scholarly journals Associations between probable anxiety and mood disorder and measures of alcohol and cannabis use in young, middle-aged and older adults.

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-19
Author(s):  
Robert E. Mann ◽  
Wah Lap Cheung ◽  
Gina Stoduto ◽  
Christine M. Wickens ◽  
Anca R. Ialomiteanu ◽  
...  

This study examined the associations of cannabis use, alcohol use and alcohol problems with probable anxiety and mood disorders (AMD) in young, middle-aged and older adults. Method: Data are based on the CAMH Monitor, an ongoing cross-sectional telephone survey of Ontario adults aged 18 years and older. For the purposes of the current study, a merged dataset from the years 2001 through 2009 inclusive was separated into three individual datasets: 18-34 year olds (n=4,211), 35-54 year olds (n=7,874), and 55 years of age and older (n=6,778). The survey included the 12-item version of the General Health Questionnaire, which provides a measure of probable AMD for the general population. Logistic regression analyses examined the odds of probable AMD in three age groups associated with alcohol measures (number of drinks per day and alcohol problems (AUDIT 8+)) and cannabis use, while controlling for self-reported physical health, religious service attendance, and demographic factors. Due to listwise deletion, the logistic regression models were based on reduced samples. Results: Lifetime cannabis use and past year cannabis use predicted probable AMD in young and middle-aged adults, but only lifetime cannabis use predicted probable AMD among older adults. Alcohol problems predicted probable AMD among middle aged and older adults, but not among younger adults. No consistent link between recent alcohol consumption and probable AMD was observed. Conclusion: These analyses suggest that the impact of alcohol and cannabis use and problems on probable AMD may differ across age groups.

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joana Seringa ◽  
Ana Patrícia Marques ◽  
Bruno Moita ◽  
Cátia Gaspar ◽  
João Filipe Raposo ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Multiple admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSC) are responsible for an important proportion of health care expenditures. Diabetes is one of the conditions consensually classified as an ACSC being considered a major public health concern. The aim of this study was to analyse the impact of diabetes on the occurrence of multiple admissions for ACSC. Methods We analysed inpatient data of all public Portuguese NHS hospitals from 2013 to 2015 on multiple admissions for ACSC among adults aged 18 or older. Multiple ACSC users were identified if they had two or more admissions for any ACSC during the period of analysis. Two logistic regression models were computed. A baseline model where a logistic regression was performed to assess the association between multiple admissions and the presence of diabetes, adjusting for age and sex. A full model to test if diabetes had no constant association with multiple admissions by any ACSC across age groups. Results Among 301,334 ACSC admissions, 144,209 (47.9%) were classified as multiple admissions and from those, 59,436 had diabetes diagnosis, which corresponded to 23,692 patients. Patients with diabetes were 1.49 times (p < 0,001) more likely to be admitted multiple times for any ACSC than patients without diabetes. Younger adults with diabetes (18–39 years old) were more likely to become multiple users. Conclusion Diabetes increases the risk of multiple admissions for ACSC, especially in younger adults. Diabetes presence is associated with a higher resource utilization, which highlights the need for the implementation of adequate management of chronic diseases policies.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lixia Ge ◽  
Bee Hoon Heng ◽  
Woan Shin Tan

Abstract Background Socioeconomic status is a crucial determinant of social isolation. However, little is known whether the associations between different indicators of socioeconomic status and social isolation vary across age groups. This study examined the association of individual socioeconomic status indicators with social isolation in three age groups: young (21-44 years), middle-aged (45-64 years), and older adults (≥65 years). Methods Cross-sectional data for 1,930 representative community-dwelling adults aged 21 and above in the Central region of Singapore was used. The 6-item Lubben Social Network Scale was used to assess social isolation. Socioeconomic status was measured using education level, employment status, personal income, housing type and self-perceived money sufficiency). Separate logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between each SES indicator and social isolation in each age group. Results Each socioeconomic indicator showed a clear gradient with social isolation and significant age disparities were found in their relationship. Socioeconomic status indicators significantly associated with social isolation were income (R2 change=2.5%) and self-perceived money insufficiency (R2 change=1.5%) in young adults, education (R2 change=0.5%), employment status (R2 change=1.3%), income (R2 change=0.8%), housing type (R2 change=1.9%) and self-perceived money insufficiency (R2 change=2.0%) in middle-aged adults, and housing type (R2 change=1.3%) and self-perceived money insufficiency (R2 change=3.7%) in older adults when adjusting for demographics and other indicators. Conclusions The influence of individual socioeconomic status indicators on social isolation varied across age groups. This study provides a rationale for the choice of socioeconomic status indicator and specific interventions need to target different socioeconomic status groups for different age groups.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Long ◽  
Kenneth Laidlaw ◽  
Angus Lorimer ◽  
Nuno Ferreira

