scholarly journals 1285Distinctive variations in accident and suicide mortality rates among Japanese elderly in 2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mihoko Takahashi ◽  
Midori Kamei ◽  
Makiko Uemura

Abstract Background In April 2020, the Japanese government requested that people stay home except when unavoidable for their livelihood, as a COVID-19 emergency measure. Especially, elderly people refrained from going out. We investigated mortality rates from external causes in 2020 among Japanese elderly people. Methods The monthly mortality rates from accidents (V01-X59), traffic accidents (V01-V99) and suicides (X60-X84) among elderly from 2015 to November 2020 were analyzed. Ordinary monthly expected values and reference ranges (RR: 95% range) were calculated by cause and sex and compared with the observed values. Results All accidents: Abnormal increases (beyond the RR) occurred in August for both sexes. Traffic accidents: Extreme decreases (below the RR) occurred in at least 3 months from March to October for each sex. Suicides: Extreme decreases occurred in at least 2 months from February to May for each sex. Abnormal increases occurred in November for males, and in September to November for females. Conclusions Extreme decreases in traffic accident mortalities can be explained by people staying home. Abnormal increases in accident mortalities in summer might be explained by the heat. The increases might also be related to wearing face masks. Suicide results suggest that females are especially vulnerable to the social environment created by the preventive measures against COVID-19. Key messages COVID-19 measures might have affected the physical, mental, and social well-being of elderly people. Acknowledgements This study was supported by Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Welfare Foundation.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marjan Cugmas ◽  
Anuška Ferligoj ◽  
Tina Kogovšek ◽  
Zenel Batagelj

Population ageing requires society to adjust by ensuring additional types of services and assistance for elderly people. These may be provided by either organized services and sources of informal social support. The latter is especially important since a lack of social support is associated with a lower level of psychological and physical well-being. During the Covid-19 pandemic, social support for the elderly has proven to be even more crucial, also due to physical distancing. Therefore, this study aims to identify and describe the various types of personal social support networks of the elderly population during the coronavirus pandemic. To this end, a survey of Slovenians older than 64 years was conducted from April 25 to May 4, 2020 on a probability Web-panel-based sample (n = 605). The ego-networks were clustered by a hierarchical clustering approach for symbolic data. Clustering was performed for different types of social support (socializing, instrumental support, emotional support) and different characteristics of the social support networks (i.e., type of relationship, number of contacts, geographical distance). The results show that most of the elderly population in Slovenia have a satisfactory social support network, while the share of those without any (accessible) source of social support is significant. The results are particularly valuable for sustainable care policy planning, crisis intervention planning as well as any future waves of the coronavirus.


Author(s):  
Nada A. Abouammoh ◽  
Norah A. AlRuwais ◽  
Noura A. Abouammoh

Background: Road traffic accidents (RTAs) are an epidemic problem in Saudi Arabia, resulting in high morbidity and mortality rates. This paper investigates the increasing number of RTAs and their related injuries and mortalities in Saudi Arabia.Methods: This study was performed on the population of Saudi Arabia using secondary data from the general authority for statistics from 1990 to 2018. Correlation among the variables (RTAs, injuries, mortalities, and population) was conducted using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS), and forecasts of their trends over the next ten years using linear regression was discussed.Results: Eastern, Makkah and Riyadh regions were the top three regions in the number of RTAs accounting for 69% of the total RTAs in Saudi Arabia. All regions have had a pattern of RTA rise from 1990 till 2014 that dropped in the last 4 years. Riyadh had the highest injury rate per 10,000 RTA, although it had the lowest RTA rate per 100,000 population in the period from 2010-2014. Mortality rate in Riyadh doubled between the years 2014 and 2018 while Makkah accounted for the highest RTA-related mortality rates. The correlation between RTAs and mortalities were the highest in the country (r=0.92). In 2030, the average annual increase in the rate of RTAs, related injuries, and related mortalities will be 3%, 2% and 2.1%, respectively.Conclusions: Decision makers in Saudi traffic and transportation department should continue monitoring accidents prevention strategies and their effect. Reasons behind high injury and mortality rates, despite the decrease in the rate of RTAs, should be investigated.


Author(s):  
Enrico Grande ◽  
Ugo Fedeli ◽  
Marilena Pappagallo ◽  
Roberta Crialesi ◽  
Stefano Marchetti ◽  
...  

Italy was a country severely hit by the first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic wave in early 2020. Mortality studies have focused on the overall excess mortality observed during the pandemic. This paper investigates the cause-specific mortality in Italy from March 2020 to April 2020 and the variation in mortality rates compared with those in 2015–2019 regarding sex, age, and epidemic area. Causes of death were derived from the national cause-of-death register. COVID-19 was the leading cause of death among males and the second leading cause among females. Chronic diseases, such as diabetes and hypertensive, ischemic heart, and cerebrovascular diseases, with decreasing or stable mortality rates in 2015–2019, showed a reversal in the mortality trend. Moreover, mortality due to pneumonia and influenza increased. No increase in neoplasm mortality was observed. Among external causes of death, mortality increased for accidental falls but reduced for transport accidents and suicide. Mortality from causes other than COVID-19 increased similarly in both genders and more at ages 65 years or above. Compared with other areas in Italy, the Lombardy region showed the largest excess in mortality for all leading causes. Underdiagnosis of COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic may, to some extent, explain the mortality increase for some causes of death, especially pneumonia and other respiratory diseases.


