scholarly journals Feeling about living arrangements and associated health outcomes among older adults in India: a cross-sectional study

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shobhit Srivastava ◽  
Subhojit Shaw ◽  
Himanshu Chaurasia ◽  
Naina Purkayastha ◽  
T. Muhammad

Abstract Introduction Advancement in the field of gerontology has been concerned with the well-being of older adults in a family setup that is associated with caregiving and support. While family life and well-being are defined by emotion, caregiving, and support activities, dissatisfaction/discontent with living arrangements is a public health concern, which is increasing with a rise in the proportion of the older population in the country. The study examines the association of dissatisfaction with living arrangements with health outcomes among older men and women in India. Methods The present research used data from the 'Building a Knowledge Base on Population Aging in India'. The effective sample size for the analysis was 9181 older adults. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis were performed to present the preliminary estimates. For finding the association between various health outcomes over explanatory variables, binary logistic regression model was used separately for men and women. Results About 22.8% of men and 30.8% of women who were living alone were dissatisfied with their present living arrangement. It was revealed that both men and women who were dissatisfied with their present living arrangements had significantly higher odds of experiencing poor self-rated health [OR:4.45, 3.25 ~ 6.09 and OR:3.32, 2.54 ~ 4.34], low psychological health [OR: 2.15, 1.61 ~ 2.86 and OR: 1.99, 1.57 ~ 2.53], low subjective well-being [OR: 3.37, 2.54 ~ 4.45 and OR: 3.03, 2.36 ~ 3.38], low ADL [OR: 1.77, 1.2 ~ 2.62 and OR: 1.59, 1.17 ~ 2.18, low IADL] [OR: 1.32, 1.03 ~ 1.69 and OR: 1.57, 1.24 ~ 1.98] and low cognitive ability [OR: 1.26, 0.98 ~ 1.61 and OR:1.44, 1.13 ~ 1.82] in comparison to their counterpart from men and women respectively. Conclusion It is found that dissatisfaction with the living arrangement of older men and women is negatively associated with major health outcomes. Hence, appropriate policies and programs must be developed to promote increased family care and support and an improved residential environment that would create a feeling of comfort and happiness among older individuals.

Author(s):  
Benoît Verdon

Since the 1950s, the growing interest of clinicians in using projective tests to study normal or pathological aging processes has led to the creation of several thematic tests for older adults. This development reflects their authors’ belief that the TAT is not suitable to the concerns and anxieties of elderly persons. The new material thus refers explicitly to situations related to age; it aims to enable older persons to express needs they cannot verbalize during consultations. The psychodynamic approach to thematic testing is based on the differentiation between the pictures’ manifest and latent content, eliciting responses linked to mental processes and issues the respondent is unaware of. The cards do not necessarily have to show aging characters to elicit identification: The situations shown in the pictures are linked to loss, rivalry, helplessness, and renunciation, all issues elderly respondents can identify with and that lead them to express their mental fragilities and resources. The article first explains the principles underlying four of these thematic tests, then develops several examples of stories told for card 3BM of the TAT, thus showing the effectiveness of this tool for the understanding and differentiation of loss-related issues facing older men and women.


2016 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 698-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Lee ◽  
Bram Vanhoutte ◽  
James Nazroo ◽  
Neil Pendleton

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karoline Lukaschek ◽  
Anushiya Vanajan ◽  
Hamimatunnisa Johar ◽  
Nina Weiland ◽  
Karl-Heinz Ladwig

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S564-S564
Author(s):  
Christine Mair ◽  
Kasey Knopp

Abstract Existing literature on “aging alone” focuses on potential lack of support to “kinless” older adults who do not have traditional family ties (e.g., child, spouse; Margolis & Verdery, 2018), as well as the ways in which childless or unpartnered older adults may construct non-kin networks of support (e.g., friendship; Djundeva et al., 2018; Mair, 2019). In addition, older men’s and women’s social networks vary, with women reporting more network growth than men and potentially lower family involvement (Schwartz & Litwin, 2018). Finally, patterns of support (e.g., family care, friend interactions) differ by country context. However, it is unknown if and how the social networks of older adults who lack traditional family ties may differ by gender, as well as what forms of cross-national variation exist in these patterns. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE, N=17 nations, N=53,247 adults aged 50+), we take advantage of a unique social support network module in this cross-national dataset to compare closeness, proximity, quality, and type of ties by gender among older childless and unpartnered men and women by country. Among those without traditional family ties, we find that older women may be advantaged in terms of social support compared to older men, but that this advantage varies by nation. We discuss the details and implications of these results regarding potential policy implications about the differential risks faced by older men and women who lack traditional family ties in various country contexts.


2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (7) ◽  
pp. 1481-1504 ◽  
Author(s):  
SILVIA MEGGIOLARO ◽  
FAUSTA ONGARO

ABSTRACTOver the last few decades, increasing attention has been paid to the issue of wellbeing among older people, and life satisfaction has been used as an indicator to evaluate older people's life conditions. This paper sheds some light on this topic with reference to Italy, a country characterised by an increasing ageing population. The aim is to examine life satisfaction among people aged 65 and older and its predictors. We adopt a gender approach to examine whether – as suggested by the literature – older men and women have different sources of satisfaction. We test this hypothesis in Italy, a country still characterised by an unbalanced public and private gender system. In doing this, we also control whether living arrangements – specifically living alone – influence the determinants of life satisfaction of older men and women. The data used are from the cross-sectional surveys ‘Aspects of Daily Life’, undertaken in Italy by the National Statistical Institute. The results do not show clear gender differences in the determinants of life satisfaction, with only some slight gender differences among those living alone. This suggests that the social and cultural environment may play a relevant role for older people's life satisfaction.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shobhit Srivastava ◽  
Paramita Debnath ◽  
Neha Shri ◽  
T. Muhammad

