It is proposed in this thesis to explore the possible use of the Sociometric test as a measure of the personal social factor in old age. It is further proposed to gather sociometric data by administering a sociometric test to the residents of two homes for aged persons in Dallas County, Texas, and to illustrate by sociograms and tables the uses for which such data might be of value in research designed to investigate the personal social factor in old age.

Age affects the human frame at all levels - from the skin which is ravaged by exposure to ultraviolet light and toxic irritants to the immune system which becomes progressively less responsive to antigenic stimuli. Bacteraemia follows a focal infection and thus any change which results in increased infection will result in an increased chance of bacteraemia. Therefore any factors bearing on focal infection will, of necessity influence not only the possibility but also the severity of a bacteraemia.

No description available.

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing

Severity and pattern of depressive symptomatology were examined among four groups of elderly individuals, i.e., patients with DSM-III diagnoses of major depression (n = 54), patients with presumed dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT) (n = 27), patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) (n = 30), and normal controls (n = 29). The depressed elderly group obtained significantly (p < .001) higher means, and the control group obtained significantly (p < .01) lower means, than the neurologically impaired groups on clinician ratings (Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, HRS-D) and self-report (Beck Depression Inventory, BDI) of depression. However, HRS-D means of the PD and DAT groups did not differ significantly (p < .125). The depressed elderly group also obtained significantly (p < .001) higher means than the contrast groups on HRS-D vegetative and cognitive depression primary factors (adapted from Rhoades & Overall, 1983), while the control group obtained significantly (p < .001 to 0.01) lower means. At the intermediate level, the PD mean on the vegetative factor was significantly (p < .05) higher than the DAT mean, while the groups did not differ significantly (p < .79) on the cognitive factor. The depressed elderly group obtained a substantially lower interfactor correlation coefficient than the neurologically impaired groups, suggesting greater heterogeneity in manifestation of depression at moderate than at mild levels of severity. However, the finding of zero variance on some HRS-D items for the neurologically impaired groups suggested that factor structures may differ for PD, DAT, and depressed groups. For PD patients, the prediction that PD symptom severity ratings would correlate more highly with clinician ratings (HRS-D) than self-report (BDI) of depression, due to PD symptoms that resemble depression, was not supported. Speculation that the DAT group might report less depression due to loss of insight was not supported in this group of mildly to moderately demented patients. Only 22% demonstrated loss of insight, while 93% exhibited some degree of depressed mood on the HRS-D. Over 50% of the control group of PD spouses and community volunteers endorsed some degree of fatigue, work inhibition, and decreased libido, illustrating the need for considering base-rates in assessment.

No description available.

Falls risk factor assessment is the first step in the development of appropriate intervention strategies for the prevention of falls. However, few multifactorial, validated falls risk assessments exist which are suitable for use in busy clinical settings. This project aimed to develop a reliable and valid falls risk assessment that was feasible for use in various clinical settings. The QuickScreen Clinical Falls Risk Assessment was developed and evaluated via four methods; a) the test-retest reliability of the measures was assessed with 30 community-dwelling older people, b) the concurrent validity of the measures was assessed by comparison with performance in the Physiological Profile Assessment, c) the predictive validity of the measures was assessed by comparison of performance with prospective falls in two studies involving large samples of community dwelling older people and d) the feasibility of the assessment was evaluated with 40 clinicians who trialled the assessment with their patients. The QuickScreen clinical falls risk assessment consists of eight measures, including previous falls, total medications, psychoactive medications, visual acuity, touch sensation, the sit to stand test, the near tandem stand test and the alternate step test. The test-retest reliability of the assessment measures was acceptable (intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.56 to 0.89) and the assessment measures discriminated between multiple fallers and non-multiple fallers with relative risk values ranging from 1.4 to 2.5. The clinicians that trialled the assessment reported that it was quick and easy to administer and that it assisted in the management of their elderly patients. These results show that the QuickScreen Clinical Falls Risk Assessment has proven validity, test-retest reliability and is practical for use in a variety of clinical settings.

Bibliography : leaves 190-209. / xii, 209 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Psychology, 1995

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title from title page (viewed Apr. 23, 2007) Includes bibliographical references (p. 39-51).