Age Differences In Health Research Articles

Playing it safe: Dispositional mindfulness partially accounts for age differences in health and safety risk-taking propensity

Older adults consistently report a lower likelihood of engaging in health and safety risks (e.g., substance use, not wearing seatbelts) than younger adults. However, the mechanisms that explain this age difference are not clear. Greater dispositional mindfulness is associated with lower engagement in health risk behaviors, and older adults tend to score higher in dispositional mindfulness than younger adults. Thus, we tested whether older adults’ greater dispositional mindfulness helped to explain their lesser health and safety risk-taking propensity. Two community-dwelling samples of younger (25–36 years) and older (60+ years) adults completed self-report measures of dispositional mindfulness and health and safety risk-taking propensity. In Study 1, older adults reported greater dispositional mindfulness and a lower likelihood to engage in health and safety risk behaviors than younger adults. Greater dispositional mindfulness was associated with lesser health and safety risk-taking propensity. Importantly, older adults’ greater dispositional mindfulness partially accounted for their lesser health and safety risk-taking propensity. These findings were replicated in Study 2, and an alternative mechanism (i.e., perceived health) was ruled out. The results suggest that age-related decreases in health and safety risk behaviors may be statistically explained, in part, by dispositional mindfulness. The current research has implications for behavioral interventions intended to increase preventative health behaviors and decrease health risk behaviors.

Влияние безработицы на здоровье в странах Европы: значение социального государства

This article deals with the issue of social inequalities in health and the impact of societal context on these inequalities. It discusses the health differences between people with jobs and those who are unemployed, belonging to different demographic and social strata, as well as the influence of welfare state on these differences. Data from the European Social Survey (ESS 2006–2012, 33 countries), the World Bank and the International Labour Organization was analyzed utilizing statistical methods of two-level modeling. It has been established that health differences in European countries are due to social demographics, employment status and the combined influence of these variables. Unemployment has a greater effect on elderly people and leads to a greater deterioration of their health, as it is harder to them to find a new job. The growth of countries’ economic well-being and an increase in public social expenditures entails a reduction in the gender and age differences in health. Public social support positively affects the health status of respondents with low education. Increased public spending on unemployment helps overcome the negative cumulative effects on the health of those with a low level of education and without a job, however, the differences between the employed and the unemployed are not reduced – on the contrary, they grow even larger compared to less generous countries. The reason for this is a heightened sense of relative deprivation among the unemployed in developed societies.

Comparing the Future Concerns of Early Wave Baby Boomers With the Concerns of Young-Old Adults

Using data from a statewide needs assessment survey, this study examines and compares the self-reported future concerns of two age groups in Mississippi: Early wave Baby Boomers (age 55 to 64; n = 383) and the young-old (age 65 to 75; n = 349). Items under analysis focus on issues related to future concerns surrounding financial resources, health, and employment. Results from multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) indicate that Early wave Baby Boomers have higher levels of future concern than the young-old group in all three areas. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that the financial and employment concerns of the Baby Boomers were higher than the concerns of the older group even after subjective well-being and income were taken into account. However, age differences in health concerns disappeared after controlling for current health and well-being. These findings suggest that the financial concerns of the Baby Boomers extend to the whole cohort and not just to the most financially stressed.

Gestational age differences in health and development among young Swedish men born at term

Although increased morbidity and mortality associated with pre-term birth and restricted fetal growth have been extensively studied, relatively little is known about variations in health outcomes among term births, because they are often assumed to be homogeneous. We examined variations in height, body mass index (BMI), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP), and intellectual performance by gestational age and fetal 'growth' (birth weight for gestational age) among young Swedish men born at term (37-41 weeks of gestation). We also compared the magnitude of associations among 314,642 men from different families and among 72,212 full brothers from 35,215 families to assess whether the associations are explained by familial factors shared by siblings. Gestational age in completed weeks was positively associated with height [0.11 cm, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.09-0.13] and intellectual performance (0.01, 95% CI: 0.00-0.02) and negatively associated with SBP (-0.28 mmHg, 95% CI: -0.33 to -0.24), after controlling for birth weight, maternal age at the men's birth, parity, family socio-economic position and family structure. The associations with height and SBP were observed also among brothers within families, suggesting that they are not explained by shared family characteristics. However, the positive association between gestational age and intellectual performance was no longer present within families. Birth weight for gestational age (z-score) was positively associated with height, BMI and intellectual performance and negatively associated with SBP. These associations were robust within families. Among young men born at term, fetal growth and even gestational age are independently associated with adult size, BP and cognitive ability. The extent to which shared family characteristics explain the associations varies across outcomes.

Correlates of Health Literacy in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure

Many older adults have inadequate health-related literacy, which is associated with poor health outcomes. Thus, it is important to identify determinants of health literacy. We investigated relationships between health literacy and general cognitive and sensory abilities, as well as education, health, and demographic variables, in a community sample of middle-aged and older adults. Participants were 314 community-dwelling adults (67% female, 48% African American) diagnosed with chronic heart failure recruited for a pharmacist-based intervention study to improve adherence to chronic heart failure medications. We adminstered demographic, health, education, cognitive (e.g., processing speed, working memory), and sensory measures, and the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (STOFHLA), as part of the baseline condition of this study. STOFHLA scores were lower for participants who were older, less educated, male, African American, had more comorbidities, or scored lower on all cognitive ability measures. Hierarchical linear regression analyses showed that education and cognitive ability were independently associated with the STOFHLA measure and explained age differences in health literacy. The association of cognitive abilities and literacy has important implications for health literacy models and for interventions to reduce the impact of low health literacy on health outcomes. For example, medication instructions should be designed to reduce comprehension demands on general cognitive abilities as well as literacy skills.