Purpose Although quality of life and attitudes to ageing have been explored in the context of mental and physical health problems in older adults, the interplay between these variables has received little attention. The purpose of this study is to explore how attitudes to ageing relate to and predict quality of life in an international sample of older people those of age 57 to 79 (youngest-old) and those over 80 years old (oldest-old). Design/methodology/approach A large international sample (n = 4,616) of participants recruited from 20 different countries completed a set of measures assessing several demographic variables, attitudes to ageing, older adult specific quality of life, general quality of life and depression. Findings Correlational and regression analysis showed that more positive attitudes to ageing were associated with and predicted better quality of life in older adults beyond demographic and depression variables. Those in the oldest-old group had significantly more negative attitudes to ageing and a poorer quality of life. However, positive attitudes to ageing remained a significant predictor of better quality of life in both the youngest-old and oldest-old age groups. Originality/value Attitudes to ageing play an important part in quality of life in older adults; however, the impact of these attitudes might be different according to age group. These results suggest that attitudes to ageing could be a possible clinical target in interventions aiming at improving quality of life in older adults.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinxin Ma ◽  
Takashi Oshio

Abstract Background Many studies have examined the impact of social insurance on health, but the results have generally been mixed, presumably because they have not fully addressed potential biases related to the study’s cross-sectional design. In this study, we conducted a longitudinal analysis to investigate how participation in two social insurance programs in China—the New Rural Social Pension Insurance (NRSPI) and the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS)—was associated with health outcomes among middle-aged and older adults in rural China. Methods Using three-wave longitudinal data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study conducted in 2011, 2013, and 2015, we estimated the dynamic fixed-effects regression models to examine the association between participation in the NRCMS/NRSPI and six types of health outcomes. Results Participation in the NRSPI was positively associated with some health outcomes, but the associations were relatively modest and were observed only for some specific age and household income groups. Participation in NRCMS was not associated with any health outcomes. Conclusions The results provide limited evidence of the positive impact of social insurance on health among middle-aged and older adults in rural China. Thus, social insurance programs should be reformed to enhance their positive impact on health.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 353
Author(s):  
Nurul Fatin Malek Rivan ◽  
Hanis Mastura Yahya ◽  
Suzana Shahar ◽  
Devinder Kaur Ajit Singh ◽  
Norhayati Ibrahim ◽  
...  

This study aimed to investigate the impact of food insecurity and poor nutrient intake on the psychological health of middle-aged and older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. A sub-sample of 535 individuals aged 52 years and above, from the earlier cohort and interventional studies (n = 4) from four selected states in Peninsular Malaysia, were recruited during the COVID-19 outbreak (April to June 2020). Telephone interviews were conducted by trained interviewers with a health sciences background to obtain participants’ information on health status, physical activity, food security, and psychological health (General Health Questionnaire-12; normal and psychological distress). Univariate analyses were performed for each variable, followed by a logistic regression analysis using SPSS Statistics version 25.0. Results revealed food insecurity (OR = 17.06, 95% CI: 8.24–35.32, p < 0.001), low protein (OR = 0.981, 95% CI: 0.965–0.998, p < 0.05), and fiber intakes (OR = 0.822, 95% CI: 0.695–0.972, p < 0.05) were found to be significant factors associated with the psychological distress group after adjusting for confounding factors. The findings suggested that food insecurity and insufficiencies of protein and fiber intakes heightened the psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Optimal nutrition is vital to ensure the physical and psychological health of the older population, specifically during the current pandemic.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mangyeong Lee ◽  
Danbee Kang ◽  
Jung Hee Yoon ◽  
Sungkeun Shim ◽  
Im Ryung Kim ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Despite the great benefits of mobile health applications (mHAs) in managing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) internationally, studies have documented general challenges to broad adoption of mHAs among middle to older age groups. By focusing on broad adoption, these studies have been limited in their evaluation of patients who can benefit the most from the functionalities provided by mHAs. OBJECTIVE This study aims to evaluate the knowledge, self-confidence, perceived benefits, and barriers of using mHAs depending on experience with mHAs among the middle-aged and older adults. Furthermore, we aim to identify the factors associated with the actual use of mHAs. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional survey at a single tertiary hospital in Seoul, Korea, between May 1 and May 31, 2018. Of the 625 patients who were contacted, 323 participants were granted full inclusion to the study. We compared demographics, knowledge, self-confidence, and perceived benefits and barriers by experience with using mHAs, then performed logistic regression to identify the factors associated with mHA use. RESULTS Among the participants, 64.1% (N = 207) had experience using mHAs. Those in the experienced group were more likely to have more than college education (55.1% vs. 27.5%, P < 0.001) and to report a higher monthly income (≥ $7,000, 22.7% vs. 18.1%, P = 0.05) than their less-experienced counterparts. Although the experienced group was more likely to have higher self-confidence in using mHAs, about half of the study participants, including people with experience using mHAs, did not have appropriate knowledge of mobile technology. With adjusted logistic model, higher educated (adjusted PR (aPR) = 1.53, 95% CI, 1.26–1.80), higher perceived benefits of mHAs (aPR = 1.43, 95% CI, 1.04–1.83), and higher self-confidence using mHAs (aPR = 1.41, 95% CI, 1.12–1.70) were significant factors associated with mHA use. CONCLUSIONS The use of mHAs among middle-aged and older adults is becoming more common globally; nevertheless, there are still people unable to use mHAs properly because of lack of experience and knowledge. Strategies are needed to encourage the reliable usage of mHAs among those who may need it the most by improving self-confidence and better articulating benefits.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 2077 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenhua Zheng ◽  
Liu Yang

