Dietary factors associated with lifetime asthma or hayfever diagnosis in Australian middle-aged and older adults: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Background: Leukoaraiosis refers to lesions of high signal intensity in the periventricular and subcortical white matter that result from chronic microvascular ischemic damage to the brain. Increasing evidence suggests that the triglyceride glucose (TyG) index is associated with arterial stiffness and cardiovascular disease, which are both closely related to ischemic arterial damage. We hypothesized that the serum TyG index could be associated with cerebrovascular microangiopathy as measured by leukoaraiosis among middle-aged and older adults.Methods: This cross-sectional study included 2,162 Korean adults aged ≥45 years who participated in a health examination program between 2010 and 2011. TyG index was calculated as Ln (fasting triglycerides (mg/dl) × fasting blood glucose (mg/dl)/2). TyG index quartiles were categorized as follows: Q1, ≤8.12; Q2, 8.13-8.50 Q2, 8.51-8.89; and Q4, ≥8.90. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for leukoaraiosis based on brain MRI scans were calculated across TyG index quartiles using multiple logistic regression analysis.Results: The overall prevalence of leukoaraiosis was 5.4% and increased with serum TyG index quartiles. Compared to the lowest quartile, the ORs (95% CIs) of the highest TyG index quartile for leukoaraiosis was 2.37 (1.17-4.79) after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, smoking status, alcohol intake, regular exercise, mean arterial pressure, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol levels, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes.Conclusions: The serum TyG index was positively and independently associated with leukoaraiosis. Our findings indicate that the TyG index might be a useful additional measure for assessing cerebrovascular microangiopathy in clinical settings.

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Gender Differences are Noted in Factors Associated with Insomnia in Older Adult Outpatients: A Cross-Sectional Study

10.21203/rs.3.rs-677626/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Yu-Ting Peng ◽

Ying-Hsin Hsu ◽

Ming-Yueh Chou ◽

Che-sheng Chu ◽

Chen-San Su ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Gender Differences ◽

Older Adult ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Short Sleep Duration ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Factors Associated ◽

Sleeping Pills ◽

Obstructive Sleep

Abstract Background: Insomnia is a common sleep disturbance in older adults and is associated with many poor health outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the relevance of insomnia in older adult outpatients and to analyze differences between genders in factors associated with insomnia.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the outpatient clinics of a tertiary hospital in Southern Taiwan from July to September 2018. A total of 400 consecutive subjects aged 60 years or older were recruited. Insomnia was defined as a score of > 6 points on the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS). Socio-demographics, health behaviors and clinical data were collected by face-to-face interview. Multivariable logistic regression was adopted for statistical analysis of the entire sample and stratified by gender.Results: Participants’ mean age was 74.74 ± 8.54 years, and the majority (93%) had more than one chronic disease. The prevalence of insomnia accounted for 30% (120/400) of all subjects, with males 22.9% (46/201) and females 37.2% (74/199). Gender, appetite, exercise, depressive symptoms, and sleep-related conditions such as short sleep duration, sleeping pills usage, medium-high risk of obstructive sleep apnea(OSA) and restless leg syndrome(RLS) were factors associated with insomnia in older adults. Exercise, sleeping pills usage, and RLS had an independent association with insomnia only in men, while appetite was associated with insomnia in women only.Conclusions: Insomnia is highly prevalent among older adults, predominantly females. Significant differences are found between genders in factors associated with insomnia. Understanding gender differences may help clinicians to modify associated factors when managing older adults with insomnia.

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Biosocial and disease conditions are associated with good quality of life among older adults in rural eastern Nepal: Findings from a cross-sectional study

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0242942 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (11) ◽

pp. e0242942

Author(s):

Uday Narayan Yadav ◽

Tarka Bahadur Thapa ◽

Sabuj Kanti Mistry ◽

Saruna Ghimire ◽

Krishna Kumar Yadav ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Physical Activity ◽

Older Adults ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Rural Setting ◽

Ageing Population ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Factors Associated

Background The ageing population in most low-and middle-income countries is accompanied by an increased risk of non-communicable diseases culminating in a poor quality of life (QOL). However, the factors accelerating this poor QOL have not been fully examined in Nepal. Therefore, this study examined the factors associated with the QOL of older adults residing in the rural setting of Nepal. Methods Data from a previous cross-sectional study conducted among older adults between January and April 2018 in in rural Nepal was used in this study. The analytical sample included 794 older adults aged ≥60 years, selected by a multi-stage cluster sampling approach. QOL was measured using the Older People’s Quality of Life tool; dichotomized as poor and good QOL. Other measures used included age, gender, ethnicity, religion, marital status, physical activity, and chronic diseases such as osteoarthritis, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and depression. The factors associated with QOL were examined using mixed-effects logistic regression. Results Seven in ten respondents (70.4%) reported a poor QOL. At the bivariate level, increasing age, unemployment, intake of alcohol, lack of physical activity as well as osteoarthritis, COPD and depression were significantly associated with a lower likelihood of a good QOL. The adjusted model showed that older age (AOR = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.28–0.90), the Christian religion (AOR = 0.38, 95% CI: 0.20–0.70), and of an Indigenous (AOR: 0.25; 95% CI: 0.14–0.47), Dalit (AOR: 0.23; 95% CI: 0.10–0.56), and Madheshi (AOR: 0.29; 95% CI: 0.14–0.60) ethnic background were associated with lower odds of good QOL. However, higher income of >NRs 10,000 (AOR = 3.34, 95% CI: 1.43–3.99), daily physical activity (AOR: 3.33; 95% CI: 2.55–4.34), and the absence of osteoarthritis (AOR: 1.9; 95% CI: 1.09–3.49) and depression (AOR: 3.34; 95% CI: 2.14–5.22) were associated with higher odds of good QOL. Conclusion The findings of this study reinforce the need of improving QOL of older adults through implementing programs aimed at addressing the identified biosocial and disease conditions that catalyse poor QOL in this older population residing in rural parts of Nepal.

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