scholarly journals The Effect of Diabetes on the Cognitive Trajectory of Older Adults in Mexico and the United States

Author(s):  
Jaqueline C Avila ◽  
Silvia Mejia-Arangom ◽  
Daniel Jupiter ◽  
Brian Downer ◽  
Rebeca Wong

Abstract Objectives To study the impact of diabetes on the long-term cognitive trajectories of older adults in 2 countries with different socioeconomic and health settings, and to determine whether this relationship differs by cognitive domains. This study uses Mexico and the United States to confirm if patterns hold in both populations, as these countries have similar diabetes prevalence but different socioeconomic conditions and diabetes-related mortality. Methods Two nationally representative cohorts of adults aged 50 years or older are used: the Mexican Health and Aging Study for Mexico and the Health and Retirement Study for the United States, with sample sizes of 18,810 and 26,244 individuals, respectively, followed up for a period of 14 years. The outcome is cognition measured as a total composite score and by domain (memory and nonmemory). Mixed-effect linear models are used to test the effect of diabetes on cognition at 65 years old and over time in each country. Results Diabetes is associated with lower cognition and nonmemory scores at baseline and over time in both countries. In Mexico, diabetes only predicts lower memory scores over time, whereas in the United States it only predicts lower memory scores at baseline. Women have higher total cognition and memory scores than men in both studies. The magnitude of the effect of diabetes on cognition is similar in both countries. Discussion Despite the overall lower cognition in Mexico and different socioeconomic characteristics, the impact of diabetes on cognitive decline and the main risk and protective factors for poor cognition are similar in both countries.

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 100848
Author(s):  
Ganesh M. Babulal ◽  
Valeria L. Torres ◽  
Daisy Acosta ◽  
Cinthya Agüero ◽  
Sara Aguilar-Navarro ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 772-773
Author(s):  
Rose Ann DiMaria-Ghalili ◽  
Connie Bales ◽  
Julie Locher

Abstract Food insecurity is an under-recognized geriatric syndrome that has extensive implications in the overall health and well-being of older adults. Understanding the impact of food insecurity in older adults is a first step in identifying at-risk populations and provides a framework for potential interventions in both hospital and community-based settings. This symposium will provide an overview of current prevalence rates of food insecurity using large population-based datasets. We will present a summary indicator that expands measurement to include the functional and social support limitations (e.g., community disability, social isolation, frailty, and being homebound), which disproportionately impact older adults, and in turn their rate and experience of food insecurity and inadequate food access. We will illustrate using an example of at-risk seniors the association between sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass and function, with rates of food security in the United States. The translational aspect of the symposium will then focus on identification of psychosocial and environmental risk factors including food insecurity in older veterans preparing for surgery within the Veterans Affairs Perioperative Optimization of Senior Health clinic. Gaining insights into the importance of food insecurity will lay the foundation for an intervention for food insecurity in the deep south. Our discussant will provide an overview of the implications of these results from a public health standpoint. By highlighting the importance of food insecurity, such data can potentially become a framework to allow policy makers to expand nutritional programs as a line of defense against hunger in this high-risk population.


2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (11) ◽  
pp. 2509-2527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordane A. Mathieu ◽  
Filipe Aires

AbstractStatistical meteorological impact models are intended to represent the impact of weather on socioeconomic activities, using a statistical approach. The calibration of such models is difficult because relationships are complex and historical records are limited. Often, such models succeed in reproducing past data but perform poorly on unseen new data (a problem known as overfitting). This difficulty emphasizes the need for regularization techniques and reliable assessment of the model quality. This study illustrates, in a general way, how to extract pertinent information from weather data and exploit it in impact models that are designed to help decision-making. For a given socioeconomic activity, this type of impact model can be used to 1) study its sensitivity to weather anomalies (e.g., corn sensitivity to water stress), 2) perform seasonal forecasting (yield forecasting) for it, and 3) quantify the longer-term (several decades) impact of weather on it. The size of the training database can be increased by pooling data from various locations, but this requires statistical models that are able to use the localization information—for example, mixed-effect (ME) models. Linear, neural-network, and ME models are compared, using a real-world application: corn-yield forecasting over the United States. Many challenges faced in this paper may be encountered in many weather-impact analyses: these results show that much care is required when using space–time data because they are often highly spatially correlated. In addition, the forecast quality is strongly influenced by the training spatial scale. For the application that is described herein, learning at the state scale is a good trade-off: it is specific to local conditions while keeping enough data for the calibration.


Healthcare ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 341
Author(s):  
David R. Axon ◽  
Shannon Vaffis ◽  
Srujitha Marupuru

The prevalence of older adults with pain and comorbid cardiovascular conditions is increasing in the United States (U.S.). This retrospective, cross-sectional database study used 2017 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data and hierarchical logistic regression models to identify predictive characteristics of opioid use among a nationally representative sample of older U.S. adults (aged ≥50 years) with pain in the past four weeks and comorbid hypertension (pain–hypertension group) or hypercholesterolemia (pain–hypercholesterolemia group). The pain–hypertension group included 2733 subjects (n = 803 opioid users) and the pain–hypercholesterolemia group included 2796 subjects (n = 795 opioid users). In both groups, predictors of opioid use included: White race versus others, Hispanic versus non-Hispanic ethnicity, 1 versus ≥5 chronic conditions, little/moderate versus quite a bit/extreme pain, good versus fair/poor perceived mental health, functional limitation versus no functional limitation, smoker versus non-smoker, and Northeast versus West census region. In addition, Midwest versus West census region was a predictor in the pain–hypertension group, and 4 versus ≥5 chronic conditions was a predictor in the pain–hypercholesterolemia group. In conclusion, several characteristics of older U.S. adults with pain and comorbid hypertension or hypercholesterolemia were predictive of opioid use. These characteristics could be addressed to optimize individuals’ pain management and help address the opioid overdose epidemic.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 33-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Yamashita ◽  
Anthony R. Bardo ◽  
Darren Liu ◽  
Phyllis A. Cummins

