OBJECTIVE to examine the relation of personality to the development of disability in old age. METHODS participants are 813 older Catholic nuns, priests and brothers without dementia or disability at study onset. As part of a uniform baseline evaluation, they completed standard measures of the five principal dimensions of personality. Disability was assessed at baseline and annually thereafter...

Over the years, Fiji has managed to contain most infectious diseases through its very successful immunisation program, improved hygiene and living conditions, and safe water supply. Non-communicable diseases have emerged with their resultant chronic and disabling effects. The gradual ageing of the population has also contributed to an emergence of chronic and disabling conditions related to the...

BACKGROUND Due to the cross-sectional design of most existing studies, longitudinal characterization of treatment for depression in older persons is largely unknown. METHOD Seven hundred fifty-four men and women (aged 70+ years) underwent monthly assessments of mental health professional use and 18-month assessments of antidepressant medication use and depressive symptoms over 9 years. Scores...

BACKGROUND Preference-weighted multi-faceted endpoints have the potential to facilitate comparative effectiveness research that incorporates patient preferences. The Older Persons and Informal Caregivers Survey-Composite endpoint (TOPICS-CEP) is potentially a valuable outcome measure for evaluating interventions in geriatric care as it combines multiple outcomes relevant to older persons in a s...

Older persons are at risk of chronic diseases of the mouth, including dental infections (e.g., caries, periodontitis), tooth loss, benign mucosal lesions, and oral cancer. Other common oral conditions in this population are xerostomia (dry mouth) and oral candidiasis, which may lead to acute pseudomembranous candidiasis (thrush), erythematous lesions (denture stomatitis), or angular cheilitis. ...

Falls in older persons are an important cause of injury, disability, and death. They are also important as an indicator of decline in functional ability, requiring a careful assessment of contributing factors, in both the patient and the environment, with corrective intervention when possible. A fear of falls contributes to the problem by causing inactivity and deconditioning, further increasin...

Pervasive and enduring consequences of demographic changes and an ageing European population present enormous opportunities as well as enormous challenges for European society. Initiatives for lifelong learning have yet not sufficiently taken into account the specific needs of senior citizens. Technologies are recognised as relevant platforms for information and communication as well as importa...

UNINTENTIONAL weight loss represents a cardinal symptom of frailty in older persons (1–6). Even a small decline in body mass in older persons is associated with mortality (7). Protein energy malnutrition is associated with anemia, pressure ulcers, sarcopenia, bone loss and hip fractures, declining immune function, impaired immune response to vaccinations, infections, cognitive impairment, funct...

Although there are predictable changes in gait that occur with normal aging, most abnormalities of gait affecting older people are not due to aging per se but to specific disease processes, most of which can be helped with appropriate therapeutic modalities. It is vital that the practitioner be able to detect the presence of an unstable balance or gait, distinguish it from normal agerelated cha...

In Switzerland, approximately 350,000 people aged 70 years or older own a valid driving license. By law, these drivers are medically assessed every other year, most commonly by their general practitioner, to exclude that a medical condition is interfering with their driving skills. A prerequisite for driving is the integration of high-level cognitive functions with perception and motor function...