The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between family functioning and depressive symptoms among institutionalized elderly. This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study of quantitative character. A total of 107 institutionalized elderly were assessed using a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Geriatric Depression Scale (to track depressive symptoms) and the Family APGAR (to ass...

Many elderly people in both developing and developed countries are institutionalized--often irrespective of whether their ability to function requires it. Increased attention is now being given to prospects for decanting geriatric institutions and planning new forms of care. However, methodologic difficulties exist, it being hard to determine how much of the institutionalized elderly population...

BACKGROUND Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in older adults is determined by personal conditions, as well as by the social and physical environment. The purpose of the present study was to describe the factors related to health conditions and residential environment that influence HRQOL of older adults. METHODS Data from 1815 cases came from three cross-sectional surveys on quality of l...

OBJECTIVES We assess the extent to which the use of healthcare facilities for childbirth varies by parity, conditional on socio-economic, psychological and health characteristics. We also assess differences in the determinants of institutionalized delivery for first-time mothers and multiparous, and explore village-level variations in observed relationships. METHODS Survey data from a three-s...

BACKGROUND Elderly people (>60 years) in Chile represented 11.4% (n=1,717,478) of the total population in 2002. The group with disabilities or mental problems is increasing and there is no reliable information about the number of institutionalized elderly subjects. AIM To estimate the number of elderly people living in residences for long term care and their main characteristics. PATIENTS A...

OBJECTIVES This study's focus on the retiree identity complements research on institutionalized retirement criteria. We test whether tensions between individuals' own life circumstances and institutionalized retirement criteria manifest themselves in the extent to which individuals assume a retiree identity and in the overlap between self-definitions and attainment of institutionalized retireme...

AIM This study sought to examine the effect of environmental enrichment on the motor skills of children adopted from orphanage settings. We investigated balance and bilateral coordination skills in 33 internationally adopted postinstitutionalized children (16 males, 17 females; age range 8 y 5 mo-15 y 10 mo; mean age 10 y 9 mo; SD 2 y 2 mo) and compared them with 34 non-institutionalized childr...