scholarly journals Physical Function in U.S. Older Adults Compared With Other Populations: A Multinational Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 1067-1084 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana A. Glei ◽  
Noreen Goldman ◽  
Carol D. Ryff ◽  
Maxine Weinstein
Keyword(s):  
Physical Performance ◽  
Performance Test ◽  
Handgrip Strength ◽  
The United States ◽  
Older Americans ◽  
National Surveys ◽  
Pooled Data ◽  
Local Mean ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Function Peak

Objective: We compare physical performance from three U.S. national surveys and nationally representative surveys in England, Taiwan, and Costa Rica. Method: For each performance test, we use local mean smoothing to plot the age profiles by sex and survey wave and then fit a linear regression model to the pooled data, separately by sex, to test for significant differences across surveys controlling for age and height. Results: Age profiles of performance vary across U.S. surveys, but levels of lung function (peak expiratory flow) and handgrip strength in the United States are as high as they are in the other three countries. Americans also perform as well on the chair stand test as the English and Costa Ricans, if not better, but exhibit slower gait speed than the English at most ages. Discussion: With the exception of walking speed, we find little evidence that older Americans have worse physical performance than their peers.

scholarly journals MUSCLE WEAKNESS IS ASSOCIATED WITH DISABILITY AND CHRONIC MULTIMORBIDITY IN MIDDLE-AGED AND OLDER AMERICANS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S316-S316
Author(s):  
Mark Peterson ◽  
Jessica Faul
Keyword(s):  
Grip Strength ◽  
Handgrip Strength ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Inverse Association ◽  
Older Americans ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Reactive Protein ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Hs Crp

Abstract Background: The objective of this study was to use nationally-representative data on Americans age 50+ to determine the association between grip strength and inflammation as independent predictors of incident disability, chronic multimorbidity and dementia. Methods: Older adults (n=12,618) from the 2006-2008 waves of the Health and Retirement Study with 8-years of follow-up were included. Longitudinal modeling was performed to examine the association between baseline grip strength (normalized to body mass: NGS) and high sensitivity c-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (≥3.0 mg/L) with incident physical disabilities (i.e., ≥2 limitations to activities of daily living), chronic multimorbidity (≥2 of chronic conditions), and dementia. Results: The odds of incident disability were 1.28 (95% CI: 1.19-1.37) and 1.27 (95% CI: 1.21-1.36) for men and women respectively, for each 0.05-unit lower NGS. The odds of incident chronic multimorbidity were 1.22 (95% CI: 1.06-1.18) and 1.12 (95% CI: 1.06-1.17) for men and women respectively for each 0.05-unit lower NGS. The odds of incident dementia were 1.10 for men (95% CI: 1.02-1.20) for each 0.05-unit lower NGS, but there was no significant effect for women. Elevated hs-CRP was only associated with chronic multimorbidity among women (OR=1.60; 95%CI: 1.26-2.02). Conclusions: Our findings indicate a robust inverse association between NGS and disability and chronic, multimorbidity in older men and women, and dementia in men. Elevated hs-CRP was only associated with chronic multimorbidity among women. Healthcare providers should implement measures of handgrip strength in routine health assessments and discuss the potential dangers of weakness and interventions to improve strength with their patients.

scholarly journals PHYSICAL FUNCTION AND BODY COMPOSITION AS NUTRITIONAL OUTCOMES: ASSESSMENT APPROACHES

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S392-S392
Author(s):  
Connie W Bales ◽  
Kathryn N Porter Starr ◽  
Marshall Miller
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Body Composition ◽  
Physical Function ◽  
Physical Performance ◽  
Performance Test ◽  
Handgrip Strength ◽  
Muscle Quality ◽  
Physical Performance Test ◽  
Nutritional Interventions ◽  
Obesity Interventions

