scholarly journals Fostering Multidisciplinary Solutions in Aging: The Research Centers Collaborative Network

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 817-817
Author(s):  
Stephen Kritchevsky ◽  
Odette van der Willik ◽  
Basil Eldadah

Abstract The important problems facing older adults will not be solved through the methods of a single discipline. In recognition of this, the NIA funded the Research Centers Collaborative Network (RCCN) to build collaborations between scientists from the 6 NIA-sponsored center programs: Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers, Centers on the Demography and Economics of Aging, Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Centers, Nathan Shock Centers of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research, and Roybal Centers for Translational Research on Aging. RCCN’s central premise is that researchers from different disciplines are most likely to collaborate when they are addressing similar problems. To foster collaboration the RCCN has convened 5 workshops on: 1. achieving and sustaining behavior change in older adults; 2. sex and gender in aging research; 3. reserve and resilience; 4. life course perspectives on aging; and 5. promoting the inclusion of older adults in clinical research. After each Workshop the RCCN awards pilot funds related to the theme. This symposium will review key learnings from the workshops and present work of four RCCN pilot teams from the first two workshops which focused on changing and sustaining behavior change in older adults, and sex and gender differences in aging. Dr. Hughes will discuss the value of interdisciplinary research to maintain behavior change while Dr. Lee will discuss social incentives to improve mobility postoperatively. Dr. Stites will discuss cognition and gender trends, while Dr. Ware will discuss sex differences in genetic effects.

2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (12) ◽  
pp. 2764-2767
Author(s):  
Anamika Mishra ◽  
Stephanie H. Read ◽  
Paula A. Rochon

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wyllians Borelli ◽  
Carolina Formoso ◽  
Andrei Bieger ◽  
Eduardo Zimmer ◽  
Marcia Chaves ◽  
...  

Background: Subjective Cognitive Decline may represent the earliest clinical manifestation of the Alzheimer’s continuum. A continental-size country like Brazil demands regionalized strategies to provide adequate public health strategies. Objectives: To analyze the prevalence of SCD in Brazilian regions, sex and genders. Methods: Data was gathered from a complex-sample epidemiological study named ELSI (Estudo Longitudinal da Saúde de Idosos). SCD criteria was applied within the dataset. Weighting for complex-sampling was performed. Data was analyzed according to national region, sex and gender. Results: Overall nationwide prevalence of SCD was 15.48%. Prevalence of SCD was the highest in Midwest (19.9%), followed by Northeast (17%), North (16.9%), South (14.6%) and Southeast (14.2%, p <0.0001). Among adults, males in the North showed the highest prevalence of SCD (27.5%), while the lowest prevalence was in females in the Southeast (14.4%). Among older adults, the highest prevalence was in females in the North (19.2%), while females in the Southeast showed the lowest (11.2%). Prevalence of SCD was statistically similar in females and males (15.6% vs. 16.1%, p=0.6). Conclusions: Brazil exhibits distinct profiles of SCD according to regions, sex and genders that should be analyzed by policymakers in public health. The Midwest presented the highest prevalence of SCD. Individually, male adults and female older adults in the North presented the highest prevalence in Brazil.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamlyn Watermeyer ◽  
Fernando Massa ◽  
Jantje Goerdten ◽  
Lucy Stirland ◽  
Boo Johansson ◽  
...  

Abstract Background and Objectives Grip strength is a reliable marker of biological vitality and it typically demonstrates an expected decline in older adults. According to the common-cause hypothesis there is also a significant association between cognitive and physical function in older adults. Some specific cognitive functions have been shown to be associated with grip strength trajectories with most research solely focused on cut-off points or mean cognitive performance. In the present study we examine whether a measure of cognitive dispersion might be more informative. We therefore used an index that quantifies dispersion in cognitive scores across multiple cognitive tests, shown to be associated with detrimental outcomes in older adults. Research Design and Methods Using repeated grip strength measures from men and women aged 80 and older, free of dementia in the OCTO-Twin study, we estimated ageing-related grip strength trajectories. We examined the association of cognitive dispersion and mean cognitive function with grip strength level and ageing-related rate of change, accounting for known risk factors. Results Cognitive dispersion was associated with grip strength trajectories in men and the association varied by mean cognitive performance, whereas we found no association in women. Discussion and Implications Our results provide evidence of a sex-specific vitality association between cognitive dispersion and ageing-related trajectories of grip strength. Our results support the call for integration of sex and gender in health promotion and intervention research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 818-818
Author(s):  
Erin Ware ◽  
Lauren Schmitz ◽  
Arianna Gard

