1,721,031 research outputs found
Using an Integrated Clinical and Functional Assessment Tool to Describe the Use of Social and Medical Care in an Urban Community-Dwelling Swedish Older Population
No full textObjectives: To describe the use of social and medical care services in a community-dwelling older population from Stockholm, Sweden, using an integrated clinical and functional assessment tool. Design: Study based on data from the longitudinal community-based Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen. Setting and Participants: Random sample of people >65 years of age living in the community in central Stockholm between March 2001 and June 2004 (N = 2368). Measures: Health status was measured with a health assessment tool (HAT), which combines 5 indicators (gait speed, cognitive function, chronic multimorbidity, mild disability, severe disability) collected during Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen clinical examinations. The amount of formal and informal social care was self-reported in hours per month and recorded by trained nurses at baseline and the 3-year follow-up for those >= 78 years of age at baseline. Data on hospital admissions, 30-day readmissions, days spent in the hospital, primary care visits, and specialist visits were obtained from Stockholm County Council registers (2001-2007). Results: At baseline, 10% of the sample received formal social care and 11% received informal care. Annually between baseline and the 3-year follow-up, 15% were admitted to the hospital, 5% were readmitted, 78% visited a specialist, and 89% visited primary care. Those with the best HAT scores received 0.02 hours/month of formal care; those with the worst, 34 h/mo. The corresponding numbers for other variables were 0.02 vs 73 h/mo of informal care, 2 vs 11 hospital admissions per 10 persons/year, 44 vs 226 hospital days per 10 persons/y, 0.4 vs 2 30-day readmissions per 10 persons/y, 37 vs 78 specialist visits per 10 persons/y, and 50 vs 327 primary care visits per 10 persons/y. Conclusions/Implications: Because of its high discriminative power, the easy-to-use HAT index could help decision makers to plan medical and social care services
Atrial fibrillation, antithrombotic treatment, and cognitive aging: A population-based study
No full textObjectiveTo examine the association of atrial fibrillation (AF) with cognitive decline and dementia in old age, and to explore the cognitive benefit of antithrombotic treatment in patients with AF.MethodsThis population-based cohort study included 2,685 dementia-free participants from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen, who were regularly examined from 2001-2004 to 2010-2013. AF was ascertained from clinical examination, ECG, and patient registry. Global cognitive function was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination. We followed the DSM-IV criteria for the diagnosis of dementia, the NINDS-AIREN (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and Association Internationale pour la Recherche et l'Enseignement en Neurosciences) criteria for vascular dementia, and the NINCDS-ADRDA (National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke and the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association) criteria for Alzheimer disease. Data were analyzed using multiple linear mixed-effects and Cox regression models.ResultsWe identified 243 participants (9.1%) with AF at baseline. During the 9-year follow-up period, 279 participants (11.4%) developed AF and 399 (14.9%) developed dementia. As a time-varying variable, AF was significantly associated with a faster annual Mini-Mental State Examination decline (beta coefficient = -0.24, 95% confidence interval [ CI]: -0.31 to -0.16) and an increased hazard ratio (HR) of all-cause dementia (HR = 1.40, 95% CI: 1.11-1.77) and vascular and mixed dementia (HR = 1.88, 95% CI: 1.09-3.23), but not Alzheimer disease (HR = 1.33, 95% CI: 0.92-1.94). Among people with either prevalent or incident AF, use of anticoagulant drugs, but not antiplatelet treatment, was associated with a 60% decreased risk of dementia (HR = 0.40, 95% CI: 0.18-0.92).Conclusion AF is associated with a faster global cognitive decline and an increased risk of dementia in older people. Use of anticoagulant drugs may reduce dementia risk in patients with AF.</p
Defining Health Trajectories in Older Adults With Five Clinical Indicators
No full textPeople age differently, challenging the identification of those more at risk of rapid health deterioration. This study aimed to explore the heterogeneity in the health of older adults by using five clinical indicators to detect age-related variation and individual health trajectories over time
Rapidly developing multimorbidity and disability in older adults: does social background matter?
No full textMultimorbidity is among the most disabling geriatric conditions. In this study we explored whether a rapid development of multimorbidity potentiates its impact on the functional independence of older adults, and whether different sociodemographic factors play a role beyond the rate of chronic disease accumulation
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Age-related variation in health status after age 60
No full textBackgroundDisability, functionality, and morbidity are often used to describe the health of the elderly. Although particularly important when planning health and social services, knowledge about their distribution and aggregation at different ages is limited. We aim to characterize the variation of health status in a 60+ old population using five indicators of health separately and in combination.Methods3080 adults 60+ living in Sweden between 2001 and 2004 and participating at the SNAC-K population-based cohort study. Health indicators: number of chronic diseases, gait speed, Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), disability in instrumental-activities of daily living (I-ADL), and in personal-ADL (P-ADL).ResultsProbability of multimorbidity and probability of slow gait speed were already above 60% and 20% among sexagenarians. Median MMSE and median I-ADL showed good performance range until age 84; median P-ADL was close to zero up to age 90. Thirty% of sexagenarians and 11% of septuagenarians had no morbidity and no impairment, 92% and 80% of them had no disability. Twenty-eight% of octogenarians had multimorbidity but only 27% had some I-ADL disability. Among nonagenarians, 13% had severe disability and impaired functioning while 12% had multimorbidity and slow gait speed.ConclusionsAge 80-85 is a transitional period when major health changes take place. Until age 80, most people do not have functional impairment or disability, despite the presence of chronic disorders. Disability becomes common only after age 90. This implies an increasing need of medical care after age 70, whereas social care, including institutionalization, becomes a necessity only in nonagenarians
Fundamental Studies in the Lamb-Wave Interaction Between Piezoelectric Wafer Active Sensor and Host Structure During
No full textexpresses her sincere gratitude for her advisor, Prof. Victor Giurgiutiu, for his continuou
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