra-individual factors, and life-course risk factors, and thus prevention and control measures should focus on both childhood and adulthood. Promoting working in later life and improving childhood socioeconomic status deserve prompt attention. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2023; 23: 817-829.
METHODS: This prospective cohort study utilized stratified simple random sampling to recruit 1614 participants from the Malaysian Elders Longitudinal Research aged above 55 years within the Klang Valley region from 2013 to 2015. Individual items for the frailty tools, alongside baseline physical and cognitive measures were extracted from the initial survey. Mortality data up to 31 December 2020 were obtained through data linkage from the death registry data obtained from the Malaysian National Registration Department.
RESULTS: Data were available for over 1609 participants, age (68.92 ± 7.52) years and 57 % women, during recruitment. Mortality data revealed 13.4 % had died as of 31 December 2020. Five to 25 % of our study population fulfilled the criteria for frailty using all four frailty tools. This study found an increased risk of mortality with frailty following adjustments for potential factors of falls, total number of illnesses and cognitive impairment, alongside moderate to strong correlation and agreement between frailty tools.
CONCLUSION: Frailty was associated with increased mortality. All four frailty assessment tools can be used to assess frailty within the Malaysian older adult population. The four available tools, however, may not be interchangeable.