Grandparenting and support from adult children: Does children’s international migration make a difference for Chinese older adults?

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 382-397
Author(s):  
Ling Xu ◽  
Man Guo ◽  
Jinyu Liu ◽  
Weiyu Mao
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
International Migration ◽  
Adult Children ◽  
Chinese Older Adults

scholarly journals Loneliness as a mediator of the impact of social isolation on cognitive functioning of Chinese older adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 599-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rumei Yang ◽  
Haocen Wang ◽  
Linda S Edelman ◽  
Eunjin L Tracy ◽  
George Demiris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Adult Children ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Living Alone ◽  
Activity Engagement ◽  
Chinese Older Adults ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background and Objective older adults have increased risk of social isolation, loneliness and cognitive functioning impairment, but the relationships among these factors are not conclusive. We investigated the potential mediation mechanism of loneliness on the association between social isolation and cognitive functioning among Chinese older adults within their cultural context. Design secondary analysis of the baseline wave (2011–12) of the harmonised China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. Setting and Subjects community-dwelling older adults in China (N = 7,410 participants aged 60–101 years). Methods we applied a multiple indicator multiple cause approach to determine whether the construct of social isolation is well defined by four indicators (social activity engagement, weekly adult children contact, caregiving for grandchildren and living alone) and used structural equation modelling to examine the direct and indirect effects among variables of interest. Results the results demonstrated that social activity engagement, weekly adult children contact and caregiving for grandchildren were significantly related to social isolation (β = −0.26 to −0.28) (Living alone was fixed to 1 for model identification.) The indirect effect of social isolation on cognitive functioning through loneliness was significant (β = −0.15), indicating loneliness was an important mediator. However, the direct effect of social isolation on cognitive functioning also remained significant (β = −0.83), suggesting a partial mediation effect. Conclusions our study highlights the mediation role of loneliness in the relationship between social isolation and cognitive functioning among Chinese older adults. The findings support the beneficial effects of maintaining social relations and coping with feelings of loneliness on older adults’ cognitive functioning.

scholarly journals Oral Health, Immigrant Status, and Adult Children’s Support Among Chinese American Older Adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 800-800
Author(s):  
Nan Jiang ◽  
Bei Wu ◽  
Wei Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Oral Health ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Adult Children ◽  
Chinese American ◽  
Immigrant Status ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Chinese Older Adults ◽  
Health Outcomes Research ◽  
Older Immigrants

Abstract Adult children play an important role in older immigrants’ health outcomes. Research has indicated that older adults may benefit from adult children caregivers’ support for oral health. However, little is known about children’s support for improving oral health for older immigrants. Using the 2018 survey of 430 Chinese older adults age 55 and older in Honolulu, Hawai’i, we examine the associations among immigrant status, adult children’s support and perceived oral health for Chinese American older adults. Emotional support from adult children protects the self-rated oral health for the immigrant group, while financial support is linked to fewer oral health problems among the US-born group. Therefore, the current study underlines the importance of investigating different pathways among foreign-born and native-born Chinese older adults with regard to children’s support on their oral health outcomes. Part of a symposium sponsored by the Oral Health Interest Group.

scholarly journals Leveraging a Population-Based Dyadic Data Set to Promote Health Equity Among Chinese Americans

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 200-200
Author(s):  
XinQi Dong ◽  
Dexia Kong
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Adult Children ◽  
Chinese Americans ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Minority Population ◽  
Older Parents ◽  
Chinese Older Adults ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Recognizing the central role of family-oriented values in Chinese culture, developing a family-based understanding of health and wellbeing in Chinese Americans is imperative. By linking two unique population-based datasets (one on Chinese older adults, and another on their corresponding adult children caregivers), the purpose of this symposium is to present interactive analyses of dyad-level data to achieve an interpersonal understanding of health outcomes of Chinese older adults and their adult children within the family context. Data were obtained from 807 Chinese older adults-adult children dyads by merging data from two epidemiological studies, namely the Population Study of ChINese Elderly in Chicago (the PINE study) and the PIETY study of corresponding adult children caregivers of PINE participants. Specifically, this symposium presents findings from five interconnected research projects. Session 1 provides an overview of study design and sample characteristics of the dyadic dataset. Session 2 examines the relationship between adult children’s endorsement of the filial piety value and older parents’ mental health outcomes. Session 3 investigates the level of congruence between older parents’ self-perceived mental health and adult children’s evaluation of their parents’ mental health. Session 4 investigates the extent to which depressive symptoms among older parents were associated with those of their adult children. Session 5 explores the relationship between older parents’ physical function and adult children’s perceived caregiving burden. Taken together, this symposium presents potential contributions of dyad-level analyses in advancing minority population health. Study findings have the potential to inform the development of family-centered intervention strategies targeting Chinese Americans.

