BACKGROUND As one ages, physical, cognitive, and clinical problems accumulate and the pattern of loss follows a distinct progression. The first areas requiring outside support are the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living and over time there is a need for support in performing the Activities of Daily Living. Two new functional hierarchies are presented, an IADL hierarchical capacity scale and...

OBJECTIVES To determine predictors of fear of falling in older Mexican Americans over time. DESIGN Longitudinal study. SETTING Community-dwelling residents throughout California, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. PARTICIPANTS Community-dwelling Mexican Americans aged 72 and older participating in the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly from ...

We compared the functional performance of 20 young adult women and 20 older adult women on two types of tasks. One type of task was normal instrumental activities of daily living (e.g., meal preparation, home maintenance) that were meaningful, familiar, and well practiced. The other type was a contrived, relatively unfamiliar task of wrapping a package. Although young and old women did not diff...

OBJECTIVES To describe and analyze the influence of social relations in the elderly in the rural setting with depression. METHODS DESIGN A cross-sectional study. SAMPLE Patients (N=787) over 64 years, non-institutionalized who belong to the Basic Health Zone Substations (Zaragoza), a representative rural area of Aragon. The following variables were evaluated: diagnosis of depression, com...

Physical function is recognized as an important indicator of health in older people and many studies have been undertaken. With increasing age, objectively measured health and functional status decline, physical and cognitive capacities decrease, and the number of chronic diseases and the extent of disability in performing daily activities increases. Maintaining good functional capacity is a cr...

Nutrition is a key element in geriatric health and is important for functional ability. The present study examined the functional status-predictive ability of the Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA). We analysed the dataset of the 'Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly in Taiwan', a population-based study conducted by the Bureau of Health Promotion of Taiwan. Study subjects (≥65 years...

BACKGROUND This cross-sectional study investigated the associations between balance confidence, functional balance, and physical disability among older people after hip fracture. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study utilizes baseline data of two randomized controlled trials (ISRCTN34271567 and ISRCTN53680197). The participants were 159 community-dwelling over 60-year-old people. Health, fracture st...

PURPOSE This study explored the role control plays in the dying process of terminally ill elders by investigating the aspects of the dying process over which they seek to exercise control, the strategies they use, and whether they desire to exercise more control. DESIGN AND METHODS In-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted with 84 terminally ill elders receiving hospice care. Directed a...

Using data collected from the first wave of a longitudinal data set collected in the late fall and winter of 1990-1991, the National Survey of Self-Care and Aging (NSSCA), we examined the extent and type of assistance older people provided to others. Age, gender, and perceived health status were the most consistent predictors of the four types of assistance: personal care, child care, volunteer...

Some studies have demonstrated the relationship between social support networks (SSNs) and health status. In this sense, it has been considered that physical and mental functioning is a key indicator of the health in the age people. The aim of this study was to determine the association between social support networks and physical functioning. A cross-sectional study was carried out including a...