Hemodynamic factors primarily impact on carotid IMT in young adults of African Ancestry in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Gait characteristics during inadvertent obstacle contacts in young, middle-aged and older adults

Introduction: The use of shared automated vehicles (SAVs) should lead to several societal and individual benefits, including reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reduced traffic, and improved mobility for persons who cannot safely drive themselves. We define SAVs as on-demand, fully automated vehicles in which passengers are paired with other riders traveling along a similar route. Previous research has shown that younger adults are more likely to report using conventional ridesharing services and are more accepting of new technologies including automated vehicles (AVs). However, older adults, particularly those who may be close to retiring from driving, stand to greatly benefit from SAV services. In order for SAVs to deliver on their aforementioned benefits, they must be viewed favorably and utilized. We sought to investigate how short educational and/or experiential videos might impact younger, middle-aged, and older adult respondents’ anticipated acceptance and attitudes toward SAVs. Knowing what types of introductory experiences improve different age groups’ perceptions of SAVs will be beneficial for tailoring campaigns aiming to promote SAV usage. Methods: We deployed an online survey using the platform Prolific for middle-aged and older respondents, and our departmental participant pool for younger adults, collecting 585 total responses that resulted in 448 valid responses. Respondents answered questions regarding their demographic attributes, their ridesharing history, preconceptions of technology, as well as their anticipated acceptance attitudes towards SAVs as measured by the dimensions of the Automated Vehicle User Perception Survey (AVUPS). After this, respondents were randomly assigned to an intervention condition where they either watched 1) an educational video about how SAVs work and their potential benefits, 2) an experiential video showing a AV navigating traffic, 3) both the experiential and educational videos, or 4) a control video explaining how ridesharing works. Anticipated acceptance attitudes towards SAVs were measured again after this intervention and difference scores calculated to investigate the effect of the intervention conditions. Prolific respondents were paid at a rate of $9.50/hour and younger adults received course credit. Results: Controlling for preconceptions of technology and ridesharing experience, a MANOVA was run on the difference scores of the dimensions of the AVUPS (intention to use, trust/reliability, perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), safety, control/driving-efficacy, cost, authority, media, and social influence). Both older and middle-aged adults expressed significantly greater increases in PEOU and PU of SAVs than younger adults. We also observed an interaction between age and condition for both PU and PEOU. For PU, older adults’ difference scores were found to be significantly greater than younger adults’ for the control video condition. With PEOU, older adults’ difference scores were significantly greater than both younger adults’ for the control video condition, and middle-aged adults had greater difference scores for the educational-only video condition than younger or older adults. Discussion: The increases in PU observed for older adults in the control condition suggests that educating them on how to use currently available ridesharing services might transfer to and/or highlight the benefits that automated ridesharing might provide. The PEOU interactions also suggest that middle-aged adults might respond more positively than younger or older adults to an educational introduction to SAVs. Conclusion: The positive findings pertaining to PU and PEOU show that exposure to information related to SAVs has a positive impact on these attitudes. PU’s and PEOU’s positive relationship to behavioral intentions (BI) in the Technology Acceptance Model, coupled with the findings from this study, bode well for higher fidelity interventions seeking to inform and/or give individuals experience with SAVs. Providing information on how currently available ridesharing services work helped our older adult respondents recognize the potential usefulness of SAVs. Knowing that different age groups may respond better to educational versus experiential interventions, for example middle-aged adults in this study responding more positively to the educational video condition than younger or older adults, may be useful for targeted promotional campaigns.