Association between eHealth Literacy and Health-Related Quality of Life among Chinese Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaojie Li ◽  
Yongtian Yin ◽  
Lijun Chen ◽  
Guanghui Cui ◽  
Jiaqin Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Mental Component Summary ◽  
Health Related Quality ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Chinese Older Adults ◽  
Ehealth Literacy ◽  
Related Quality ◽  
Health Related

BACKGROUND Older adults’ health literacy levels are crucial to improving health outcomes and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, the impact of eHealth literacy on HRQoL in older adults is unclear. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine the association between eHealth literacy and HRQoL of older adults and provide reference for the development of network intervention measures related to the health quality of life of the older adults. METHODS An anonymous cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1,201 adults aged 60 or older from Jinan, China. The eHealth Literacy Scale and Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12) were used to measure eHealth literacy and HRQoL. We used linear regression to test the adjusted association between eHealth literacy and HRQoL. RESULTS Most participants (88.9%) had inadequate eHealth literacy. Lower eHealth literacy was related to older age ( F=12.618, P<.001), female gender( t=3.303, P<.01), living in rural areas( F=11.356, P<.001), having less education( F=59.084, P<.001), being unmarried, divorced or widowed( t=4.416, P<.001), having a lower family income( F=38.017, P<.001), living with others(χ2=4.319, P<.05), and not having health insurance( F=12.713, P<.001). There were significant differences across physical functioning( t=-4.862, P<.001), role- physical( t=-2.485, P<.05), bodily pain( t=-3.470, P<.01), general health( t=-4.449, P<.001), vitality( t=-3.498, P<.001), role-emotional( t=-2.654, P<.01), mental health( t=-4.150, P<.001), physical component summary( t=-6.350, P<.001) and mental component summary( t=-4.483, P<.001) between adequate eHealth literacy and inadequate eHealth literacy. After controlling for age, gender, and other covariates, adequate eHealth literacy was positively related to physical component summary ( beta=7.6, P<.001) and mental component summary(beta=4.6, P=.001). CONCLUSIONS This study showed that Chinese older adults with higher eHealth literacy were more likely to contribute to higher HRQoL. Thus, Older adults’ eHealth literacy levels need to be taken into account when formulating health education and promotion programs for older adults, especially when the expected outcome is to improve HRQoL.

scholarly journals Sex disparities in cardiovascular health metrics among rural-dwelling older adults in China: a population-based study

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaolei Han ◽  
Ziying Jiang ◽  
Yuanjing Li ◽  
Yongxiang Wang ◽  
Yajun Liang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Cardiovascular Health ◽  
Rural China ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Baseline Survey ◽  
Chinese Older Adults ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Sex Disparities

Abstract Background Cardiovascular health (CVH) metrics among Chinese older adults are poorly understood. We investigated sex disparities in CVH metrics and their management among rural-dwelling older adults in China. Methods This community-based study included 5026 participants (age ≥ 65 years; 57.2% women) in the baseline survey of a multimodal intervention study in rural China. In March–September 2018, data were collected through face-to-face interviews, clinical examinations, and laboratory tests. We defined six CVH metrics (three behavioral factors—smoking, body mass index, and physical activity; three biological factors—blood pressure, total cholesterol, and blood glucose) following the modified American Heart Association’s recommendations. We performed descriptive analysis separately for men and women. Results Of all participants, only 0.8% achieved ideal levels in all six CVH metrics. Men were more likely than women to have ideal levels in all CVH metrics but smoking. Women had higher prevalence of ideal global (9.7% vs. 7.8%) and behavioral (18.3% vs. 9.5%) CVH metrics (p < 0.001), whereas men had higher prevalence of ideal biological CVH metrics (5.4% vs. 3.5%, p < 0.001). The prevalence of ideal global and behavioral CVH metrics increased with age in both women and men (p for trend< 0.001). Women were more likely to be aware of their hypertension and diabetes, and to receive antihypertensive treatment, while men were more likely to achieve the goal of high cholesterol treatment (p < 0.05). Conclusions The CVH metrics among older adults living in the rural communities in China are characterized by an extremely low proportion of optimal global CVH metrics and distinct sex differences, alongside poor management of major biological risk factors. Trial registration ChiCTR1800017758 (Aug 13, 2018).