AbstractWidowhood is a catastrophic event at any stage of life for the surviving partner particularly in old age, with serious repercussions on their physical, economic, and emotional well-being. This study investigates the association of marital status and living arrangement with depression among older adults. Additionally, the study aims to evaluate the effects of factors such as socio-economic conditions and other health problems contributing to the risk of depression among older adults in India. This study utilizes data from the nationally representative Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI-2017–18). The effective sample size was 30,639 older adults aged 60 years and above. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis have been performed to determine the prevalence of depression. Further, binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to study the association between marital status and living arrangement on depression among older adults in India. Overall, around nine percent of the older adults suffered from depression. 10.3% of the widowed (currently married: 7.8%) and 13.6% of the older adults who were living alone suffered from depression. Further, 8.4% of the respondents who were co-residing with someone were suffering from depression. Widowed older adults were 34% more likely to be depressed than currently married counterparts [AOR: 1.34, CI 1.2–1.49]. Similarly, respondents who lived alone were 16% more likely to be depressed compared to their counterparts [AOR: 1.16; CI 1.02, 1.40]. Older adults who were widowed and living alone were 56% more likely to suffer from depression [AOR: 1.56; CI 1.28, 1.91] in reference to older adults who were currently married and co-residing. The study shows vulnerability of widowed older adults who are living alone and among those who had lack of socio-economic resources and face poor health status. The study can be used to target outreach programs and service delivery for the older adults who are living alone or widowed and suffering from depression.


2019 ◽  
Vol 317 (2) ◽  
pp. H315-H322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason R. Carter ◽  
Ida T. Fonkoue ◽  
Ian M. Greenlund ◽  
Christopher E. Schwartz ◽  
Babak Mokhlesi ◽  
...  

Our laboratory has previously reported that total sleep deprivation (TSD) modifies muscle sympathetic neural activity (MSNA) differently in young men and women. Because postmenopausal women are among the highest risk for hypertension, this study compares MSNA responses with TSD in older men and women. We hypothesized that TSD would alter MSNA in older adults, with greater sympathoexcitation in postmenopausal women. Twenty-seven participants (14 men and 13 women) between the ages of 55 and 75 yr were tested twice, once after 24-h TSD and once after normal sleep (randomized, crossover design). Our primary outcome measure of MSNA (microneurography) was successful across both conditions in 20 participants (10 men and 10 women). Secondary outcome measures included seated blood pressure, heart rate, and fasting plasma testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone. Age (60 ± 1 vs. 61 ± 2 yr) and BMI (27 ± 1 vs. 26 ± 1 kg/m2) were not different between groups. TSD increased systolic blood pressure in both men (124 ± 5 to 130 ± 4 mmHg) and women (107 ± 5 to 116 ± 4 mmHg), but the increases were not different between groups (condition, P = 0.014; condition × sex, P > 0.05). In contrast, TSD elicited divergent MSNA responses in older men and women. Specifically, MSNA burst frequency increased in postmenopausal women (28 ± 3 to 34 ± 3 burst/min), but not older men (38 ± 3 to 35 ± 3 bursts/min; condition × sex, P = 0.032). In conclusion, TSD elicited sympathoexcitation in postmenopausal women but not age-matched men. These findings provide new mechanistic insight into reported links between sleep deprivation and hypertension. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Epidemiological studies report that sleep deprivation is more strongly associated with hypertension in women than in men. In the present study, 24-h total sleep deprivation (TSD) increased blood pressure in postmenopausal women and age-matched men. In contrast, only women demonstrated increases in muscle sympathetic nerve activity after TSD. The sympathoexcitation observed in postmenopausal women suggests a potential contributing mechanism for epidemiological observations and advances our understanding of the complex relations between sleep, sex, and hypertension. Listen to this article’s corresponding podcast at https://ajpheart.podbean.com/e/total-sleep-deprivation-and-msna-in-older-adults/ .


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S145-S146
Author(s):  
Yuta Nemoto ◽  
Ryota Sakurai ◽  
Masami Hasebe ◽  
Kumiko Nonaka ◽  
Hiroko Mtsunaga ◽  
...  

Abstract This study examined the interaction of participating in volunteer activity and its burden on health outcomes. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in 2018. Of 8426 older adults aged 65 and over, 5232 individuals were included in the analyses (response rate: 62.1%). Health outcomes included self-rated health (SRH), mental health (The World Health Organization Five Well-Being Index: WHO-5), and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence: TMIG-IC) as dependent variables. Independent variables included engagement in volunteer activity and its burden. These variables were combined and classified into three groups: non-participants; participants with burden; and participants without burden. Covariates included age, gender, educational attainments, economic status, and living arrangement. Logistic regression analysis and analysis of covariates were conducted to examine the interaction of volunteer activity and its burden on health outcomes. Of 5232 older adults, 76.3% of subjects were non-participants, 3.4% were participants with burden, and 20.3% were participants without burden. Multivariate analysis showed that non-participants were more likely to have poor health outcomes compared with participants with burden. Moreover, participants without burden were more likely to have better health outcomes (SRH: Odds Ratio [OR] = 1.92, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 1.70 to 2.17, WHO-5: OR = 1.69, 95% CI = 1.51 to 1.88, TMIG-IC: Coefficient = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.10 to 0.62). Our findings suggest that volunteer activity is related to better health regardless of their burden. However, burden of volunteer engagement might attenuate the relationships between volunteer activity and health outcomes.


2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Santos-Iglesias ◽  
E. Sandra Byers ◽  
Ronald Moglia

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