While a well-established body of empirical work indicates that engaging in mentally stimulating activities is linked to positive physical and mental health outcomes, relatively few studies have specifically examined the impact that video game training can have on cognitive functioning and well-being. Given the substantial implications that such work has for an ever-growing older adult population, this area of research has begun to pique the interest of researchers world-wide. The present study employed an experimental paradigm to explore the impact of a Nintendo DS video game, Brain Age, on the cognitive functioning, self-efficacy, self-esteem, and video game attitudes of adults aged 65 and older. A total of 35 participants were recruited from various Senior Centers located in the San Fernando Valley and were randomly assigned to an intervention group that played Brain Age for five weeks (three hours of supervised training per week) or a control group that was only required to complete an assessment battery before and after a five week period. Findings stemming from ANCOVA analyses in which pre-test scores (and in the case of cognitive outcome variables, a separate cognitive screener) served as covariates indicated significant group differences with regards to brief arithmetic and syllable count assessments, and marginally significant differences on the basis of the Stroop Interference Test. While all the effects for self-efficacy, self-esteem, and a newly developed video game attitudes scale were in the predicted direction, no statistically significant group differences were found. Findings across the 16 examined outcome variables also indicate larger effects among cognitive outcome variables that are directly practiced via the intervention. Such findings also indicate larger effects among timed over non-timed cognitive measures, and among cognitive over affective/attitudinal variables. Notwithstanding limitations concerning the transferability of trained skills to a broader set of cognitive abilities, the current study's evidence suggests that playing a simple, inexpensive, and easily accessible videogame can enhance some aspects of cognitive functioning. These findings hold significant implications for the millions of older Americans looking for technologically-oriented avenues by which to sharpen their cognitive skills.

Title: Relationship between physical activities and memory in older adults Objectives: Estimating the effect of physical activity on memory in seniors older than 60 years. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. The data for the elaboration of the diploma thesis were obtained from the pan-European project Survey of Health Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). In this study, all probands were divided according to gender and further into three groups according to their level of education using the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED - 97). In the data analysis, means and standard deviations were calculated for continuous variables and percentages were calculated for categorical variables. Non-parametric statistical methods were used to test the hypotheses. For more than three categories, the Kruskal-Wallis test was used, followed by post-hoc analysis. The Mann-Whitney U test with Bonferoni correction was used for post-hoc analysis. Testing of memory functions was performed using a ten-word memorization test with immediate and delayed recall. Results: Data from of 47,169 probands older than 60 years were used in the study. A total of 26,034 women and 21,135 men participated. The investigation demonstrated a positive effect of physical and sports activities on the memory...

Yes / It has been argued that transition points in life, such as the approach towards, and early years of retirement present key opportunities for interventions to improve the health of the population. Research has also highlighted inequalities in health status in the retired population and in response to interventions which should be addressed. We aimed to conduct a systematic review to synthesise international evidence on the types and effectiveness of interventions to increase physical activity among people around the time of retirement. A systematic review of literature was carried out between February 2014 and April 2015. Searches were not limited by language or location, but were restricted by date to studies published from 1990 onwards. Methods for identification of relevant studies included electronic database searching, reference list checking, and citation searching. Systematic search of the literature identified 104 papers which described study populations as being older adults. However, we found only one paper which specifically referred to their participants as being around the time of retirement. The intervention approaches for older adults encompassed: training of health care professionals; counselling and advice giving; group sessions; individual training sessions; in-home exercise programmes; in-home computer-delivered programmes; in-home telephone support; in-home diet and exercise programmes; and community-wide initiatives. The majority of papers reported some intervention effect, with evidence of positive outcomes for all types of programmes. A wide range of different measures were used to evaluate effectiveness, many were self-reported and few studies included evaluation of sedentary time. While the retirement transition is considered a significant point of life change, little research has been conducted to assess whether physical activity interventions at this time may be effective in promoting or maintaining activity, or reducing health inequalities. We were unable to find any evidence that the transition to retirement period was, or was not a significant point for intervention. Studies in older adults more generally indicated that a range of interventions might be effective for people around retirement age. / This work was funded by the National Institute for Health Research as part of the Public Health Research Programme, (grant number 12/133/20).