Aims/hypothesisLifestyle interventions are the first-line treatment option for body weight and cardiometabolic health management. However, whether age groups or women and men respond differently to lifestyle interventions is under debate. We aimed to examine age- and sex-specific effects of a low-energy diet (LED) followed by a long-term lifestyle intervention on body weight, body composition and cardiometabolic health markers in adults with prediabetes (i.e. impaired fasting glucose and/or impaired glucose tolerance).MethodsThis observational study used longitudinal data from 2223 overweight participants with prediabetes in the multicentre diabetes prevention study PREVIEW. The participants underwent a LED-induced rapid weight loss (WL) period followed by a 3 year lifestyle-based weight maintenance (WM) intervention. Changes in outcomes of interest in prespecified age (younger: 25–45 years; middle-aged: 46–54 years; older: 55–70 years) or sex (women and men) groups were compared.ResultsIn total, 783 younger, 319 middle-aged and 1121 older adults and 1503 women and 720 men were included in the analysis. In the available case and complete case analyses, multivariable-adjusted linear mixed models showed that younger and older adults had similar weight loss after the LED, whereas older adults had greater sustained weight loss after the WM intervention (adjusted difference for older vs younger adults −1.25% [95% CI −1.92, −0.58], p<0.001). After the WM intervention, older adults lost more fat-free mass and bone mass and had smaller improvements in 2 h plasma glucose (adjusted difference for older vs younger adults 0.65 mmol/l [95% CI 0.50, 0.80], p<0.001) and systolic blood pressure (adjusted difference for older vs younger adults 2.57 mmHg [95% CI 1.37, 3.77], p<0.001) than younger adults. Older adults had smaller decreases in fasting and 2 h glucose, HbA1c and systolic blood pressure after the WM intervention than middle-aged adults. In the complete case analysis, the above-mentioned differences between middle-aged and older adults disappeared, but the direction of the effect size did not change. After the WL period, compared with men, women had less weight loss (adjusted difference for women vs men 1.78% [95% CI 1.12, 2.43], p<0.001) with greater fat-free mass and bone mass loss and smaller improvements in HbA1c, LDL-cholesterol and diastolic blood pressure. After the WM intervention, women had greater fat-free mass and bone mass loss and smaller improvements in HbA1c and LDL-cholesterol, while they had greater improvements in fasting glucose, triacylglycerol (adjusted difference for women vs men −0.08 mmol/l [−0.11, −0.04], p<0.001) and HDL-cholesterol.Conclusions/interpretationOlder adults benefited less from a lifestyle intervention in relation to body composition and cardiometabolic health markers than younger adults, despite greater sustained weight loss. Women benefited less from a LED followed by a lifestyle intervention in relation to body weight and body composition than men. Future interventions targeting older adults or women should take prevention of fat-free mass and bone mass loss into consideration.Clinical trial registration numberClinicalTrials.gov NCT01777893.Graphical abstract

Age and CAR T-Cell Therapy: Assessing Outcomes across Different Age Groups

Due to declined birthrate and the increased aging population, solving the problem of labor shortage has become important. Introducing robotic labors could effectively help older adults’ daily lives. However, older adults’ acceptance of robots was lower than younger adults. Robot’s appearance might be one of the reasons. The Uncanny Valley (UV) refers to the phenomenon that people rate more positively as robots become more humanlike, but only up to a certain point; as it approaches near-perfect similarity of human appearance, likeability drops and forms an uncanny valley. Nonetheless, previous results supporting the UV were mainly from younger adults. We examined whether the UV is also applicable for older and middle-aged adults. We also examined whether the acceptance of function (companion vs. service) would change based on robot appearance, and whether robot-induced traits have any relation with the acceptance of robot function. We asked younger (N= 80, age 18-39), middle-aged (N= 87, age 40-59), and older (N= 88, age 60-87) adults to view each picture of 84 robots and evaluate their impression of each robot and intention of use regarding robot function. Contrary to the UV found for younger and middle-aged adults, older adults did not show UV–they preferred humanlike over non-humanlike robots, regardless of the robot function. Scores on each trait–except for authoritativeness–showed positive correlations with the acceptance of functions. These findings imply that the design of assistive robots should take UV into consideration by customizing robots’ appearances and functions to different age groups.

Age-associated differences in sleep duration in the US population: potential effects of disease burden

