Journal of gerontology
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The effect of aging on fatal accident characteristics of male and female drivers was investigated using Finnish fatal-accident case study material from the period 1984-1990. Age-bound changes in accident characteristics (e.g., increase of at-fault accidents and of collisions in intersections) appeared in both sexes but seemed to affect female drivers at an earlier age and to a higher degree. ⋯ Thus, the lower resistance of women to the effects of aging on driving may be explained by their lower skill level. In future cohorts of old drivers, decrease of sex differences in experience will presumably attenuate the sex differences in accident characteristics.
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Journal of gerontology · Sep 1993
Acute delirium and functional decline in the hospitalized elderly patient.
Delirium is often considered a transient cognitive syndrome. Its effect on long-term physical function, however, has not been well defined. ⋯ This finding of a nontransient, perhaps permanent consequence of delirium invites reexamination of the definition of delirium from that of an acute, reversible syndrome to one of acute onset with long-term sequelae.
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Journal of gerontology · Sep 1993
Comparative StudyClaudication pain and hemodynamic responses to exercise in younger and older peripheral arterial disease patients.
Claudication patients who are candidates for exercise can frequently walk to maximal pain without experiencing exaggerated blood pressure and heart rate, as well as other clinical symptoms. However, these concomitant problems are more likely to become apparent as patients age. Consequently, this study compared the claudication and hemodynamic responses to exercise in younger and older peripheral arterial disease patients. ⋯ Greater impairment in the peripheral hemodynamic measurements occurs without exaggerated heart rate and blood pressure responses in older claudication patients who walk to maximal leg pain compared with younger patients.
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Journal of gerontology · Jul 1993
The occurrence and duration of symptoms in elderly patients with delirium.
This study attempts to estimate the incidence, prevalence, and average duration of delirium in elderly patients; to assess the sensitivity of DSM-III and DSM-III-R in the diagnosis of delirium; and to compare the estimates of the duration of delirium using DSM-III and DSM-III-R criteria. ⋯ As operationalized in this study, DSM-III-R delirium criteria were more sensitive than DSM-III. Persistent symptoms are common in elderly patients with delirium.
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Journal of gerontology · May 1992
The relationship of serum and salivary cortisol in a sample of healthy elderly.
The purpose of this study was to assess the validity of salivary cortisol as an index of adrenocortical activity in older adults. Serum and salivary cortisol samples were collected in a sample of 36 healthy older adults (mean age = 66.64). The relationship of serum and salivary cortisol levels was assessed using correlation and regression analyses. ⋯ The findings indicate that salivary measures of cortisol covary with serum levels, and both measures remain stable over repeated samplings. The utility of salivary cortisol as a marker of physiological reactivity is discussed. Future research is recommended to explore the emotional correlates of physiological reactivity in older adults.