Objectives. The aim of this thesis was to study the prognosis, health care utilization and health situation in stroke patients, and informal caregiver burden during the first post-stroke year. Material and methods. 390 patients, 65 years or older, discharged from hospital after a stroke, were followed with repeated patient interviews, patient record and register data, and hospital staff and informal caregiver questionnaires. Results. Prognosis assessments performed by hospital staff at discharge regarding the course of events during the following year were highly accurate and were mainly influenced by the patient’s pre- and post-morbid state. The risk of dying or having a new stroke decreased rapidly during the early post-morbid phase. Health care utilization, in hospitals as well as in primary health care, and municipal social service support was considerably higher after the stroke than before, but the utilization of services was lower than previously reported. Health problem prevalence according to interview and record scrutiny was modest, peaked early after discharge and then declined. Support from informal caregivers increased significantly after discharge and remained high during the first post-stroke year. The support given was mainly determined by patient functional ability, distance to patient, relation to patient, municipal social service support provided, and patient sex. The informal caregivers reported considerable strain and burden, with significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression than the stroke patients. Moreover, there was a parallel between the patient’s and the caregiver’s situation regarding anxiety, emotional and social situation, and home, social and outdoor activities. Conclusion. Hospital staff prognosis assessments of patient outcomes during the next year were highly accurate. Risk of recurrence and mortality, and health problem prevalence was high in the early post-stroke period, and than declined. Health care utilization and municipality social support increased over time. Informal caregivers reported considerable strain and burden.

Tyrimo objektas – pagyvenusio ir senyvo amžiaus asmenų fizinio aktyvumo ir depresiškumo pasireiškimo sąsajos. Temos aktualumas - Nemažai mokslinių tyrimų įrodė, kad fizinė veikla daro teigiamą įtaką įvairiems psichinės sveikatos rodikliams, tačiau dauguma tyrimų atskleidžia fizinio aktyvumo naudą psichinei būklei esant tam tikroms ligoms. Jei yra atlikta tyrimų aiškinančių fizinio aktyvumo naudą psichinei sveikatai jie atliekami jaunesnių žmonių tarpe. Tyrimai šioje srityje yra labai aktualūs, kadangi trūksta mokslinių straipsnių nagrinėjančių fizinės veiklos naudą vyresnio amžiaus asmenų psichinei būklei. Tyrimo tikslas –išanalizuoti pagyvenusio ir senyvo amžiaus asmenų fizinio aktyvumo ir depresiškumo pasireiškimo sąsajas. Hipotezė: fizinis aktyvumas teigiamai įtakoja pagyvenusio ir senyvo amžiaus asmenų psichinę būklę ir gyvenimo kokybę. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. Ištirti pagyvenusio ir senyvo amžiaus asmenų depresiškumo pasireiškimo sąsajas su demografiniais rodikliais ir dalyvavimu formalioje ar neformalioje organizuotoje veikloje. 2. Ištirti pagyvenusio ir senyvo amžiaus asmenų depresiškumo pasireiškimo sąsajas su objetyviu ir subjektyviu fiziniu aktyvumu. 3. Nustatyti pagyvenusio ir senyvo amžiaus asmenų depresiškumo pasireiškimo, fizinio aktyvumo ir gyvenimo kokybės tarpusavio sąsajas. Tyrimo rezultatai: Vyrams dažniau nei moterims pasireiškė sunkesni depresiškumo simpromai. Vyresnio amžiaus asmenims dažniausiai pasireiškia sunkesnis depresiškumo laipsnis. Vedusiems... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Research object – links between elderly and aged people's physical activity and depression inclination. Topic relevance - Many scientific researches have proved that physical activities make positive impact onto various psychical health indicators. However, most of the researches have disclosed benefit of physical activities to psychical condition under certain illnesses. If some researches have been made regarding physical activity benefit to psychical state they are performed among younger people. These researches are very relevant, because there is a lack of scientific articles analyzing the physical activity benefit to older age people's psychical state. Research goal– analyze the links between elderly and aged people's physical activity and depression inclination. Hypothesis: physical activity influences elderly and aged people psychical state and life quality positively. Research tasks: 1. Investigate elderly and aged people's depression inclination links with demographic indicators and participation in formal and non-formal organized activities. 2. Investigate elderly and aged people's depression inclination links with objective and subjective physical activity. 3. Investigate the links for elderly and aged people's depression inclination, physical activity and life quality. Research results: Men more often than woman have had harder depression symptoms. Elderly people more frequently have had harder depression inclination degree. Married people with larger income... [to full text]