Objectives: Health literacy is often viewed as an essential skill set for successfully seeking health information to make health-related decisions. However, this general understanding has yet to be established with the use of nationally representative data. The objective of this study was to provide the first nationally representative empirical evidence that links health information seeking behaviors with health literacy among middle-age to older adults in the United States. Methods: Data were obtained from the 2012/2014 Program for the International Assessment of Adult Literacy (PIAAC). Our analytic sample is representative of adults age 45 to 74 years ( N = 2,989). Results: Distinct components of health literacy (i.e., literacy and numeracy) were uniquely associated with the use of different health information sources (e.g., health professionals, the Internet, television). Discussion: Findings should be useful for government agencies and health care providers interested in targeting health communications, as well as researchers who focus on health disparities.


2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (36) ◽  
pp. 17753-17758 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Rosenfeld ◽  
Reuben J. Thomas ◽  
Sonia Hausen

We present data from a nationally representative 2017 survey of American adults. For heterosexual couples in the United States, meeting online has become the most popular way couples meet, eclipsing meeting through friends for the first time around 2013. Moreover, among the couples who meet online, the proportion who have met through the mediation of third persons has declined over time. We find that Internet meeting is displacing the roles that family and friends once played in bringing couples together.


2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 3-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Facundo Alvaredo ◽  
Anthony B Atkinson ◽  
Thomas Piketty ◽  
Emmanuel Saez

The top 1 percent income share has more than doubled in the United States over the last 30 years, drawing much public attention in recent years. While other English-speaking countries have also experienced sharp increases in the top 1 percent income share, many high-income countries such as Japan, France, or Germany have seen much less increase in top income shares. Hence, the explanation cannot rely solely on forces common to advanced countries, such as the impact of new technologies and globalization on the supply and demand for skills. Moreover, the explanations have to accommodate the falls in top income shares earlier in the twentieth century experienced in virtually all high-income countries. We highlight four main factors. The first is the impact of tax policy, which has varied over time and differs across countries. Top tax rates have moved in the opposite direction from top income shares. The effects of top rate cuts can operate in conjunction with other mechanisms. The second factor is a richer view of the labor market, where we contrast the standard supply-side model with one where pay is determined by bargaining and the reactions to top rate cuts may lead simply to a redistribution of surplus. Indeed, top rate cuts may lead managerial energies to be diverted to increasing their remuneration at the expense of enterprise growth and employment. The third factor is capital income. Overall, private wealth (relative to income) has followed a U-shaped path over time, particularly in Europe, where inherited wealth is, in Europe if not in the United States, making a return. The fourth, little investigated, element is the correlation between earned income and capital income, which has substantially increased in recent decades in the United States.


AERA Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 233285841987405
Author(s):  
Lauren Schudde ◽  
Kaitlin Bernell

Although decades of research highlight the impact of schooling on earnings, less evidence exists regarding other employment outcomes. Nonwage labor market returns to education are important in the United States, where health insurance and retirement income are typically tied to employment. Using longitudinal, nationally representative data, we examine the role of educational attainment in predicting nonwage employment outcomes and control for a host of individual and institutional measures. Even after controlling for individual and institutional characteristics, results indicate that educational attainment predicts employment and markers of “good” jobs, like access to employer-provided health and dental insurances, retirement plans, and paid leave. Furthermore, by delineating between various subbaccalaureate levels of college attainment, our results illustrate the complex variation in returns to college for those who did not complete a 4-year degree.


2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 918-925 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samir Soneji ◽  
JaeWon Yang ◽  
Meghan Bridgid Moran ◽  
Andy S L Tan ◽  
James Sargent ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective To assess changes in engagement with online tobacco and electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) marketing (online tobacco marketing) among adolescents in the United States between 2013 and 2015. Methods We assessed the prevalence of six forms of engagement with online tobacco marketing, both overall and by brand, among adolescents sampled in Wave 1 (2013–2014; n = 13651) and Wave 2 (2014–2015; n = 12172) of the nationally representative Population Assessment for Tobacco and Health Study. Engagement was analyzed by tobacco use status: non-susceptible never tobacco users; susceptible never tobacco users; ever tobacco users, but not within the past year; and past-year tobacco users. Results Among all adolescents, the estimated prevalence of engagement with at least one form of online tobacco marketing increased from 8.7% in 2013–2014 to 20.9% in 2014–2015. The estimated prevalence of engagement also increased over time across all tobacco use statuses (eg, from 10.5% to 26.6% among susceptible adolescents). Brand-specific engagement increased over time for cigarette, cigar, and e-cigarette brands. Conclusion Engagement with online tobacco marketing, both for tobacco and e-cigarettes, increased almost twofold over time. This increase emphasizes the dynamic nature of online tobacco marketing and its ability to reach youth. The Food and Drug Administration, in cooperation with social networking sites, should consider new approaches to regulate this novel form of marketing. Implications This is the first study to estimate the national prevalence of engagement with online tobacco marketing among adolescents over time. The estimated prevalence of this engagement approximately doubled between 2013–2014 and 2014–2015 among all adolescents and, notably, among adolescents at relatively low risk to initiate tobacco use. This increase in engagement could represent public health harm if it results in increased initiation and use of tobacco products. Stronger federal regulation of online tobacco marketing and tighter control of access to tobacco-related content by social media sites could reduce adolescents’ exposure to and engagement with online tobacco marketing.


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