Abstract Nutritional status is a strong determinant of both body composition and physical function (PF), parameters that are closely interrelated but rarely evaluated in the clinical setting due to cost, access, and lack of agreement on best approaches in older adults. Recent evidence that changes in muscle mass do not closely correspond to changes in muscle function will be reviewed in the context of our studies of higher protein obesity interventions. PF assessments, including indices for older adults (Short Physical Performance Battery and Physical Performance Test), as well as specific tests like gait speed and handgrip strength, will be explained as nutrition outcomes and in relation to body composition from air displacement (BodPod) and dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). These results, along with new studies of muscle quality, will bring a better understanding of the complexity of responses to nutritional interventions designed to optimize body mass and composition in older adults.

DECREASED HANDGRIP STRENGTH IS ASSOCIATED WITH IMPAIRMENTS IN EACH AUTONOMOUS LIVING TASK FOR AGING ADULTS IN THE UNITED STATES

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
R. McGrath ◽  
K. M. Erlandson ◽  
B.M. Vincent ◽  
K.J. Hackney ◽  
S.D. Herrmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Handgrip Strength ◽  
The United States ◽  
Grocery Shopping ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Aging Adults ◽  
Retirement Study

Objectives: The primary purpose of this study was to determine the time-varying associations between decreased handgrip strength (HGS) and individual instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) impairments for a nationally-representative sample of aging adults in the United States. Design: Longitudinal-Panel. Setting: Detailed interviews were completed in person and core interviews were typically completed over the telephone. Participants: A total of 15,336 participants aged at least 50 years who participated in the 2006 wave of the Health and Retirement Study were followed biennially for 8-years. Measurements: A hand-held dynamometer assessed HGS and performance in IADLs were self-reported. Results: Every 5-kilogram decrease in HGS was associated with an increased odds ratio for the following IADL impairments: 1.11 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.09, 1.13) for using a map, 1.10 (CI: 1.07, 1.12) for grocery shopping, 1.09 (CI: 1.05, 1.14) for taking medications, 1.07 (CI: 1.05, 1.09) for preparing hot meals, 1.06 (CI: 1.04, 1.08) for managing money, and 1.05 (CI: 1.02, 1.09) for using a telephone. Conclusions: Decreased HGS was associated with each IADL impairment, and slightly different associations were observed in individual IADL tasks for aging adults in the United States. Our findings suggest that decreased HGS, which is reflective of reduced function of the neuromuscular system, is associated with diminished performance in autonomous living tasks during aging. Losses in HGS may lead to the development of an IADL impairment. Therefore, health-care providers working with aging adults should utilize measures of HGS as a screening tool for identifying future deficits in neuromuscular functioning. Interventions designed to preserve IADLs in aging adults should also include measures of HGS for detecting early changes in IADL capacity, and intervening at the onset of HGS declines may help aging adults retain their ability to live autonomously.

scholarly journals The Wake Forest IASDR: A Resource for Studying the Effects of Caloric Restriction on Health Outcomes in Older Adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 79-79
Author(s):  
Denise Houston ◽  
Jamie Justice ◽  
Anne Newman
Keyword(s):  
Caloric Restriction ◽  
Physical Performance ◽  
Older Americans ◽  
Pooled Data ◽  
The Past ◽  
Aging Studies ◽  
Secondary Analyses ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Baseline Bmi ◽  
Scientific Questions

