Neighborhood safety factors associated with older adults' health-related outcomes: A systematic literature review

The rates of dementia are on the rise as populations age. Storytelling is commonly used in therapies for persons living with dementia and can be in the form of life review, and reminiscence therapy. A systematic literature review was conducted to examine the range and extent of the use of digital technologies for facilitating storytelling in older adults and their care partners, and to identify the processes and methods, the technologies used and their readiness levels, the evidence, and the associated outcomes. Eight electronic databases were searched: Medline, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Abstracts in Social Gerontology, ERIC, Web of Science, and Scopus. We included 34 studies. Mild cognitive impairment or dementia represented over half of medical conditions reported in the studies. Overall, our findings indicate that the most common use of digital storytelling was to support older adults’ memory, reminiscence, identity, and self-confidence; however, the level of evidence of its effectiveness was low.

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Asian American Older Adults and Social Isolation: A Systematic Literature Review

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.1051 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 328-328

Author(s):

Simona Kwon ◽

Deborah Min ◽

Stella Chong

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Older Adults ◽

Literature Review ◽

Social Isolation ◽

Asian Americans ◽

Systematic Literature Review ◽

Asian American ◽

Minority Group ◽

The United States ◽

Eligibility Criteria

Abstract Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial and ethnic minority group in the United States, whose population is aging considerably. Previous studies indicate that social isolation and loneliness disproportionately affects older adults and predicts greater physical, mental, and cognitive decline. A systematic literature review using PRISMA guidelines was conducted to address this emerging need to understand the scope of research focused on social isolation and loneliness among the disparity population of older Asian Americans. Four interdisciplinary databases were searched: PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and AgeLine; search terms included variations on social isolation, loneliness, Asian Americans, and older adults. Articles were reviewed based on six eligibility criteria: (1) research topic relevance, (2) study participants aged >60 years, (3) Asian immigrants as main participants, (4) conducted in the United States, (5) published between 1995-2019, and (6) printed in the English language. The search yielded 799 articles across the four databases and 61 duplicate articles were removed. Abstracts were screened for the 738 remaining studies, 107 of which underwent full-text review. A total of 56 articles met the eligibility criteria. Synthesis of our review indicates that existing research focuses heavily on Chinese and Korean American immigrant communities, despite the heterogeneity of the diverse Asian American population. Studies were largely observational and employed community-based sampling. Critical literature gaps exist surrounding social isolation and loneliness in Asian American older adults, including the lack of studies on South Asian populations. Future studies should prioritize health promotion intervention research and focus on diverse understudied Asian subgroups.

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A Systematic Literature Review of the Epidemiology, Health-Related Quality of Life Impact, and Economic Burden of Immunoglobulin A Nephropathy

Journal of Health Economics and Outcomes Research ◽

10.36469/jheor.2021.26129 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 36-45

Author(s):

Christina Soeun Kwon ◽

Patrick Daniele ◽

Anna Forsythe ◽

Christopher Ngai

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Literature Review ◽

Kidney Function ◽

Systematic Literature Review ◽

Economic Burden ◽

Health Related Quality ◽

Us Studies ◽

Related Quality ◽

Health Related

Introduction: This systematic literature review analyzed published evidence on IgA nephropathy (IgAN), focusing on US epidemiology, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and economic burden of illness. Methods: Using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, Embase®, MEDLINE®, Cochrane, and Econlit (January 2010 to June 2020) were searched, along with relevant congresses (2017-2020). Results: Of 123 epidemiologic studies selected for data extraction, 24 reported IgAN diagnosis rates ranging from 6.3% to 29.7% among adult and pediatric patients undergoing renal biopsy, with all reported US rates <15%. No US studies reported IgAN prevalence. A meta-analysis of US studies calculated an annual incidence of 1.29/100 000 people, translating to an annual US incidence of 4236 adults and children. Relative to Europe, the United States had more patients diagnosed with IgAN in later chronic kidney disease stages. US rates of transition to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) ranged from 12.5% to 23% during 3-3.9 years of observation, rising to 53% during 19 years of observation. Across 8 studies reporting HRQoL, pain and fatigue were the most reported symptoms, and patients consistently ranked kidney function and mortality as the most important treatment outcomes. Patients with glomerulopathy reported worse mental health than healthy controls or hemodialysis patients; proteinuria was significantly associated with poorer HRQoL and depression. Conclusion: While economic evidence in IgAN remains sparse, management of ESRD is a major cost driver. IgAN is a rare disease where disease progression causes increasing patient burden, underscoring the need for therapies that prevent kidney function decline and HRQoL deterioration while reducing mortality.

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COVID-19 associated delirium: pathogenetic mechanisms of induction and clinical features

Medical Herald of the South of Russia ◽

10.21886/2219-8075-2021-12-1-33-37 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 33-37

Author(s):

L. V. Tsoy

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Literature Review ◽

Clinical Features ◽

Systematic Literature Review ◽

Clinical Studies ◽

Present Review ◽

Google Scholar ◽

Pathogenetic Mechanisms ◽

Potential Factors

The present review describes pathogenetic mechanisms and clinical features of COVID-19 associated delirium. Potential factors leading to the named condition and pathophysiological chains were described elaborately, including older adults’ manifestation analysis based on the latest clinical studies. A systematic literature review was conducted in the following databases: PubMed, Scopus, e-library, Google Scholar and others.

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Older Adults’ Loneliness, Social Isolation, and Physical Information and Communication Technology in the Era of Ambient Assisted Living: A Systematic Literature Review (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.28022 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Rita Latikka ◽

Rosana Rubio-Hernández ◽

Elena Simona Lohan ◽

Juho Rantala ◽

Fernando Nieto Fernández ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Literature Review ◽

Social Isolation ◽

Information And Communication Technology ◽

Communication Technology ◽

Systematic Literature Review ◽

Assisted Living ◽

Ambient Assisted Living ◽

Smart Homes ◽

Information And Communication

BACKGROUND Loneliness and social isolation can have severe effects on human health and well-being. Partial solutions to combat these circumstances in demographically aging societies have been sought from the field of information and communication technology (ICT). OBJECTIVE This systematic literature review investigates the research conducted on older adults’ loneliness and social isolation, and physical ICTs, namely robots, wearables, and smart homes, in the era of ambient assisted living (AAL). The aim is to gain insight into how technology can help overcome loneliness and social isolation other than by fostering social communication with people and what the main open-ended challenges according to the reviewed studies are. METHODS The data were collected from 7 bibliographic databases. A preliminary search resulted in 1271 entries that were screened based on predefined inclusion criteria. The characteristics of the selected studies were coded, and the results were summarized to answer our research questions. RESULTS The final data set consisted of 23 empirical studies. We found out that ICT solutions such as smart homes can help detect and predict loneliness and social isolation, and technologies such as robotic pets and some other social robots can help alleviate loneliness to some extent. The main open-ended challenges across studies relate to the need for more robust study samples and study designs. Further, the reviewed studies report technology- and topic-specific open-ended challenges. CONCLUSIONS Technology can help assess older adults’ loneliness and social isolation, and alleviate loneliness without direct interaction with other people. The results are highly relevant in the COVID-19 era, where various social restrictions have been introduced all over the world, and the amount of research literature in this regard has increased recently.

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