International psychogeriatrics
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Comparative Study
Changes in body mass in later life and incident dementia.
There is ongoing debate about whether a decline in body mass represents a true risk factor for dementia, whether it is a phenotypic marker of incipient dementia, or perhaps a marker of another process that increases dementia risk. This study was designed to determine if changes in body mass index (BMI) in later life are associated with hazard of incident dementia over a follow-up period of up to eight years. ⋯ Men who maintained a stable body mass had the lowest incidence of dementia. Further studies are needed to clarify causality and assess feasibility of interventional studies to preserve body mass in aging men.
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Family involvement in long-term care (LTC) is important but it can prove challenging and result in conflict with staff if families do not feel connected to the LTC facility or if they believe that their contributions are undervalued. According to McMillan & Chavis (1986), sense of community (SOC) refers to a feeling of belonging, having influence, having needs met, and having an emotional connection to individuals in a community, and may be particularly essential for family caregivers of military veterans in LTC. This is the first study that evaluates SOC among family caregivers in LTC. ⋯ This is the first study that examines SOC among family caregivers of military veterans in LTC, a subgroup of family caregivers with unique histories and needs. Although there are measures designed to assess family members' level of satisfaction with different facets of LTC, SOC provides unique information about whether family members feel part of the LTC community as valued partners in care. SOC is an important yet understudied construct that could contribute substantially to our understanding of family-focused care.
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Globally, falls in older people are a leading cause of injury-related mortality and morbidity. Cognitive impairment is a well-known risk factor for falls in this population group. While there is now a large body of evidence to support effective interventions for falls reduction across care settings, very little is known about interventions in the vulnerable, but increasing population of cognitively impaired community-dwelling older people. Therefore, the purpose of this systematic review is to investigate interventions designed to reduce falls in community-dwelling, cognitively impaired older adults. ⋯ The diversity of interventions, study designs, populations, and quality of the studies, which met inclusion criteria, resulted in conflicting evidence and inconclusive results for falls prevention interventions in this highly complex population.
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The objectives of this study were to examine the factors modifying the relationship between cortisol level and prevalent/incident cognitive impairment in older adults and to verify whether these relationships were non-linear. ⋯ These results suggest that cognitive impairment in older adults is linked to higher or lower cortisol level depending on characteristics such as anxiety, depressive episode, education level, and physical health.