Several studies have reported the effects of age and gender on the middle ear of adults using wideband acoustic immittance (WAI) that measures middle ear function over a range of frequencies rather than the traditional measures with a single probe tone. Although these results are often based on WAI measurements under ambient pressure, using WAI under varying ear-canal pressures (wideband tympanometry [WBT]) may be able to provide more information about age and gender effects on the middle ear. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of age and gender on the middle ear with WBT in three different age groups consisting of young, middle-aged, and older adults. A total of 95 adults with normal middle ear function were assessed, including 32 young adults (16 men, 16 women, aged 20 to 39 years), 31 middle-aged adults (15 men, 16 women, aged 41 to 60 years), and 32 older adults (16 men, 16 women, aged 65 to 82 years). WBT measurements were performed from 226 to 8000 Hz using Interacoustics Titan. Energy absorbance data at tympanometric peak pressure (EA TPP ) and ambient pressure (EA AP ) at 1/3 octave frequencies, and resonance frequency (RF) data were analyzed according to age and gender variables. Analysis results showed that the mean EA TPP was significantly higher from 500 to 794 Hz and at 5040 and 6350 Hz, and significantly lower from 1587 to 3175 Hz in older adults compared with young adults. The mean EA AP was significantly lower from 1587 to 3175 Hz, and significantly higher at 5040 and 6350 Hz in older adults compared with young adults. There was no significant difference in the mean EA TPP and mean EA AP at any frequency between young and middle-aged adults, and middle-aged and older adults. RF was significantly lower in older adults compared with young adults. In all age groups, men had higher mean EA TPP and mean EA AP at lower frequencies and lower mean EA TPP and mean EA AP at higher frequencies than women. Men had slightly lower RF than women in young and older adults, while men had significantly lower RF than women in middle-aged adults. This study demonstrated that there are possible age and gender effects on the middle ear that may affect the mechanical transmission of sound. It may be useful to consider this finding in clinical evaluation in adults of different ages and genders, and to establish age- and gender-specific WBT norms in the adult population.

The relationship between atherosclerosis and cognitive function is less well studied in Chinese populations. In addition, the results among middle-aged adults have been mixed. We aimed to investigate the association of atherosclerosis measured by carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and cognitive function in middle-aged and older adults from a Chinese community. Participants in the Asymptomatic Polyvascular Abnormalities in Community study (APAC) who had completed the CIMT detection and cognitive function measurements in 2012/2013 were included. Cognitive function was measured using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to analyze the association between CIMT and MMSE. Then, a stratified analysis was performed separately in middle-aged and older adults. A total of 3227 participants were included in this study (mean age 57.9years, range 43-93years); 56.6% of them were men, 66.0% were middle-aged adults. After adjusting for potential confounders, larger CIMT was associated with lower MMSE scores, with a 0.75-point decrease in MMSE score for every 1-mm increase in CIMT (β=-0.75, P=0.0020). The association remained statistically significant in middle-aged adults (β=-0.57, P=0.0390), and was stronger in older adults and adults with low education levels. There is a significant association between CIMT and cognitive function among middle-aged and older adults sampled from a Chinese population. This association was stronger in older adults and adults with low education levels.

Lung function impairment increases with age of diagnosis in adult onset asthma

Objectives Study objectives were to examine (1) baseline differences in substance use motives (social, coping, enhancement, and physical discomfort) among older, middle-aged, and younger adults, and (2) whether age group moderated associations between substance use motives at baseline and substance use outcomes at six-month follow-up. Design Participants were assessed at baseline and followed for six months (91.1%). Setting U.S. military veterans receiving alcohol and/or opioid detoxification services. Participants 298 participants in a study of telephone monitoring to improve detoxification outcomes. Measurements Baseline substance use motives were measured using the Motives for Alcohol and Drug Use questionnaire. At baseline and 6-month follow-up, substance use, substance use risk, and substance use protection were measured using the Brief Addiction Monitor. Results One-way analyses of variance with post-hoc tests found that older adults endorsed significantly lower social and coping motives for substance use than younger and middle-aged adults, and significantly lower enhancement motives than younger adults. Moderation models were analyzed using linear regression, with demographics controlled. Significant interactions of motives with age group revealed that higher endorsement of enhancement motives for substance use was associated with less protection against substance use among older adults but not among younger or middle-aged adults. Conclusions Enhancement motives among older adults may represent a specific age-related risk for substance use. Older adults who use substances to enhance their mood and well-being may need additional resources and skills for improving mental health so that unhealthy substance use is reduced or avoided.