Author(s):  
Ineta Robiņa

Elderly people feel isolated from their former living place and they need social pedagogical support in the course of integration in a social care home. The integration of elderly people in a social environment is made more difficult because of the possible necessity of participation in the social life. The theoretical analysis has resulted in doing research on the theoretical content of the process of aging as well as in defining well-being and participation indicators. The research has been done in order to broaden the participation possibilities in a social care home, and as a result of the integration process to achieve the elderly people’s subjective well-being.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0247993
Author(s):  
Marjan Cugmas ◽  
Anuška Ferligoj ◽  
Tina Kogovšek ◽  
Zenel Batagelj

Population ageing requires society to adjust by ensuring additional types of services and assistance for elderly people. These may be provided by either organized services and sources of informal social support. The latter are especially important since a lack of social support is associated with a lower level of psychological and physical well-being. During the Covid-19 pandemic, social support for the elderly has proven to be even more crucial, also due to physical distancing. Therefore, this study aims to identify and describe the various types of personal social support networks available to the elderly population during the pandemic. To this end, a survey of Slovenians older than 64 years was conducted from April 25 to May 4, 2020 on a probability web-panel-based sample (n = 605). The ego networks were clustered by a hierarchical clustering approach for symbolic data. Clustering was performed for different types of social support (socializing, instrumental support, emotional support) and different characteristics of the social support networks (i.e., type of relationship, number of contacts, geographical distance). The results show that most of the elderly population in Slovenia has a satisfactory social support network, while the share of those without any (accessible) source of social support is significant. The results are particularly valuable for sustainable care policy planning, crisis intervention planning as well as any future waves of the coronavirus.


Author(s):  
Elvira Medina Ruiz

Social participation is closely linked to well-being and healthy aging, generating physical and psychological benefits. However, older people tend to lower levels of participation and social interaction after retirement although many others continue to militate and participate in non-profit organisations and social movements.The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has had a strong impact at the social and health level, with the elderly being the main victims, not only due to the high mortality rates but because the social distancing measures imposed for their protection have led to a worsening of social isolation and the feeling of loneliness of our elders. It is urgent to create safe spaces to increase levels of social participation. La participación social está estrechamente ligada al bienestar y un envejecimiento saludable generando beneficios físicos y psicológicos. Sin embargo, las personas mayores tienen tendencia a bajar los niveles de participación e interacción social tras la jubilación, aunque otros muchos continúan militando y participando en entidades y movimientos sociales. La pandemia provocada por la COVID-19 ha tenido un fuerte impacto a nivel social y sanitario siendo los principales perjudicados las personas mayores, no solo por las elevadas tasas de mortalidad sino porque las medidas de distanciamiento social impuestas para su protección, han dado lugar a un agravamiento del aislamiento social y el sentimiento de soledad de nuestros mayores. Es urgente generar espacios seguros para aumentar los niveles de participación social.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (8) ◽  
pp. 163
Author(s):  
Olena Hryhorivna Kovalenko ◽  
Lyubov Mykolaivna Spivak

<p>The article discusses the social factors of psychological well-being of elderly people. Psychological well-being is a personal phenomenon. It forms in the process of human activity and in the system of people`s real relationships with surrounding objects. In old age psychological well-being is determined by different factors. The social factor is one of them. It has been found that higher levels of psychological well-being have those elderly people who do not feel themselves lonely, who have enough opportunities to communicate with other people, who take part in a social life, who live with relatives. Specifics of everyday activity in older age are not substantially related to psychological well-being.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 148
Author(s):  
Suy Rathny ◽  
Rashmi Chatterjee ◽  
Yen Yat ◽  
Md Amjad Hossain Reyad ◽  
Chhay Leaksmy

The elderly people in Cambodia are confronting multiple sources of vulnerability; these include living with poorness, health functional disabilities, health issues, social isolation, and limited opportunities to get involved. The government of Cambodia is concerning about the welfare of the elderly, as expressed in the National Development Strategy where government pledges its commitment to promoting the welfare of the elderly by protecting and ensuring that the elderly people are provided with basic needs. On the other hand, social protection in Cambodia has been largely neglected or addressed with inadequate tools and insufficient funds, which leads Cambodia to vulnerability. The principal purpose of this review is to produce a summary of overall social protection system and government associated with the elderly in Cambodia.


Crisis ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 249-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Manoel Bertolote ◽  
Diego De Leo

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