Old Age In Relation Research Articles

ASSOCIATION OF MASSETER MUSCLE VOLUME WITH RISK OF OSTEOPOROSIS IN OLDER ADULTS: THE BUNKYO HEALTH STUDY

Abstract Abstract The relationship between bone mineral density (BMD) and oral function has been previously studied. However, the relationship between the masseter muscle, which plays an important role in oral function, and BMD and osteoporosis in older adults has not been investigated. This study investigated the association between masseter muscle volume (MMV) and old age in relation to osteoporosis prevalence and hip joint BMD. Body composition and BMD of 1534 people aged 65–84 years living in Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, were measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. MMV was measured using a three-dimensional medical image analysis system. Participants were divided into five groups based on MMV by 20% for each gender (Quintile 1–5: Q1–5, Q1< Q5). Logistic regression models were employed to estimate multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for osteoporosis determined by T-score (<−2.5 standard deviation) using the Q5 reference. Subsequently, analysis of covariance was used to investigate the relationship between MMV and BMD. Adjustment for age, body mass index, smoking history, alcohol intake, calcium intake, 25(OH)D, diabetes, and osteoporosis drugs or estrogen. In men, Q1 had higher hip osteoporosis prevalence than Q5 (OR 11.65; 95% confidence interval, 1.48–1.62, p=0.020). Further, hip BMD was significantly higher in Q5 than in Q1 (p=0.001). In women, MMV and old age was not associated with osteoporosis prevalence. However, hip BMD was significantly higher in Q3,4 than in Q1 (p=0.003). Older adults with lower MMV had lower BMD in the hip joint. Additionally, men had higher odds of osteoporosis of the hip joint.

Doing old(er) age in a translocal context: Turkish-born women’s experiences of ageing, care and post-mortem care practices

This article elaborates on how Turkish-born women in Sweden do old age in relation to gender and migrancy and aims to understand the fluid process of doing over their life course. It draws upon 20 in-depth and semi-structured interviews with Turkish-born women aged 60–78 and aims to address the tensions between agency and intersecting power positions. Theoretically, the article relies on critical feminist gerontology and doing old age to address the negotiations and performances of the interviewed women. The findings show that there are several ambivalences and dilemmas in how the women do old age in a transnational setting. Intergenerational and gendered old age care comes to fore as a significant negotiation site. The women negotiate identity categories with both imagined others and the social actors in their lives (such as their children) over their life course, which implies the situated and relational aspect of doing old age.

The Intergenerational Representation of Old Age in the Transition to Frailty: An Empirical Analysis in Italy

The results presented here are part of the outcome of a research project titled Redesign—Frail Elderly, Intergenerational Solidarity and Age-Friendly Communities (https://redesignanziani.com) funded by Fondazione Cariplo and coordinated by the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, in collaboration with Università degli studi di Verona and Università degli studi del Molise (2019–2022). The research aims to co-acquire knowledge of the transition to old age in vulnerable situations, to develop and implement new community networks of care, and thus promote health and well-being, active ageing, and intergenerational solidarity in eight Italian municipalities. The analysis of the dyadic interviews, conducted with the NVivo software, will provide the image of ageing and old age emerging from an intergenerational dialogue. By analysing results, it will therefore be possible to identify some specific types of representation of old age in relation to the dyad, the stressful events that occurred to the interviewees and in relation to the ways of living the transition. The representation of old age seems closely connected with the quality and intensity of relationships, the environment of associative and local life that the interviewees relate to, and the stressful events that have recently occurred to them.

Elizabeth Bishop and the Art of Losing

Elizabeth Bishop and the Art of Losing

Associations between the breeding values of Holstein-Friesian bulls and longevity and culling reasons of their daughters

Taking into account functional traits in the breeding practice should lead to a longer productive life of cows. However, despite the increased contribution of these traits in bull selection indices, their daughters are frequently culled as early as the 2nd or 3rd lactation. The problem is whether and to what extent the genetic potential of animals is realized in the production practice. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the associations between the breeding value (BV) of bulls and their daughters for cow longevity and culling reasons in the Holstein-Friesian cattle population in Poland. Data for 532 062 cows culled in 2012, 2015, and 2018 were analyzed. A majority of 5 045 cow sires originated from Poland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and the United States. The highest variation in the contribution of culling reasons was for the cows culled at the age of 2–4 years. The contribution of the culling reasons, analyzed in relation to the cow culling age, remained similar and the only exception was culling because of old age, for which a significant increase was observed only for the culling age of at least 9 years (13.8%), which was reached by only 7.3% of the cows. The sires were characterized by generally high BV for conformation and reproductive traits. However, they had, at most, the average genetic potential for functional longevity. There were a number of beneficial associations found between the BV of bulls and the distribution of culling reasons in their daughters. For example, it concerns relations between the somatic cell score in milk and culling due to udder diseases and low milk yield, between the interval from calving to first insemination and low milk yield, between the protein yield and old age, or between the BV for certain conformation traits (size, udder) and cow culling due to age. In these cases, as the BV increased for a given trait, the contribution of the corresponding cow culling reason tended to decrease. Our study showed that it seems reasonable to consider Holstein-Friesian cows aged at least 9 years at culling to be long-living animals. This is primarily evidenced by the rapid increase in the culling due to old age in relation to younger cows. Nowadays the above age limit can be suggested as a criterion of longevity for Holstein-Friesian cows but the criterion should be updated to the relation genotype-environment-economy that tends to change over time.