This thesis investigates the depiction of ageing and old age in several key works of South African literature of the transitional and post-transitional period. The study covers texts set both in the transitional period prior to the 1994 democratic elections and in the years following that historical watershed. I examine how the literary representation of the ageing individual operates within the rhetoric of transition and new beginnings that characterizes the contemporary political and ideological climate of South Africa. The study includes a close examination of two novels (Age of Iron by J.M. Coetzee, and Agaat by Marlene van Niekerk), a collection of short stories (The Mistress’s Dog by David Medalie), and a volume of poetry (Body Bereft by Antjie Krog). My reading of these texts centres on exploring how the authors depict their ageing protagonists in relation to ideas of time, place and the body. Using Julia Kristeva’s theories on abjection, I analyse whether or not a degree of agency can be found in the abject depiction of older age. Similarly, I examine the ways in which reading older age through the lens of Mikhail Bakhtin’s idea of the grotesque allows for a liberation from reductive understandings of the embodiment of ageing individuals. Because both Agaat and Body Bereft are translated from Afrikaans, I also explore the ways in which translation intersects with the socio-political ideologies of the periods in which these texts are set, as well as how this may have an impact upon the representation of older age. Through examining the tension between the nostalgic, backward-looking perspective usually attributed to old age, and the progressive, forward-looking sentiment of modern South Africa, I investigate the ways in which these writers – Coetzee and Van Niekerk in particular – associate the ageing body with political concerns. I also show how, in their different ways, all four writers counteract stereotypes associated with senescence. / Thesis (DLitt)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / English / DLitt / Unrestricted

This master thesis focuses on subjectively percieved quality of sleep and its connections - fatigue, daytime sleepiness and insomnia in older age. Attention is brought to psychological methods of sleep measurement in comparison with objective methods (polysomnography and actigraphy). Theoretical part is based on current scientific knowledge of sleep quality and deals with psychological factors that contribute to improvement or reduction of sleep quality in older age. In context with quality of sleep focus is aimed also at presence of insomnia in older age compared to younger age and possibilities of enhancing sleep quality. Overview of subjective and objective methods of measuring sleep quality and other sleep characteristics is part of the theoretical background. Empirical part of the thesis is divided into two sections. First section compares sleep quality, fatigue, daytime sleepiness and insomnia of younger and older adults. This research is based on following questionnaire data: PSQI (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), FSS (Fatigue Severity Scale), ESS (Epworth Sleepiness Scale) and ISI (Insomnia Severity Index). Second section of the research verifies the validity of psychological methods of measuring sleep quality - questionnaires PSQI, FSS, ESS, ISI and sleep diaries of older adults by...

Buerger disease is characterized by progressive distal extremity ischemia in persons with recent tobacco consumption. Typically, affected persons are young men. There have been case reports of Buerger disease in older men. Almost all of the reported cases were characterized with progressive, severe disease requiring amputation. We report a case of an older man with features of Buerger disease without significant proximal progression despite active smoking. Arteriographic and pathologic studies confirmed the diagnosis.

Darbo tikslas. Įvertinti vyresnio amžiaus pacientų vaistų vartojimo valdymą. Uždaviniai: išanalizuoti vaistų vartojimo ypatumus vyresniame amžiuje; nustatyti gaunamos informacijos, susijusios su saugiu vaistų vartojimu, įtaką pagyvenusiems pacientams; įvertinti pagalbinių technologijų reikšmę vyresnių pacientų vaistų vartojimo valdymui. Tyrimo metodika. Tiriamųjų apklausa, dokumentacijos analizė, statistinė analizė. Anketavimo bei struktūrizuoto interviu metu buvo naudojamas klausimynai, skirti pacientams bei slaugytojoms, sudaryti pačios tyrėjos, remiantis literatūra. Tiriamųjų grupę sudarė 178 respondentai, besigydantys VšĮ II Kauno klinikinės ligoninės vidaus ligų skyriuje nuo 2009 metų rugsėjo mėn. iki 2010 vasario mėn. bei 14 bendrosios praktikos slaugytojų, dirbančių tame pačiame skyriuje. Statistinė duomenų analizė atlikta naudojant statistinės analizės programą "SPSS for Windows 15.0". Rezultatai statistiškai reikšmingi, jei paklaidos tikimybės reikšmė p<0,05. Kokybinių požymių pasiskirstymas buvo skaičiuojamas absoliučiu skaičiumi bei procentais, kiekybiniams požymiams skaičiuotas vidurkis ir standartinis nuokrypis, standartinė vidurkio paklaida. Ryšiai tarp požymių buvo vertinami chi kvadrato (χ²) kriterijumi bei laisvės laipsnių skaičiumi (lls). Rezultatai. Lietuvoje kaip ir visame pasaulyje vis didėja vyresnio amžiaus žmonių skaičius. Tai sąlygoja didesnį sergamumą ir su juo susijusį saugų vaistų vartojimą. Dažniausios problemos yra: širdies ir kraujagyslių ligos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Aim of the study. To evaluate the managament of older patients medicines consumption. Objectives. To assess the pecularities of drug use by older patients; to identify the influence of available information of safe medicines consumption on senior patients behaviour; to evaluate the importance of supporting technologies to the management of senior patients medicines consumption. Research methods. Questionnaires for patients and nurses were created by researcher using literature. The study groups consisted of 178 respondents, which were hospitalized in 2nd Kaunas Clinical Hospital Internal Medicine Department since September, 2009, till February , 2010, and 14 general practice nurses, which are working in this department. Statistical data analyse was performed by using statistical analyse programme “SPSS for Windows 15.0“. The distribution of qualitative indicators was calculated in absolute number and percentage. For quantitative indicators an average and standard deviation were calculated. Relations between features were valued by chi square criterion ((χ²). Results. The most frequent conditions of older patients were cardiovascular diseases and respiratory diseases. Patients for a variety of problems could not use medicines on their own. Side effects of medications were frequent. From side effects more common were: dizziness (33,7 %), palpitations (30,3 %), general weakness (29,2 %), constipation (26,4 %). Aged patients used frequently over-the-counter medications, they... [to full text]

