OBJECTIVE To examine the extent to which older people's self assessments of general health, physical health, and mental health predict functional decline and mortality. DESIGN The study uses population-based secondary data from the US Longitudinal Study of Aging (LSOA). PARTICIPANTS A total of 7527 persons aged 70 years or above living in the community. METHODS Eight different measures on...

We review a series of case studies from English health authorities that have tackled the assessment and improvement of health outcomes. We reflect their concerns and difficulties and the lessons they learnt. We identified case studies from a telephone survey of 91 representatives of the 100 English health authorities (61 were directors of public health). We edited 26 structured case studies whi...

BACKGROUND Work-related stress is highly prevalent in the educational sector. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an organizational level, participatory intervention on need for recovery and vitality in educational workers. It was hypothesized that the intervention would decrease need for recovery and increase vitality. METHODS A quasi-experiment was conducted at...

BACKGROUND Among the many definitions of frailty, the frailty phenotype defined by Fried et al. is one of few constructs that has been repeatedly validated: first in the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) and subsequently in other large cohorts in the North America. In Europe, the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) is a gold mine of individual, economic and health informati...

The South East Asian Tsunami in Thailand and Hurricane Katrina in the United States were natural disasters of different origin but of similar destruction and response. Both disasters exhibited synonymous health outcomes and similar structural damage from large surges of water, waves, and flooding. A systematic discussion and comparison of the disasters in Thailand and the Gulf Coast considers b...

Older patients are particularly vulnerable to adverse drug reactions (ADRs) because age is associated with changes in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics that may alter drug metabolism. In addition, other conditions, commonly observed in older adults, may increase the risk of ADRs in the older population (including polypharmacy, comorbidity, cognitive and functional limitations). ADRs in olde...

1187 Sleep Patterns and Mortality in Older Adults—Chen et al INTRODUCTION Sleep disturbance is a prevalent health problem that has substantial consequences for older adults.1,2 Longitudinal studies have shown that sleep difficulties predict several adverse health outcomes.3-7 The quality and quantity of sleep have been associated with coping ability, timely engagement with activities, and resil...

Communities located near multiple sources of pollution, including current and former industrial sites, major roadways, and agricultural operations, are often predominantly low-income, with a large percentage of minorities and non-English speakers. These communities face additional challenges that can affect the health of their residents, including limited access to health care, a shortage of gr...

OBJECTIVES To examine the hypothesis that the relationship between poor self-rated health and adverse health outcomes simply reflects self-assessments of declining health trajectories rather than current health status. METHODS A 12-month follow-up of 786 disadvantaged adults aged 50-99 years old was conducted. Baseline markers of poor self-rated health and declining health trajectory were use...

Research is needed to examine the connection between older adults and their community as they age. This is important as increasing numbers of older adults wish to age in place. Regression models were examined across 3 cohorts testing relationships among social capital indicators (neighborhood trust, neighborhood support, neighborhood cohesion, neighborhood participation, and telephone interacti...