scholarly journals Change in Stress and Positive Experiences among Older Oregonians during the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 722-723
Author(s):  
Maria Kurth ◽  
Hye Soo Lee ◽  
Soyoung Choun ◽  
Carolyn Aldwin ◽  
Dylan Lee

Abstract Several cross-sectional studies have examined stressors and positive events among older adults during COVID-19. We extend these studies by examining changes across time in perceptions of stress and positive experiences. Older adults in Oregon (Mage = 71.1, SD = 7.3, range = 51-95) completed weekly surveys from April 28 to June 23, responding to an adaptation of the Daily Stress Inventory (DISE; Almeida et al., 2002). DISE examines stressors and positive experiences across six domains (health, spouse/partner, other relationships, work/volunteer, finances, and retirement) on a 7-point scale (1 = not at all to 7 = extremely). At baseline, those who felt more stressed were younger, female, and reported more chronic health conditions, while younger adults, especially males, reported more positive events. Positive and stress intensity scores were not correlated. Multilevel models found that for both positive, Blinear = -2.54, SE = 0.52, p < .001; Bquadratic = 0.21, p < .05, and stress, Blinear = -0.79, p < .001; Bquadratic = 0.07, p <.01, intensity showed decelerated decreases across time; residuals for both models were significant. Older adults had lower stress levels, while women and those with chronic health conditions had higher stress levels. Women also reported lower levels of positive events. In both models, neither age, gender, nor chronic health conditions predicted change. These results highlight the evolving experiences during COVID-19, as perceptions of stress and positive events decreased. Future studies should examine how the changing circumstances during COVID-19 affect adaptation, including perceived stress and positive events.

Author(s):  
João De Souza Leal Neto ◽  
Aline Rodrigues Barbosa ◽  
Vandrize Meneghini

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1980-0037.2016v18n5p509 The aim of this study was to analyze the association between diseases and chronic health conditions, multimorbidity and body mass index (BMI) in older adults from southern Brazil. Epidemiological cross-sectional study, with household basis was carried out with 343 older adults aged 60-79 years, selected by probability sampling and all aged 80 years or older (n=134). Hypertension, diabetes, cancer, chronic pulmonary diseases, coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, depression, history of falls and dependency in activities of the daily living were assessed by self-report. Associations between independent variables and BMI (outcome) were tested using simple and multiple linear regression. Participated in the study 270 women (73.2±8.8 years) and 207 men (73.3±9.0 years). After adjustment (age, education, living arrangement, smoking, alcohol consumption, waist circumference, cognitive status and all other disease and chronic health conditions), the associations identified were: hypertension with higher BMI values (β 3.43; 95%CI: 2.38 to 4.48), for women, and chronic pulmonary disease with lower BMI values (β -2.05; 95%CI: -3.50 to -0.60). There was a linear trend between number of diseases and BMI for both sexes. Conclusion: The results showed an independent association between specific chronic diseases and BMI. Monitoring of nutritional status in older adults is important to identify extreme BMI values, especially those with more than two diseases and chronic health conditions. 


2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Reeder ◽  
Karen Chad ◽  
Liz Harrison ◽  
Nigel Ashworth ◽  
Suzanne Sheppard ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 949-958
Author(s):  
Sana El Mhamdi ◽  
Andrine Lemieux ◽  
Manel Ben Fredj ◽  
Ines Bouanene ◽  
Arwa Ben Salah ◽  
...  

Abstract Early life adversities (ELAs) are shown as significant risk factors for chronic health conditions (CHCs). ELAs include multiple types of abuse such as the social abuse (peer, community, and collective violence). The purpose is to describe the relationship between childhood social abuse and chronic conditions in adulthood among a sample of adults in Tunisia and to investigate the role of obesity and tobacco use as mediators of this association. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Tunisia, from January to June 2016 using the Arabic Adverse Childhood Experiences International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ). Items of social abuse (peer violence, witnessing community violence, and exposure to collective violence) were analyzed. A total of 2,120 adults were enrolled. After adjustment for age, gender, and intrafamilial ELA, social adversities were associated significantly with the selected CHC. Experiencing more than two social ELA increase the risk of occurrence of hypertension and coronary diseases. After accounting for the indirect effect of body mass index, statistically significant partial mediation effects were observed for the cumulative number of social ELA as the exposure variable and chronic diseases as the outcome variable (p ≤ .001; % mediated = 44.5%). These findings support an association between many chronic health disorders and childhood social abuse, independently of intrafamilial ACEs.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 362-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison R. Heid ◽  
Zachary Christman ◽  
Rachel Pruchno ◽  
Francine P. Cartwright ◽  
Maureen Wilson-Genderson

AbstractObjectiveDrawing on pre-disaster, peri-disaster, and post-disaster data, this study examined factors associated with the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in older adults exposed to Hurricane Sandy.MethodsWe used a sample of older participants matched by gender, exposure, and geographic region (N=88, mean age=59.83 years) in which one group reported clinically significant levels of PTSD symptoms and the other did not. We conducted t-tests, chi-square tests, and exact logistic regressions to examine differences in pre-disaster characteristics and peri-disaster experiences.ResultsOlder adults who experienced PTSD symptoms reported lower levels of income, positive affect, subjective health, and social support and were less likely to be working 4 to 6 years before Hurricane Sandy than were people not experiencing PTSD symptoms. Those developing PTSD symptoms reported more depressive symptoms, negative affect, functional disability, chronic health conditions, and pain before Sandy and greater distress and feelings of danger during Hurricane Sandy. Exact logistic regression revealed independent effects of preexisting chronic health conditions and feelings of distress during Hurricane Sandy in predicting PTSD group status.ConclusionsOur findings indicated that because vulnerable adults can be identified before disaster strikes, the opportunity to mitigate disaster-related PTSD exists through identification and resource programs that target population subgroups. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:362–370)


Blood ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
AnnaLynn M Williams ◽  
Sedigheh Mirzaei Salehabadi ◽  
Mengqi Xing ◽  
Nicholas Steve Phillips ◽  
Matthew Ehrhardt ◽  
...  