Attributions for events with information varying on age relevance (teen, young, middle-aged, and older main characters) and context (family, work) were examined in young, middle-aged, and older adults. Participants rated the degree to which the causes of a negative outcome were a function of three dispositional dimensions of the primary character, two dimensions of situational factors, and a combination of these. They also wrote essays justifying their ratings. Overall and in support of previous research, older adults were more likely than younger adults to attribute the cause of the negative outcome to the primary character (Blanchard-Fields, 1994). This bias was not attenuated by the age-relevance factor. Instead, in the work context, older and middle-aged adults placed greater blame on main characters relevant to their age group for negative outcomes than did young adults. However, older adults were also more likely than middle-aged or young adults to attribute the cause of a negative outcome to situational factors. Age relevance and context influenced attributional ratings for all participants in that: (a) older characters were rated higher on external attributions and younger characters were rated higher on internal attributions; and (b) higher internal attributions were made for work situations than for family situations. Finally, young and middle-aged adults were more dialectical in justifying their causal attributions than older adults. Findings are discussed in terms of the degree to which a dispositional bias in older adults is influenced by the developmental relevance of one’s everyday context.

This study aimed to examine older adults' physical activity intentions and preferred implementation intentions, and how intentions and preferred implementation intentions differ between older, middle aged and younger adults. A cross-sectional Australian wide telephone survey of 1217 respondents was conducted in 2016. Multiple and ordinal regression analyses were conducted to compare intentions and preferred implementation intentions between older (65+), middle aged (45-64) and younger adults (<45). A higher percentage of older adults had no intentions to engage in regular physical activity within the next 6months (60%) compared to younger adults (25%). Older adults' most popular preferences included being active at least once a day and for 30min or less and were more likely to prefer more frequent and shorter sessions compared to younger adults. Both older and middle aged adults were more likely to prefer slower paced physical activity compared to younger adults who preferred fast paced physical activity. Physical activity interventions for older adults should address the high percentage of older adults with no intentions and public health campaigns for older adults should promote 30min daily sessions of slow paced activity.

Age-related mobility research often highlights significant mobility differences comparing neurotypical young and older adults, while neglecting to report mobility outcomes for middle-aged adults. Moreover, these analyses regularly do not determine which measures of mobility can discriminate groups into their age brackets. Thus, the current study aimed to provide a comprehensive analysis for commonly performed aspects of mobility (walking, turning, sit-to-stand, and balance) to determine which variables were significantly different and furthermore, able to discriminate between neurotypical young adults (YAs), middle-aged adults (MAAs), and older adults (OAs). This study recruited 20 YAs, 20 MAAs, and 20 OAs. Participants came into the laboratory and completed mobility testing while wearing wireless inertial sensors. Mobility tests assessed included three distinct two-minute walks, 360° turns, five times sit-to-stands, and a clinical balance test, capturing 99 distinct mobility metrics. Of the various mobility tests assessed, only 360° turning measures demonstrated significance between YAs and MAAs, although the capacity to discriminate between groups was achieved for gait and turning measures. A variety of mobility measures demonstrated significance between MAAs and OAs, and furthermore discrimination was achieved for each mobility test. These results indicate greater mobility differences between MAAs and OAs, although discrimination is achievable for both group comparisons.

Prevalence of Cardiovascular Health Behaviors Among Adults: NHANES, 2011–2018

Introductiontobacco smoking remains a significant threat to public health. This paper sought to examine the prevalence, perceived risk and the associated factors of current tobacco use amongst Jamaican adults.Methodsthis study is a secondary data analysis of the Jamaican National Household Survey 2016. The data for this study was extracted from a pre-coded questionnaire using a standardized extraction sheet. Adults were categorized into young adults (18-35), Middle-aged adults (36-55) and Older adults (56 and older) groups. Statistical analysis was performed to determine the prevalence, perceived risk and associated factors of tobacco use among Jamaican adults.Resultsyoung adults had the lowest lifetime prevalence of tobacco smoking at 23% yet the highest percentage of current users at 48.3% (p=0.000), with gender being the only significant associated factor. Males were 2.565 times more likely to be current tobacco users than females (p < 0.01). In middle-aged adults, and older adults the highest predictive factor was risk perception. Current tobacco use was 3.375 times higher in middle-aged adults (p=0.044) and 2.815 times higher in older adults with low risk perception (p=0.025).Conclusionfour out of 10 Jamaican adult tobacco users are current users. Young adults had significantly fewer mitigating factors to tobacco usage despite being the most prevalent group for current use. Significantly, perception of risk impacted current usage in middle-aged and older adults but not in younger adults. Innovative and targeted approaches are needed in young adults such as incorporating the health and wellness promotion model with tobacco emphasis.