METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 160 Malaysian elderly participants aged 60 years and older who live in Kuala Lumpur. Twelve neighbourhood associations were randomly selected using multi-stage cluster sampling. Data was collected using standardized and validated questionnaire by face-to-face interview technique with which was conducted by trained interviewers.
RESULTS: Mean age of the participants was 65.33 (5.87) year old with majority were still married. Female (55.7%) reported more sexual problems as evidenced by the higher proportion of those with lacked interest in having sex (72.5%), find sex is unpleasant (34.8%) and unable to come to orgasm (55.1%). Gender was found to have significant impact on every model obtained in the analysis for both sexual problems and perceptions. Female elderly were 10.6 times more likely to have sexual problem compared to male elderly (OR = 10.64, P
METHODS: Subjects aged 55 years and above from the Malaysian Elders Longitudinal Research (MELoR) study with available information on vision and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores were included. Data were obtained through a home-based interview and hospital-based health check by trained researchers. Visual acuity (VA) was assessed with logMAR score with vision impairment defined as VA 6/18 or worse in the better-seeing eye. Cognition was evaluated using the MoCA-Blind scoring procedure. Those with a MoCA-Blind score of <19/22 were considered to have cognitive impairment.
RESULTS: Data was available for 1144 participants, mean (SD) age = 68.57 (±7.23) years. Vision impairment was present in 143 (12.5 %) and 758 (66.3 %) had MoCA-Blind score of <19. Subjects with vision impairment were less likely to have a MoCA-Blind score of ≥19 (16.8 % vs 36.2 %, p < 0.001). Vision impairment was associated with poorer MoCA-Blind scores after adjustments for age, gender, and ethnicity (β = 2.064; 95 % CI, -1.282 to 3.320; P = 0.003). In those who had > 6 years of education attainment, vision impairment was associated with a significant reduction of cognitive function and remained so after adjustment for age and gender (β = 1.863; 95 % CI, 1.081-3.209; P = 0.025).
CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that vision impairment correlates with cognitive decline. Therefore, maintaining good vision is an important interventional strategy for preventing cognitive decline in older adults.
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.
DESIGN AND METHODS: A systematic literature review was conducted on 10 electronic databases for articles describing Road Traffic Accident(RTA) mortality in older adults until September 2016. A random-effects meta-regression analyses was conducted to estimate the pooled rates of road traffic accidents and death.
RESULTS: A total 5018 studies were identified and 23 studies were included. Most of the reported older adults were aged between 60 and 74 years, with majority being male gender and sustained minor trauma due to Motor-Vehicle Collision (MVC). The overall pooled mortality rate was 14% (95% Confidence Interval, CI: 11%, 16%), with higher mortality rates in studies conducted in North America (15%, 95% CI: 12%, 18%) and older adults admitted to trauma centers (17%, 95% CI: 14%, 21%). Secondary analysis showed that the very elderly adults (aged >75years) and pedestrians had higher odds of mortality death (Odds Ratio, OR: 2.05, 95% CI: 1.25, 3.38; OR: 2.08, 95% CI: 1.63, 2.66, respectively).
IMPLICATION: A new comprehensive trauma management guidelines tailored to older adults should be established in low and middle-income countries where such guidelines are still lacking.
METHODS: Community-dwelling adults aged 55 years and over were recruited through electoral roll sampling. Data obtained at baseline and follow-up (FU) at two and five years were included. Falls in the preceding 12 months were recorded.
RESULTS: Of the 1499 individuals (mean (SD) age= 68.9(7.5) yrs and 53.3% female) with information on baseline ACB exposure, 575(38.4%) had ACB scores of 1-2 and 117(7.8%) had ACB scores ≥3. Differences in age, ethnicity, smoking status, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, arthritis and education existed between ACB groups. Fall occurrence differed between ACB groups at recruitment (p = 0.004) and 2-year FU (p = 0.001) but not at 5-year FU (p = 0.053). Logistic regression revealed an independent association between ACB 1-2 and falls at baseline (odds ratio, OR (95% confidence interval, CI) =1.412(1.035-1.926)) and ACB≥3 and falls at 2-yr FU (OR (95%CI) =2.098(1.032-4.263)) following adjustment for confounders.
CONCLUSION: Low level exposure to drugs with anticholinergic properties was associated cross-sectionally with falls, while exposure to higher levels were prospectively associated with falls at 2-year but not at 5-year FU. Future studies should determine whether avoidance of drugs with anticholinergic effects will lead to reduction in falls.
METHODS: The study used a qualitative methodology comprising 30 in-depth interviews among general practitioners and pharmacists in Penang, Malaysia, in public and private primary care settings. Participants were recruited based on purposive sampling. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and data were coded based on the principles of thematic analysis in NVivo.
OBJECTIVE: This study aims to understand primary care providers' perspectives and challenges regarding medication use problems experienced by older adults.
RESULTS: Six themes emerged from the study. Theme one highlighted the pharmaceutical care needs of older adults with sensory impairments and accessibility issues. The second and third themes explored medicines management support and potentially inappropriate medication use. Theme four supported collaborative practice, prescribing, and deprescribing among primary health care providers. Theme five discussed health service delivery aligned to older adults' health care needs. The final theme emphasised social and welfare support.
CONCLUSION: This study identified various challenges professional primary care providers face in providing aligned healthcare services for older adults and proposed recommendations for further strengthening healthcare quality. Inputs from the primary healthcare system frontier are essential to reduce the challenges and uplift the quality of ageing populations' healthcare in Malaysia.
METHODS: From December 1 to 31, 2022, an online survey was completed by 1990 healthcare professionals in Asia. The survey comprises demographics and institutional characteristics, basic sarcopenia-related details, and sarcopenia-related assessment and treatment details.
RESULTS: The mean respondent age was 44.2 ± 10.7 years, 36.4% of the respondents were women, and the mean years of experience in clinical practice were 19.0 ± 10.6 years. The percentages of respondents who were aware of the term "sarcopenia", its definition and the importance of its management were high, at 99.3%, 91.9%, and 97.2%, respectively. The percentages of respondents who had screened patients for, diagnosed patients with, and treated patients for sarcopenia were 42.4%, 42.9%, and 58.8%, respectively. Medical doctors had higher performance rates compared to allied health professionals (45.5% vs. 40.5% for screening, 56.8% vs. 34.5% for diagnosis, and 65.0% vs. 55.0% for treatment) (P
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.