“To Understand All Life as Fragile, Valuable, and Interdependent”

Abstract As old age garners more attention in the time of COVID-19, this roundtable discussion brings together scholars from three different areas within aging studies to define the field’s terms and map out some of its contours and potential future directions. Stephen Katz draws on poststructuralist theory, feminism, and theories of materiality and embodiment in his historically informed work in critical gerontology. Kavita Sivaramakrishnan’s research in global public health and South Asian history brought her to the study of physiological old age as it intersects with social histories in the global South, thus critiquing Eurocentric epistemologies of aging. Pat Thane is a social historian interested in old age in relation to gender, labor, inequality, and welfare states, as well as the long arc of the meaning of old age in the West.

Vivências de sexualidade na ótica de mulheres na terceira idade

OBJETIVO: compreender as vivências de mulheres na terceira idade em relação à sexualidade. MÉTODO: revisão integrativa realizada através de cinco etapas descritas por Cooper. A busca foi realizada nas bases de dados LILACS, BDENF e SCIELO, utilizando-se os descritores Saúde da Mulher, Saúde do Idoso, Enfermagem, Terceira Idade, Sexualidade. Foram incluídos 18 artigos. RESULTADOS: verificou-se nas mulheres da terceira idade a redução ou inexistência de comportamentos relacionados à sexualidade; existência de preconceitos, mitos e tabus sociais e a cultura opressiva; manutenção de práticas sexuais para manter o casamento; constatação de vivências e práticas sexuais inseguras, relacionadas ao não uso do preservativo; compreensão de que a sexualidade envolve aspectos afetivos e emocionais, além do ato sexual. Também foram identificados os fatores positivos e negativos relacionados à vivência da sexualidade pelas mulheres da terceira idade. CONCLUSÃO: evidenciou-se maior prevalência de fatores negativos relacionados à vivência da sexualidade por estas mulheres do que fatores positivos. São escassos os estudos que constatam a vivência plena da sexualidade e os impactos na qualidade de vida da mulher na terceira idade.

Financial Aspects of Life Cycle Arrangements from a Long-Term Point of View: ‘Social Risks’ and Social Security in Old Age

Growing insecurity over the life course and an increasing demand for more individual flexibility are a challenge for adequate social security, for example in old age. This paper outlines how ‘social risks’ are taken into account in public as well as (subsidised) private pension schemes (including occupational schemes), such as those in Germany. This becomes more important because in many countries the role of the state as provider of social security benefits is being scaled down. Starting from objectives and concepts for designing social security for old age, the major focus of the paper is the effects of different types of public as well as private pension schemes on income in old age in relation to different social risks, such as loss of income in case of unemployment, illness, caring for children and by using different instruments (among other things, time saving accounts). Finally, the shift of risks and responsibility in the (at least partial) privatisation of social security – from state to private households, from employers to employees – is discussed. If private schemes become mandatory, they may become an instrument of (public) social policy and have to cover some of the social risks that public schemes have in the past.

Cause-specific mortality in old age in relation to body mass index in middle age and in old age: follow-up of the Whitehall cohort of male civil servants

The relevance of body mass index (BMI) to cause-specific mortality in old age is uncertain. To examine cause-specific 5 year mortality in old age by BMI in old age and middle age (40-69 years). Cox proportional hazards for mortality rates among 4862 former male civil servants in relation to quartiles of BMI measured when screened in 1968-70 and when resurveyed in 1997-98 (median age 76 years). The association between all-cause mortality after resurvey and BMI in old age was U-shaped with hazard ratios (HRs) of 1.3 (95% CI 1.1-1.5) for the lightest and heaviest categories relative to the middle two. Among 'healthy' men the lightest (<22.7 kg/m2) had greatest all-cause mortality. The heaviest men (>26.6 kg/m2) had increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality in the first two years or for the whole period if never-smokers. Respiratory mortality was inversely associated with BMI in old age [adjusted HR for trend per BMI category increase 0.6 (0.5-0.7)] but cancer mortality lacked a clear pattern. Net gain or loss of 10 kg or more between middle and old age was a strong predictor of all-cause and CVD mortality. The shape of the association between BMI in old age and mortality differs by cause of death. Major weight change over time is a warning signal for higher CVD mortality. Having BMI<22.7 kg/m2 in old age is associated with above-average mortality rates even if apparently healthy.

