Journal of gerontology
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Journal of gerontology · Mar 1989
Data quality and age: health and psychobehavioral correlates of item nonresponse and inconsistent responses.
This study examined item nonresponse and inconsistent responses (IRs) and their health and psychobehavioral correlates in a population-based survey of adults 65 years and older. We administered an in-person questionnaire concerning physical, social, and psychological health to 1,155 men (mean age = 73.7 years) and 1,942 women (mean age = 74.8 years). ⋯ Conversely, IRs increased with age among men but not women, but were also associated with poorer physical, cognitive, and psychological functioning. Results are discussed in terms of motivational and attentional factors, and their implications for survey research with the frail elderly and very old are noted.
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Journal of gerontology · Mar 1989
Age- and sex-related changes of the lymphocyte subsets in healthy individuals: an analysis by two-dimensional flow cytometry.
The relative and absolute numbers of the peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL) subpopulations from 156 healthy men and women of different ages (20-99 years old) were studied by the use of monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) and two-dimensional flow cytometry. The percentage of pan-T MoAb-positive cells decreased with age, which was attributable to a relative decline in the CD8+ suppressor/cytotoxic T cells, more precisely in the CD8+ CD11- cytotoxic T cells. ⋯ The absolute numbers of most of the lymphocyte subsets examined declined with age except that those of natural killer cell subsets and helper T cells remained unchanged. It should be noted that the PBL subsets differed markedly according to age and sex, the changes being more evident among women.