Abstract Over the past 25+ years, a focus of the Wake Forest Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (OAIC) has been to study the consequences of and treatments for geriatric obesity. The Wake Forest OAIC has provided support for 18 clinical trials of caloric restriction (CR), with and without various exercise regimens, in 2,545 adults (71% women, 21% African American) with a mean±SD age of 67.5±5.9 years and BMI ≥27 kg/m2. A priority of the Wake Forest OAIC is to collate and store common data (e.g., demographics, physical performance, cognitive function), biospecimens (blood, muscle, adipose), and images (DXA, CT) from these trials in the Integrated Aging Studies Databank and Repository (IASDR; https://www.peppercenter.org/public/dspIASDR.cfm). This IASDR serves as a resource for the scientific community to foster new scientific questions and analyses. This symposium will provide an overview of CR trials and participants included in the IASDR and how the IASDR supports secondary analyses of CR by highlighting several secondary analyses using data and/or samples from the IASDR. Justice and colleagues examined the effect of CR on a geroscience-guided biomarker index using blood samples from the biorepository. Weaver and colleagues examined the effect of different exercise regimens on CT-derived muscle and bone measures during CR. Miller and colleagues pooled data from 11 trials to determine if CR-induced appendicular lean mass loss is associated with changes in physical performance. Finally, Hsieh and colleagues pooled data from eight trials to examine whether the effect of CR on gait speed differed by baseline BMI and inflammation.

The Demographics of Meditation in the United States

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conrad Hackett
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
The United States ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Middle Ground ◽  
National Data ◽  
Older Americans ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Religious Landscape ◽  
Do So ◽  
Cross National

This chapter describes which U.S. groups report meditating frequently. While there is little cross-national data available to analyze demographic characteristics associated with meditation, Pew Research Center’s nationally representative 2014 Religious Landscape Study (RLS) asked more than 35,000 U.S. adults, “How often do you meditate? Would you say at least once a week, once or twice a month, several times a year, seldom, or never?” Americans tend to say they meditate regularly (40 percent do so at least weekly) or rarely, if at all (45 percent seldom or never do). There’s not much middle ground—only 8 percent say they meditate once or twice a month and only 4 percent say they do so several times a year. The Americans most likely to report high frequency of meditation—Jehovah’s Witnesses, older Americans, Black Americans, poorer Americans, and political conservatives—diverge from stereotypes about frequent practitioners of meditation.

scholarly journals Handgrip Strength Asymmetry and Weakness Are Differentially Associated with Functional Limitations in Older Americans

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. 3231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Collins ◽  
Nathaniel Johnson ◽  
Lukus Klawitter ◽  
Roman Waldera ◽  
Sherri Stastny ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Disability ◽  
Handgrip Strength ◽  
Functional Limitations ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Older Americans ◽  
Health And Nutrition ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Strength Capacity ◽  
Strength Asymmetry ◽  
Nationally Representative

Background: Handgrip strength (HGS) is a convent measure of strength capacity and associated with several age-related health conditions such as functional disability. Asymmetric strength between limbs has been linked to diminished function. Therefore, both HGS asymmetry and weakness could be associated with functional disability. We examined the associations of HGS asymmetry and weakness on functional limitations in a nationally representative sample of older Americans. Methods: Data were analyzed from 2689 adults ≥ 60 years who participated in the 2011–2012 and 2013–2014 waves of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Weakness was defined as HGS < 26 kg for men and < 16 kg for women. Asymmetry was determined from the ratio of the dominant and non-dominant HGS. Those with HGS ratio 0.9–1.1 were considered as having HGS symmetry, and those outside this range had asymmetry. Results: Compared to those with symmetric HGS and were not weak, those with weakness alone, and both weakness and HGS asymmetry had 2.47 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.14–5.35) and 3.93 (CI: 1.18–13.07) greater odds for functional limitations, respectively. However, HGS asymmetry alone was not associated with functional limitations (odds ratio: 0.80; CI: 0.62–1.03). Conclusion: The use of HGS asymmetry in protocols could improve the prognostic value of handgrip dynamometers.

Worker Voice in America: Is There a Gap between What Workers Expect and What They Experience?

