Age Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms by Age at Immigration among Older Men and Women of Mexican Descent: The Role of Social Resources

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 513-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria A. Monserud ◽  
Kyriakos S. Markides

Drawing on eight waves of data from the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly, this study uses growth curve models to provide a better understanding of the impact of age at immigration and gender on age trajectories of depressive symptoms among older adults of Mexican descent (aged 65+). The findings reveal that (1) regardless of immigrant status and age at immigration, men have similar age trajectories of depressive symptoms; (2) compared with U.S.-born women, late-life (beyond age 50) immigrant women report more depressive symptoms at age 65, whereas midlife (between ages 20 and 49) immigrant women experience steeper increases in these symptoms with age; (3) controlling for socioeconomic status leads to advantages in mental health at age 65, but steeper age-related increases in depressive symptoms among midlife (between ages 20 and 49) immigrant men and fewer depressive symptoms among late-life (beyond age 50) immigrant women.

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria A. Monserud

Objective: This study examines consequences of immigrant status, age at immigration, and gender on age trajectories of activities of daily living (ADL) limitations and chronic conditions among older adults of Mexican descent. Method: This research draws on 7 waves of the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly and employs growth curve models. Results: All men had similar age trajectories of ADL limitations, regardless of immigrant status and age at immigration. All women experienced steeper increases in ADL limitations, although U.S.-born women and those who immigrated by age 19 had lower initial levels. Men who immigrated between ages 20 and 49 had steeper increases in chronic conditions, despite lower initial levels. U.S.-born women and those women who immigrated by age 50 had more chronic conditions at age 65. Discussion: This study highlights the multidimensional nature of physical health by demonstrating that immigrant status-gender disparities can vary by the health outcome examined.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S919-S919
Author(s):  
Deborah Carr ◽  
Yeonjung Jane Lee

Abstract Social relationships are a well-established correlate of late-life well-being. Extensive research finds social support is associated with fewer depressive symptoms, yet few studies distinguish fine-grained types of support from spouse, children, other family and friends, nor whether these linkages differ by gender and marital status. Studies exploring coarse associations between support and well-being may conceal gender and marital status differences. We use data from two waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS; 2006 and 2010) to study fine-grained linkages between diverse types of relationship strain and support and depressive symptoms (CESD) among adults aged 51+. The results show that the association between support/strain and depressive symptoms varies based on the source of support. For instance, among married/partnered older adults, spousal support is negatively associated with depressive symptoms whereas friend strain is positively associated with depressive symptoms. Among widowed respondents, friend support is negatively associated with depressive symptoms. These marital status patterns differed by gender however, such that the impact of friend strain on depressive symptoms was especially large for divorced men. Our results suggest that no single form of social support (or strain) is uniformly protective (or distressing), so services and interventions to enhance late-life mental health should more fully consider older adults’ social location, including gender and marital status. For current cohorts of older adults, who have lower rates of marriage and childbearing than their predecessors, it is critically important to understand both the levels and impacts of alternative sources of support from other kin and friends.


2018 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-45
Author(s):  
Maria A. Monserud

Little is known about the implications of marital status for the age patterning of depressive symptoms in later life. Drawing on seven waves of data from the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly, this research uses growth curve models to examine age trajectories of depressive symptoms among continuously married and recently and continuously widowed older adults of Mexican descent (aged 65 years and older; N = 1,452). The findings demonstrate that despite having a higher mean level of depressive symptoms, the recently widowed experienced a similar rate of increase in distress with age to that of their married counterparts. Compared with the married, the continuously widowed had a steeper rise in depressive symptoms with age, although they had fewer symptoms at younger ages in later life. Physical health, financial strain, social support, and church attendance might account to a certain extent for marital status differences in depressive symptoms across later life.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 176-176
Author(s):  
Hiroto Yoshida ◽  
Yuriko Kihara