Med en åldrande befolkning ökar vikten av att finna faktorer som kan bidra till bättre hälsa och funktion hos äldre personer. Personer med god lungfunktion lever längre och hälsosammare. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka lungfunktion i hög ålder och dess samband med fysisk aktivitet från medelåldern upp till hög ålder. För att öka förståelsen för sambandet mellan fysisk aktivitet och lungfunktion i hög ålder undersöks även sambandet mellan fysisk aktivitet i medelålder och fysisk aktivitet i hög ålder.   Två nationellt representativa undersökningar har använts, levnadsnivåundersökningen (LNU) och undersökningen om äldre personers levnadsvillkor (SWEOLD). Deltagarna har intervjuats vid tre tillfällen; i medelåldern (ålder i genomsnitt 53 år) sen medelålder (i genomsnitt 61 år) och i hög ålder (i genomsnitt 81 år) med en genomsnittlig uppföljningstid på 24-30 år.     Resultaten från den longitudinella studien visar att fysisk aktivitet i sen medelålder har ett samband med lungfunktion i hög ålder. Detta samband blir mindre starkt när även fysisk aktivitet i hög ålder inkluderas i analysmodellen, men består. Det finns ett starkt samband mellan fysisk aktivitet i hög ålder och lungfunktion i hög ålder. Resultaten visar även att fysisk aktivitet i sen medelålder har ett samband med fysisk aktivitet i hög ålder. Sammanfattningsvis visar denna studie vikten av fysisk aktivitet även högt upp i åldrarna för att bibehålla en god lungfunktion i hög ålder. Att satsa på preventiva insatser som främjar fysisk aktivitet, och då även inkludera de allra äldsta (76+), är av särskild vikt för att främja ett fortsatt hälsosamt åldrande. / Finding predictors of good health and function in older age has become even more important as populations are aging all over the world. Individuals with good lung function live longer and healthier lives. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of physical activity, from midlife to older age, in lung function in older age. In order to increase the understanding of the relationship between physical activity and lung function in old age, the relationship between physical activity in midlife and physical activity in old age was also studied.   Two Swedish studies based on nationally representative samples, linked at the individual level, were used in this study, the Level of Living Survey (LNU) and the Swedish Panel Study of Living Conditions of the Oldest Old (SWEOLD). The participants were interviewed on three occasions; at the mean ages of 53 years, 61 years, and 81 years. The Average follow-up time was 24-30 years.   The results from this longitudinal study show that physical activity in late midlife was associated with lung function in older age. This association was attenuated when physical activity in older age was adjusted for in the analyses. There was also a strong association between physical activity in older age and lung function in older age. Moreover, physical activity in late midlife was associated with physical activity in older age.   In summary, this study shows the importance of physical activity in late midlife and in older ages for good lung function in older ages. To invest in preventive actions in the form av physical activity, and also including the oldest old (76+), are vital to be able to promote healthy aging. / Work related stress across the life course and late-life cognitive and physical function: Which modifiable social and lifestyle factors promote resilience?