Worldwide population aging is currently in acceleration, which is especially true for China. Echoing the advocacy of “active aging” and “age-friendly communities”, governments and researchers across the world are paying more attention to the impact of neighborhoods on the health of older adults. Using the Ecological Model of Aging, this study aimed to discuss the relationships between neighborhood environment, lifestyle, and health of older adults, and to compare the differences among older adults of different age groups. The results showed that landscape environment has a direct effect on the health of older adults, while leisure environment has an indirect effect through lifestyle. Both leisure environment and landscape environment directly encourage older adults to take part in outdoor activity, in which the former mainly promotes the social participation of the high-aged (aged 80+) group, while the latter merely promotes that of the middle-aged (aged 70–79) group. The positive effect of social participation on health is gradually strengthened with the increase of age. Meanwhile, outdoor activity has its greatest effect on the middle-aged (aged 70–79) group, but not the low-aged (aged 60–69) group. To effectively boost the health of older adults and promote active aging, adequate considerations should also be given to the differentiated demands of older adults of different age groups, optimization of neighborhood environment, as well as cultivation of an amicable atmosphere.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Horace Tong ◽  
Wai Kai Hou ◽  
Li Liang ◽  
Tsz Wai Li ◽  
Huinan Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background and Objective This study examined the association of loneliness with depressive symptoms across various age groups. Loneliness is a significant risk factor for precipitating depressive symptoms. Rumination, a mechanism that underpins depression, can become intense when a person feels lonely. In addition, age is a major factor associated with changes in mental and physical health. Thus, the importance of rumination and age in moderating the loneliness–depression link were investigated. Research Design and Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted during the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong (February 27 to March 17, 2020). A population-representative sample of 2,018 people (1,126 females; 15–92 years of age) was recruited and interviewed via telephone through random digit dialling. This sample included 394 younger adults (18–30 years), 1,106 middle-aged adults (31–64 years), and 472 older adults (65 years or above). Respondents reported depressive symptoms, subjective loneliness, state rumination, and sociodemographic factors. Results Loneliness and rumination were positively associated with depressive symptoms, and they significantly interacted in predicting cognitive-affective symptoms. Further analysis of age showed that the interaction was only significant only in middle-aged adults and older adults. Both rumination and age interacted with loneliness respectively in predicting cognitive-affective symptoms. Discussion and Implications These findings indicate that the strength of the association between loneliness and the cognitive-affective symptoms of depression depends on rumination levels and age. An intervention to regulate rumination offers a feasible direction for health care and social care aimed at improving older adults’ mental health.


Author(s):  
Juyeong Kim ◽  
Eun-Cheol Park

Background: Given the documented importance of employment for middle-aged and older adults’ mental health, studies of the association between their number of work hours and depressive symptoms are needed. Objectives: To examine the association between the number of work hours and depressive symptoms in Korean aged 45 and over. Methods: We used data from the first wave to fourth wave of the Korea Longitudinal Study of Aging. Using the first wave at baseline, data included 9845 individuals. Depressive symptoms were measured using the 10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale. We performed a longitudinal analysis to estimate the prevalence of depressive symptoms by work hours. Results: Both unemployed males and females aged 45–65 years were associated with higher depressive symptoms (β = 0.59, p < 0.001; β = 0.32, p < 0.001). Females working ≥ 69 h were associated with higher depressive symptoms compared to those working 41–68 h (β = 0.25, p = 0.013). Among those both middle-aged and older adults, both males and females unemployed were associated with higher depressive symptoms. Those middle-aged female working ≥69 h were associated with higher depressive symptoms. Conclusions: An increase in depressive symptoms was associated with unemployed males and females working ≥69 h compared to those working 41–68 h. Although this association was found among middle-aged individuals, a decrease in depressive symptoms in both sexes was associated with working 1–40 h. Depressive symptoms should decrease by implementing employment policies and social services to encourage employers to support middle-aged and older adults in the workforce considering their sex and age differences.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document