Abstract This study examined the impact of frailty on medical and long-term care expenditures in an older Japanese population. The subjects were those aged 75 years and over who responded to the survey (March 2018) in Bibai, Hokkaido, Japan (n=1,203) and have never received certification of long-term care insurance at the survey. We followed up 867 individuals (72.1%) until the end of December 2018 (10 month-period). We defined frailty as a state in performing 4 items and over of 15 items which were composed of un-intentional weight loss, history of falls, etc. Among 867 subjects, 233 subjects (26.9%) were judged to be frailty group, and 634 subjects (73.1%) non-frailty group. We compared period to the new certification of long-term care insurance (LTCI), accumulated medical and long-term care expenditures adjusted for age and gender between the two groups during the follow-up period. Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine the association between baseline frailty and the new certification of LTCI. The relative hazard ratio (HR) was higher in frailty group than non-frailty group (HR=3.51, 95% CI:1.30-9.45, P=.013). The adjusted mean accumulated medical and long-term care expenditures per capita during the follow-up were significantly (P=.002) larger for those in the frailty group (629,699 yen), while those in the non-frailty group were 450,995 yen. We confirmed strong economic impact of frailty in the elderly aged 75 or over in Japan.


Stroke ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
George Howard ◽  
Mary Cushman ◽  
Maciej Banach ◽  
Brett M Kissela ◽  
David C Goff ◽  
...  

Purpose: The importance of stroke research in the elderly is increasing as America is “graying.” For most risk factors for most diseases (including stroke), the magnitude of association with incident events decreases at older ages. Potential changes in the impact of risk factors could be a “true” effect, or could be due to methodological issues such as age-related changes in residual confounding. Methods: REGARDS followed 27,748 stroke-free participants age 45 and over for an average of 5.3 years, during which 715 incident strokes occurred. The association of the “Framingham” risk factors (hypertension [HTN], diabetes, smoking, AFib, LVH and heart disease) with incident stroke risk was assessed in age strata of 45-64 (Young), 65-74 (Middle), and 75+ (Old). For those with and without an “index” risk factor (e.g., HTN), the average number of “other” risk factors was calculated. Results: With the exception of AFib, there was a monotonic decrease in the magnitude of the impact across the age strata, with HTN, diabetes, smoking and LVH even becoming non-significant in the elderly (Figure 1). However, for most factors, the increasing prevalence of other risk factors with age impacts primarily those with the index risk factor absent (Figure 2, example HTN as the “index” risk factor). Discussion: The impact of stroke risk factors substantially declined at older ages. However, this decrease is partially attributable to increases in the prevalence of other risk factors among those without the index risk factor, as there was little change in the prevalence of other risk factors in those with the index risk factor. Hence, the impact of the index risk factor is attenuated by increased risk in the comparison group. If this phenomenon is active with latent risk factors, estimates from multivariable analysis will also decrease with age. A deeper understanding of age-related changes in the impact of risk factors is needed.


PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e8365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanfang Peng ◽  
Qin Zhu ◽  
Biye Wang ◽  
Jie Ren

Background Working memory updating (WMU), a controlled process to continuously adapt to the changing task demand and environment, is crucial for cognitive executive function. Although previous studies have shown that the elderly were more susceptible to cognitive interference than the youngsters, the picture of age-related deterioration of WMU is incomplete due to lack of study on people at their middle ages. Thus, the present study investigated the impact of age on the WMU among adults by a cross-sectional design to verify whether inefficiency interference control accounts for the aging of WMU. Methods In total, 112 healthy adults were recruited for this study; 28 old adults (21 female) ranging from 60 to 78 years of age; 28 middle-age adults (25 female) ranging from 45 to 59 years of age; 28 adults (11 female) ranging from 26 to 44 years of age; and 28 young adults (26 female) ranging from 18 to 25 years of age. Each participant completed a 1-back task. The inverse efficiency score was calculated in various sequences of three trials in a row to quantify the performance of WMU for adults of various ages. Results Inverse efficiency score of both young groups (young adult and adult) were significantly shorter than the old group in both Repeat-Alternate (RA, including □□○ and ○○□) and Alternate-Alternate (AA, including ○□○ and □○□) sequential patterns and they were additionally better than the middle-age group in AA sequential pattern. Conclusion With the increase of difficulty in the task, the difference in reactive interference control between young and middle age was gradually revealed, while the difference between young and old remained to apparent. The degradation of WMU aging may begin from middle-age and presents selective impairment in that only reactive interference control, but not proactive interference control, shows pronounced age-related decline. The preliminary results can inform future studies to further explore the whole lifespan trajectories of cognitive functions.


