Elderly Female Group Research Articles

Musculoskeletal components of decrepitude

Two groups of elderly females were studied to assess the importance of manual ability as a component of independent self-care. A survey instrument was designed which consisted of timing empiric tasks chosen to approximate skills needed to conduct daily activities. Comparison of the mean times for almost every task reveals differences of such magnitude that the populations sampled are totally different by the criteria of manual ability. Many hypotheses are consistent with this observation. Regardless of which hypothesis will prove most likely, the result will be germane to geriatric medicine.

Dietary Intakes and Characteristics of Two Groups of Elderly Females

Based on 24-hour diet recalls, the dietary intakes of 97 non-institutionalized elderly females were assessed to determine whether those consuming congregate noon meals had a higher intake of nutrients than their counterparts. Mean nutrient intakes approached 65% or exceeded two-thirds of the Recommended Dietary Allowances except for B6. Congregate meal participants had significantly higher nutrient intakes at the noon meals than those not consuming congregate meals. However, other than for vitamin A, the consumption of congregate meals did not contribute to higher total daily nutrient intakes. Socioeconomic, health, and nutrition factors were also assessed. Increased age was associated with lower nutrient intakes; increased education was associated with higher nutrient intakes.

MEANINGFULNESS AND INTERFERENCE AS FACTORS IN PAIRED‐ASSOCIATE LEARNING WITH THE AGED

A group of young and elderly females were tested on a paired‐associate task. The responses of the paired‐associates were consonant‐vowel‐consonant trigrams (CVCs) that were either high in association value (AV) on Glaze norms and low on Archer norms, or low in AV on Glaze norms and high on Archer. The results indicated that older individuals made more intrusion errors on the CVCs high in AV on the Glaze norms but low on the Archer norms. Results showed that associations were being formed across the life‐span of the individual.