OBJECTIVES To examine the association of living arrangements with functional disability among older persons and explore the mediation of impact factors on the relationship. DESIGN Cross-sectional analysis using data from Healthy Aging study in Zhejiang Province. PARTICIPANTS Analyzed sample was drawn from a representative rural population of older persons in Wuyi County, Zhejiang Province, ...

As older individuals face challenges of progressive disease and increasing disability and approach the end of their lives, their capacity for controlling their environment and own health and functioning declines. The Lines-of-Defense Model is based on the Motivational Theory of Life-Span Development and proposes that individuals can adjust their control striving to the progressive physical decl...

The individual movements of large numbers of people are important in many contexts, from urban planning to disease spreading. Datasets that capture human mobility are now available and many interesting features have been discovered, including the ultra-slow spatial growth of individual mobility. However, the detailed substructures and spatiotemporal flows of mobility--the sets and sequences of ...

This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 93 aged people, divided among four institutions in the municipality of Lamego (Portugal). The purpose of this study was to investigate the quality of life of the sample and the factors affecting it, and identify the degree of dependence in basic daily living activities. The data was collected using the following: i) a bio-rela...

The daily activity of the fruit fly Drosophila is controlled by both a "morning" and an "evening" circadian clock. In this issue Stoleru et al. (2007) demonstrate that day length determines which clock dominates the neural circuitry governing circadian behavior. Thus, these findings suggest a mechanism by which the system for circadian timing adapts to changes in the seasons to impose appropria...

The purpose of this study was to examine the work of paediatric occupational therapists in the UK, and to compare the results with similar surveys carried out in the US, Australia and Canada. A postal questionnaire survey was sent to 212 members of the National Association of Paediatric Occupational Therapists. Questions were asked about a wide range of issues pertinent to paediatric practice. ...

Electronic media has now pervasively invaded our households and one group of individuals that has clearly been a major and early adopter of such disruptive technology is the adolescent age group. The issue of screen and media exposure as a potentially adverse risk factor to health has now been enunciated for quite some time, and yet despite such ominous correlates, there is still ongoing debate...

OBJECTIVE To assess the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and TPB with functional ability to explain intention and self-reported physical activity (PA) behavior of older adults. METHODS A survey was mailed to 2056 retirees from a large Midwestern university. RESULTS Structural equation modeling revealed that the TPB plus functional ability explained an additional 11% variance than the TPB al...

This study examined the relationships between older women's comparison styles, physical self-perceptions, and functional fitness. Participants were community-dwelling women (N = 102, age 65-99) living in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Individuals were categorized as relying primarily on social comparisons, temporal comparisons, or a combination of both styles. Also of interest wa...

The article of Marc Jamoulle shows the importance of the contribution of general practitioners (GPs) in improving the quality and the efficiency of the health systems. Starting from the concept of quaternary prevention for reducing excessive costs in the preventive procedures, he suggests a change of paradigm in every daily activity of the GP in order to have a stronger ethical approach to the ...