Author(s):  
Gagan Chooramani ◽  
Pooja Singh

The World Health Organization has declared that the spread of tuberculosis is a global emergency. Despite the implementation of strong tuberculosis-control initiatives by WHO, this highly infectious disease continues to affect all vulnerable populations, including the elderly population. Adverse social factors and poor living conditions also affect the elderly much more than the young. The clinical characteristics of tuberculosis in older adults can be unusual and may be confused with age-related illnesses. Various factors related to old age can also cause complications in the diagnosis, treatment, and disease outcomes for tuberculosis patients. The contributory factors may be poor memory, deafness, mental confusion, or impairment of speech. In addition, therapy for tuberculosis in elderly individuals is challenging because of the increased incidence of adverse drug reactions. Hence, understanding the impact of these substantial aspects will help to overcome the problem of tuberculosis in the elderly population.


2009 ◽  
Vol 2009 ◽  
pp. 1-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul P. Connell ◽  
Pearse A. Keane ◽  
Evelyn C. O'Neill ◽  
Rasha W. Altaie ◽  
Edward Loane ◽  
...  

Age-related maculopathy (ARM) is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly. Although beneficial therapeutic strategies have recently begun to emerge, much remains unclear regarding the etiopathogenesis of this disorder. Epidemiologic studies have enhanced our understanding of ARM, but the data, often conflicting, has led to difficulties with drawing firm conclusions with respect to risk for this condition. As a consequence, we saw a need to assimilate the published findings with respect to risk factors for ARM, through a review of the literature appraising results from published cross-sectional studies, prospective cohort studies, case series, and case control studies investigating risk for this condition. Our review shows that, to date, and across a spectrum of epidemiologic study designs, only age, cigarette smoking, and family history of ARM have been consistently demonstrated to represent risk for this condition. In addition, genetic studies have recently implicated many genes in the pathogenesis of age-related maculopathy, including Complement Factor H, PLEKHA 1, and LOC387715/HTRA1, demonstrating that environmental and genetic factors are important for the development of ARM suggesting that gene-environment interaction plays an important role in the pathogenesis of this condition.


Author(s):  
Xiaoling Xiang ◽  
Yong Yang ◽  
Jianjia Cheng ◽  
Ruopeng An

Abstract Objectives This study examines the impact of a previously validated disability spectrum that accounts for compensatory strategies on depressive symptoms in older adults. Methods This study was a secondary data analysis of 2011 through 2018 surveys from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (N = 7,609). The disability spectrum was categorized using a 5-level hierarchical scheme: fully able, successful accommodation, reduced activity, difficulty, and assistance for 12 mobility, self-care, and household activities. The individual fixed-effects panel model was used to examine the impact of this disability spectrum on depressive symptoms. Results Depressive symptoms rose progressively with each successive category on the disability spectrum in descriptive analyses. In fixed-effects models, moving from “fully able” to “successful accommodation” was not associated with significant changes in depressive symptoms; this result held for all self-care and mobility activities. Moving from “fully able” to “reduced activity” was associated with a significant increase in depressive symptoms for 3 household activities (doing laundry, making hot meals, and shopping for groceries) but not for paying bills/banking or keeping track of medications. Going up 2 or more stages above “fully able” on the disability spectrum was associated with a significant increase in depressive symptoms across all 12 activities. Discussion While limitations in a range of daily activities have harmful effects on mental health, using compensatory strategies that do not erode one’s perception of autonomy can help older adults cope with the psychological detriments of late-life disability.


Author(s):  
Maria A. Sullivan

Addiction in older adults very often goes unrecognized, for several reasons: social biases about the elderly, age-related metabolic changes, and the inappropriate use of prescription benzodiazepines and opioids to address untreated anxiety and mood conditions. Alcohol or substance-use disorders (SUDs) in older individuals may present in subtle and atypical ways. Strategies to overcome such difficulties include systematic screening using validated instruments, patient education regarding the impact of psychoactive substances on health, and cautious prescribing practices. Relying on standard DSM criteria may result in a failure to detect an SUD that presents with cognitive symptoms or physical injury, as well as the absence of work or social consequences. Older individuals can benefit from the application of risk-stratification measures, and they can be referred, e.g., to age-appropriate group therapy and non-confrontational individual therapy focusing on late-life issues of loss and sources of social support, as well as be offered medication management for alcohol or substance use disorder. Although research has been limited in this population, treatment outcomes have been found to be superior in older adults than younger adults.


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