The 32-Item Multilingual Naming Test: Cultural and Linguistic Biases in Monolingual Chinese-Speaking Older Adults

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Clara Li ◽  
Xiaoyi Zeng ◽  
Judith Neugroschl ◽  
Amy Aloysi ◽  
Carolyn W. Zhu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
New York ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Item Difficulty ◽  
Chinese Older Adults ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
School Of Medicine ◽  
Consensus Conferences ◽  
Linguistic Groups ◽  
Naming Test

ABSTRACT Objectives: This study describes the performance of the Multilingual Naming Test (MINT) by Chinese American older adults who are monolingual Chinese speakers. An attempt was also made to identify items that could introduce bias and warrant attention in future investigation. Methods: The MINT was administered to 67 monolingual Chinese older adults as part of the standard dementia evaluation at the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS), New York, USA. A diagnosis of normal cognition (n = 38), mild cognitive impairment (n = 12), and dementia (n = 17) was assigned to all participants at clinical consensus conferences using criterion sheets developed at the ADRC at ISMMS. Results: MINT scores were negatively correlated with age and positively correlated with education, showing sensitivity to demographic factors. One item, butterfly, showed no variations in responses across diagnostic groups. Inclusion of responses from different regions of China changed the answers from “incorrect” to “correct” on 20 items. The last five items, porthole, anvil, mortar, pestle, and axle, yielded a high nonresponse rate, with more than 70% of participants responding with “I don’t know.” Four items, funnel, witch, seesaw, and wig, were not ordered with respect to item difficulty in the Chinese language. Two items, gauge and witch, were identified as culturally biased for the monolingual group. Conclusions: Our study highlights the cultural and linguistic differences that might influence the test performance. Future studies are needed to revise the MINT using more universally recognized items of similar word frequency across different cultural and linguistic groups.

scholarly journals Presence and Levels of Resilience and Its Sociodemographic Correlates in Older Chinese Americans

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 389-389
Author(s):  
Jieyang Zheng ◽  
Dexia Kong ◽  
Mengting Li ◽  
XinQi Dong
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Rank Order ◽  
Chinese Americans ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Protective Effects ◽  
Chinese Older Adults ◽  
Sociodemographic Correlates ◽  
Older Chinese ◽  
Older Chinese Americans

Abstract Resilience is defined as a personal quality that enables growth in knowledge, understanding and self-actualization in the face of adversity and life disruptions. Low levels of resilience can dispose older adults to higher risks for negative health outcomes in the aftermath of traumatic events. However, we have limited knowledge of resilience among minority aging populations. This study aims to examine the presence and levels of resilience and its sociodemographic correlates among U.S. Chinese older adults. Data were drawn from the Population Study of Chinese Elderly, an epidemiology study of U.S. Chinese older adults in the Greater Chicago area. Guided by a community-based participatory research approach, a total of 3,036 Chinese older adults aged 60 and above participated in face-to-face interviews from 2015 to 2017. Spearman’s rank-order coefficient was utilized to test correlation. A 10-item validated Chinese version of the Connor-Davidson resilience scale was used to assess resilience. In our sample, 59.7% were female, and the average age was 75. The mean resilience score was 26.9, ranging from 1 to 40. U.S. Chinese older adults who were younger, male, married, had higher education and income, fewer children, better health status and quality of life, and improved health and have lived fewer years in the U.S. reported higher levels of resilience. Future longitudinal research is needed to investigate the protective effects of resilience among older Chinese Americans against mental and physical distress.

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