Abstract The state of science has increasingly valued interdisciplinary training and research. As an early-stage investigator, interdisciplinary research, such as that supported by the Research Centers Collaborative Network through the National Institute on Aging, provides valuable opportunities to connect researchers across disciplinary boundaries. This program encourages researchers use their diverse training experiences to tackle difficult questions in aging research and forge scholarly relationship that advance the state of science through creative problem-solving and a spectrum of interdisciplinary perspectives. This presentation describes a recently funded project to examine sex differences in aging outcomes using genetics, depression, and impaired cognition with polygenic and gene-region aggregation techniques. We will highlight the benefits and opportunities of the Research Centers Collaborative Network pilot grant to this highly interdisciplinary work, co-lead by early-stage investigators.


2020 ◽  
Vol 95 (9) ◽  
pp. 1916-1927
Author(s):  
Saraschandra Vallabhajosyula ◽  
Saarwaani Vallabhajosyula ◽  
Shannon M. Dunlay ◽  
Sharonne N. Hayes ◽  
Patricia J.M. Best ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Katie L. Stone, PhD ◽  
Vicki Li

As Americans live longer, growth in the number of older adults is unprecedented. In 2014, 14.5% (46.3 million) of the U.S. population was aged 65 or older, and this is projected to reach 23.5% (98 million) by 2060. This chapter focuses on sleep among older adults, defined as at least 65 years old, and includes a discussion on sleep and retirement. The chapter especially discusses variation of sleep and sleep disorders in this age group and associations with frailty and disease and provides a social determinants perspective. Social/environmental factors that impact sleep in older adults include the impact of retirement, caregiving, institutionalization, and other key life transitions. Important sex and gender differences among older adults are also discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 205031211984571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanna C Trenaman ◽  
Megan Rideout ◽  
Melissa K Andrew

Purpose: To date, research studies in most disciplines have not made sex-based analysis a priority despite increasing evidence of its importance. We now understand that both sex and gender impact medication prescribing, use, and effect. This is particularly true for older adults with dementia who have alterations in drug metabolism, drug response, and the permeability of the blood–brain barrier. To better understand the influence of sex and gender on drug use in older adults with dementia, we conducted a scoping review. Methods: This scoping review systematically searched the Medline, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, and ProQuest databases to find published reports on polypharmacy in populations of older adults with dementia that included a sex- or gender-based analysis. Results: A total of 12 published reports were identified. Findings were cohort studies and case-control trials that commented on sex-related differences in medication use as a secondary analysis to the studies’ primary objective. These studies showed that community-dwelling women received more potentially inappropriate medications and more psychotropic medications, while nursing home dwelling men received more potentially inappropriate medications, cholinesterase inhibitors, and antipsychotics. None of the identified studies explicitly examined gender-related differences in medication use. Conclusion: This scoping review supports that there is inadequate understanding of both sex and gender differences in drug use in older men and women with dementia. To tailor medication-specific interventions to improve drug therapy for older adults with dementia, it is important that future work includes sex- or gender-based analysis of drug use.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 696-696
Author(s):  
Shana Stites ◽  
Jason Flatt ◽  
Carol Derby

Abstract The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is committed to supporting rigorous science that advances what is understood about the influences of sex and gender in health and disease in order to inform the development of prevention strategies and treatment interventions. In research on aging and Alzheimer’s disease, sex/gender disparities in key outcomes are common. But, much of this research hinges on asking a single question: Is the patient or research participant male or female, man or woman? This practice offers few options for disambiguating sociocultural effects associated with gender from those related to biologic sex. It also assumes that self-reports are a suitable proxy for social phenotypes and that a dichotomous variable adequately captures the wide-range of sociocultural effects attributable to gender. The premise of this symposium is to evaluate how gender interacts with cognitive outcomes in order to advance measurement. This symposium will review evidence from five distinct lines of research on associations between gender and cognition for individuals and for individual’s interactions with their family members: (1) effects of normative shifts in American education on cognition in older adults; (2) hospitalization as a risk factor for cognitive decline in racially diverse American men and women; (3) caregivers who identify as sexual and gender minorities (SGM or LGBTQ+) and care for persons with dementia; (4) correlates of cognitive function in SGM older adults; and (5) differences in adults’ cognition based on childhood exposure to women’s social empowerment in 30+ Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.


ASHA Leader ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 4-4
Keyword(s):  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document