P2-284 Mental, physical, and social components in common leisure activities in old age in relation to dementia: findings from the kungsholmen project

Mental, physical, and social components in common leisure activities in old age in relation to dementia : Findings from the Kungsholmen Project

Housing and Health in Later Life

The goal of this paper is to compile recent data on the housing and health in old age, with special emphasis on geropsychological and gerontological studies. The authors first introduce their understanding of both housing and health. Second, theoretical models that are important to understand better the relation between housing- and health-related outcomes are incorporated into an analytic scheme. Third, data on objective and subjective aspects of housing in old age in relation to healthrelated outcomes are presented. Among the objective functional housing aspects are healthrelevant micro-environmental indicators like housing hazards and amenities, retrofitting and assistive devices, as well as meso- and macroenvironmental indicators like housing type, neighborhood conditions, or urban-rural differences. Relocation is a classic field in environmental gerontology in which drastic environmental change has been linked to health outcomes. Among subjective housing aspects are residential satisfaction, housing-related control beliefs, and meaning of home. Direct health-related outcomes, such as physical and mental diseases and functional limitations, as well as indirect health-related outcomes like satisfaction or well-being receive attention. We conclude with a discussion addressing the environment and health dynamics of aging in the future.

Inequities in health. Socioeconomic status and transitions in status in old age in relation to limiting long-term illness measured at the 1991 census. Results from the UK longitudinal study

Background: In the light of increasing interest in health inequalities, this paper aims to assess I) whether material deprivation in late middle age and early old age is associated with greater risk of limiting long-term illness 20 years later and ii) whether deterioration in socioeconomic status during the first 10 years carries a higher risk than remaining in a higher status. Methods: The Longitudinal Study comprised a 1% sample of people registered on the 1971 Census in England and Wales; data from successive censuses are linked with vital events such as deaths. The subjects were 23,320 people aged 55–74 years in 1971 and living in the community in 1971, 1981 and 1991. Logistic regression was used to perform the analyses. Results: The relative risk of having a limiting long-term illness 20 years later for people in rented accommodation without a car at age 55–64 years was 1.2 compared to those in owner-occupied accommodation with a car. For those aged 65–74 years in 1971 the excess risk was 9%. Moving out of owner occupation between 1971 and 1981 and losing access to a car were associated with excess risk similar to that for people already disadvantaged in 1971. Thus, socioeconomic circumstances In late middle and early old age and deterioration in such circumstances after age 55 years, are associated with limiting long-term illness among people who have survived in the community until at least age 75 years. Conclusion: Although health selection cannot be ruled out, it appears that health inequalities do not completely disappear in very old age.

Aging, Dominance History, and Social Behavior in Java-Monkeys (Macaca fascicularis)

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the dominance history of socially housed Java-monkeys on the aging process. In monkeys, social subordinance is generally associated with elevated levels of cortisol, which, in turn, have been suggested to influence cognitive decline. As cognitive skills are necessary for successful social life, we investigated the effect of old age in relation to the dominance history of the animals on their social behavior by comparing old females with their younger daughters. Old age, especially in combination with a history of low rank, led to a withdrawal from social interactions with unfamiliar animals and to a decrease in amounts of aggression received. Still, however, old animals showed an increase in behaviors associated with arousal. A reduced ability to deal with complex social interactions, caused by a decline in information processing abilities, is suggested as an explanation for these results.

Does Weight Loss from Middle Age to Old Age Explain the inverse Weight Mortality Relation in Old Age?

The authors examined body mass index at middle age, body mass index in old age, and weight change between age 50 years and old age in relation to mortality in old age. The study population from the Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly consisted of 6,387 whites age 70 years or older who experienced 2,650 deaths during the period 1982-1987. Mortality risk was highest for persons in the heaviest quintile of body mass index at age 50 (men, relative risk (RR) = 1.33, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13-1.57; women, RR = 1.31, 95% CI 1.12-1.53) compared with persons in the middle quintile. This pattern was reversed for body mass index in old age, with persons in the lowest quintile having the highest mortality risk (men, RR = 1.40, 95% CI 1.19-1.65; women, RR = 1.38, 95% CI 1.17-1.63) relative to persons in the middle quintile. This reversal was explained, in part, by weight change. Compared with persons with stable weight, those who lost 10 percent or more of body weight between age 50 and old age had the highest risk of mortality (men, RR = 1.69, 95% CI 1.45-1.97; women, RR = 1.62, 95% CI 1.38-1.90). Exclusion of participants who lost 10 percent or more of their weight and adjustment for health status eliminated the higher risk of death associated with low weight. The inverse association of weight and mortality in old age appears to reflect illness-related weight loss from heavier weight in middle-age. Weight history may be critical to understanding weight and mortality relations in old age.