ILR Review ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Kochan ◽  
Duanyi Yang ◽  
William T. Kimball ◽  
Erin L. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Significant Variation ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Workplace Issues ◽  
Non Union ◽  
National Surveys ◽  
The Past ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
State Of Research

This article is the fifth in a series to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the ILR Review. The series features articles that analyze the state of research and future directions for important themes this journal has featured over many years of publication. The decline in unionization experienced in the United States over the past 40 years raises a question of fundamental importance to workers, society, and the field of industrial relations: Have workers lost interest in having a voice at work, or is there a gap between workers’ expectations for a voice and what they actually experience? And if a “voice gap” exists, what options are available to workers to close that gap? The authors draw on a nationally representative survey of workers that both updates previous surveys conducted in 1977 and 1995 and goes beyond the scope of these previous efforts to consider a wider array of workplace issues and voice options. Results indicate that workers believe they should have a voice on a broad set of workplace issues, but substantial gaps exist between their expected and their actual level of voice at work. Nearly 50% of non-union workers say they would vote for a union, compared to approximately one-third in the two prior national surveys, which points to continued interest in unions as a voice mechanism. Additionally, the authors find significant variation in the rates of use of different voice options and workers’ satisfaction with those options. The results suggest that a sizable voice gap exists in American workplaces today, but at the same time, no one voice option fits all workers or all issues.

Black Older Americans Have Lower Prevalence of Hearing Loss Than Their White Peers: Findings From Two Large Nationally Representative Surveys

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
ZhiDi Deng ◽  
Senyo Agbeyaka ◽  
Esme Fuller-Thomson
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Household Income ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Education Level ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Older Americans ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Self Report Data ◽  
Selection Probabilities

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate Black–White differences associated with hearing loss among older adults living in the United States. Method Secondary data analysis was conducted using the 2017 American Community Survey (ACS) with a replication analysis of the 2016 ACS. The ACS is an annual nationally representative survey of Americans living in community settings and institutions. The sample size of older Americans (age 65+ years) in 2017 was 467,789 non–Hispanic Whites (NHWs) and 45,105 non–Hispanic Blacks (NHBs). In the 2016 ACS, there were 459,692 NHW and 45,990 NHB respondents. Measures of hearing loss, age, race/ethnicity, education level, and household income were based on self-report. Data were weighted to adjust for nonresponse and differential selection probabilities. Results The prevalence of hearing loss was markedly higher among older NHWs (15.4% in both surveys) in comparison with NHBs (9.0% in 2017 and 9.4% in 2016, both ethnic differences p < .001). In the 2017 ACS, the age- and sex-adjusted odds of hearing loss were 69% higher for NHWs compared with NHBs, which increased to 91% higher odds when household income and education level were also taken into account ( OR = 1.91; 95% confidence interval [CI; 1.85, 1.97]). Findings from the 2016 ACS were very similar (e.g., 65+ fully adjusted OR = 1.81; 95% CI [1.76, 1.87]). Conclusions NHWs have a much higher prevalence and almost double the odds of hearing loss compared with NHBs. Unfortunately, the ACS survey does not allow us to explore potential causal mechanisms behind this association.

The Racial and Economic Context of Trump Support: Evidence for Threat, Identity, and Contact Effects in the 2016 Presidential Election

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Knowles ◽  
Linda Tropp
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Racial Identification ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Neighborhood Diversity ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
To Come ◽  
Neighborhood Level ◽  
Support Evidence

Donald Trump's ascent to the Presidency of the United States defied the expectations of many social scientists, pundits, and laypeople. To date, most efforts to understand Trump's rise have focused on personality and demographic characteristics of White Americans. In contrast, the present work leverages a nationally representative sample of Whites to examine how contextual factors may have shaped support for Trump during the 2016 presidential primaries. Results reveal that neighborhood-level exposure to racial and ethnic minorities is associated with greater group threat and racial identification among Whites, as well as greater intentions to vote for Trump in the general election. At the same time, however, neighborhood diversity afforded Whites with opportunities for intergroup contact, which is associated with lower levels of threat, White identification, and Trump support. Further analyses suggest that a healthy local economy mutes threat effects in diverse contexts, allowing contact processes to come to the fore.

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