Long-term survivors of childhood Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) experience high burden of chronic health morbidities. Correlates of neurocognitive and psychosocial morbidity have not been well established. 1,760 survivors of HL (mean[SD] age 37.5[6.0] years, time since diagnosis 23.6[4.7] years, 52.1% female) and 3,180 siblings (age 33.2[8.5] years, 54.5% female) completed cross-sectional surveys assessing neurocognitive function, emotional distress, quality of life, social attainment, smoking, and physical activity. Treatment exposures were abstracted from medical records. Chronic health conditions were graded according to NCI CTCAE v4.3 (1=mild, 2=moderate, 3=severe/disabling, 4=life-threatening). Multivariable analyses, adjusted for age, sex, and race, estimated relative risk (RR) of impairment in survivors vs. siblings and, among survivors, risk of impairment associated with demographic, clinical, treatment factors and grade 2+ chronic health conditions. Compared with siblings, survivors had significant higher risk (p's<0.05) of neurocognitive impairment (e.g. memory 8.1% vs. 5.7%), anxiety (7.0%%vs. 5.4%),depression (9.1% vs. 7%), unemployment (9.6% vs. 4.4%), and impaired physical/mental quality of life (e.g. physical function 11.2% vs. 3.0%). Smoking was associated with higher risk of impairment in task efficiency (RR=1.56[1.02-2.39]), emotional regulation (RR=1.84[1.35-2.49]), anxiety (RR=2.43[1.51-3.93]), and depression (RR=2.73[1.85-4.04]). Meeting CDC exercise guidelines was associated with lower risk of impairment in task efficiency (RR=0.70[0.52-0.95]), organization (RR=0.60[0.45-0.80]), depression (RR=0.66[0.48-0.92]), and multiple quality of life domains. Cardiovascular and neurologic conditions were associated with impairment in nearly all domains. Survivors of HL are at elevated risk for neurocognitive and psychosocial impairment, and risk is associated with modifiable factors that provide targets for interventions to improve long-term functional outcomes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 499-508
Author(s):  
Miriam Mutambudzi ◽  
Kene Henkens

AbstractThe proportion of workers with chronic health conditions (CHCs) will increase over the years as pension reform is increasing the age of retirement in many European countries. This will increase the percentage of older adults with CHCs performing highly demanding work. This study sought to examine the association between common CHCs [cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, arthritis, respiratory and sleep disorders] and three domains of work stress in older Dutch workers. This study used data from the first wave of the NIDI Pension Panel Study for working adults aged 60–65 years (n = 6793). Logistic regression models examined the strength of association between CHCs and (1) general work stress, (2) emotional, and (3) physical demands. All five CHC were independently associated with one or more domains of stress. After including all CHCs in the model, CVD, sleep disorders, and arthritis were significantly associated with general stress. Respiratory disorders, sleep disorders, and arthritis were significantly associated with physical demands. Diabetes (1.25, 95% CI 1.01–1.53), sleep disorders (1.99, 95% CI 1.72–2.31), and arthritis (1.18, 95% CI 1.06–1.31) were significantly associated with emotional demands. Our findings demonstrate that work stress is associated with prevalent CHCs, and these conditions are differentially associated with several domains of work stress in adults approaching retirement. More research is needed to understand the causal relationship between CHCs and work stress. Such research may provide insights for effective workplace and public health interventions to ensure that older workers remain physically and mentally healthy, and productive through their working years.


2016 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 146-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Orion Mowbray ◽  
Tiffany Washington ◽  
Greg Purser ◽  
Jay O‘Shields

10.2196/13029 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. e13029
Author(s):  
Kathryn Volpicelli Leonard ◽  
Courtney Robertson ◽  
Amrita Bhowmick ◽  
Leslie Beth Herbert

Background Approximately 50% of patients are nonadherent to prescribed medications. Patient perception regarding medication effectiveness has been linked to improved adherence. However, how patients perceive effectiveness is poorly understood. Objective The aim of this study was to elucidate factors associated with perceived treatment satisfaction and effectiveness among patients with chronic health conditions. Methods We conducted a descriptive study using a cross-sectional survey design. We administered a Web-based survey to participants with migraine, multiple sclerosis (MS), or rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Patients were recruited from established online communities of Health Union. Descriptive statistics, correlations, and comparison tests were used to examine outcomes. Results Data were collected from 1820 patients: 567 with migraine, 717 with MS, and 536 with RA. The majority of participants were female (1644/1820, 90.33%), >40 years old (1462/1820, 80.33%), and diagnosed >5 years ago (1189/1820, 65.33%). Treatment satisfaction and perceived medication effectiveness were highly correlated (r=0.90, P<.01). Overall, three temporal factors were positively correlated with satisfaction or perceived effectiveness: time on current medication (satisfaction rs=0.22, P<.01; effectiveness rs=0.25, P<.01), time since diagnosis (satisfaction rs=0.07, P<.01; effectiveness rs=0.09, P<.01), and time on treatment (effectiveness rs=0.08, P<.01). Conclusions Findings validated the strong relationship between treatment satisfaction and perceived effectiveness. Understanding the (1) positive relationship between time and treatment satisfaction and effectiveness and (2) factors associated with determining medication effectiveness can help clinicians better understand the mindset of patients regarding treatment. Clinicians may be better prepared to elicit patient beliefs, which influence medication adherence, for people diagnosed with chronic health conditions.


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