scholarly journals Word-Finding Behaviors of Discourse Production Task in Healthy Elderly Adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 347-355
Author(s):  
Hyunjoo Choi
Keyword(s):  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Word Naming ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Elderly Adults ◽  
Discourse Production ◽  
Healthy Elderly ◽  
Word Finding ◽  
The Difference

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate whether there is a difference in word-finding behaviors in the discourse production task according to the age group of the elderly, from the young-old to the old-old.Methods: A total of 103 healthy elderly adults (55 to 85 years old) participated in this study. To exanimation of word-finding behaviors in the discourse, a picture description task was used. And, as the word naming task, the confrontational naming and the verbal fluency tasks were used.Results: First, according to the age group, the difference in the ratio of word-finding behaviors were statistically significant. Especially, there were significant differences according to the age group of the elderly in word-finding behaviors of repetitions, empty words, insertions, and delays. Second, the difference in performances of word naming task (Korean version-Boston Naming Test and semantic verbal fluency) according to the age group of the elderly was found to be significant. Finally, the performance of the word naming task showed a significant correlation with the ratio of word-finding behaviors in the discourse production task.Conclusion: This study has clinical significance in that it analyzed various word-finding behaviors in a natural environment where the problem of naming appears in elderly adults.

scholarly journals Characteristics of Tip of the Tongue Phenomenon on the Task of Naming Celebrities in Healthy Elderly Adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 863-873
Author(s):  
Soojung Kim ◽  
Hyunjoo Choi
Keyword(s):  
Age Group ◽  
Elderly Adults ◽  
Retrieval Failure ◽  
Resolution Rate ◽  
Healthy Elderly ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Tip Of The Tongue

Objectives: In general, the incidence of Tip of the tongue (TOT) phenomenon increases with age, but studies on the difference in the incidence of TOT phenomenon according to the age of healthy elderly adults are limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence and resolution rate of the TOT, and to find out the change in performance according to the syllabic clues.Methods: Ninety-six healthy elderly people whose age range was between 65 and 84 years old participated in the study. Participants were divided into three groups: 55-64 years old, 65-74 years old, and 75-84 years old age range groups. The TOT task used 30 questions about celebrity naming organized by period and category.Results: First, there was a significant difference of the TOT rate by age group, and as the age increased, the TOT rate due to partial retrieval failure and total retrieval failure increased. Second, the rate of TOT response type that explained the celebrity’s occupation was the highest in all groups. Third, there were significant differences between groups in both the voluntary TOT resolution rate and the TOT resolution rate after providing the syllabic clue. The recovery rate after the syllabic clues decreased with increasing age.Conclusion: This study observed the difference in characteristics of TOT phenomenon in elderly adults according to age group and the importance of phonological clues in TOT phenomenon resolution.

scholarly journals Normative data for healthy elderly on the phonemic verbal fluency task - FAS

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thais Helena Machado ◽  
Helenice Charchat Fichman ◽  
Etelvina Lucas Santos ◽  
Viviane Amaral Carvalho ◽  
Patrícia Paes Fialho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Test Performance ◽  
Educational Level ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Normative Data ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Verbal Fluency Task ◽  
Healthy Elderly ◽  
Phonemic Verbal Fluency ◽  
Student’S T

Abstract Phonemic verbal fluency tests assess the production of words beginning with specific letters. Of these letters, the most frequently used are F, A and S. It is a sensitive test for assessing frontal lobe functions. Objective: To provide normative data for the elderly Brazilian population on the FAS test and to investigate the effects of age and schooling on test performance. Methods: The individuals were divided into three age groups (60-69, 70-79 and ³80 years), and into four groups according to education (1-3, 4-7, 8-11 and ³12 years). All subjects were assessed by the Mini Mental State Examination and the FAS. Data were analyzed with Student's t test, ANOVA, simple linear regression and Spearman's correlation. Results: We evaluated 345 cognitively healthy volunteers, 66.66% being female, aged 60 to 93 years, with an educational level ranging from one to 24 years. The average (number of items) ±SD for the whole sample was 28.28±11.53. No significant effect of gender was observed (p=0.5). Performance on the MMSE and education exerted a direct influence on FAS scores (p<0.001), with education being the most significant factor. A positive correlation was found between FAS and the MMSE (r=0.404; p<0.001). Conclusion: The performance of Brazilian elderly on the phonemic verbal fluency tests-FAS is significantly influenced by education, where individuals with higher educational level present better performance than those with fewer years of schooling. Age and gender did not prove significant with the FAS.

Effect of Aging on Free Amino Acids and Electrolytes in Leg Skeletal Muscle

1979 ◽  
Vol 56 (5) ◽  
pp. 427-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Möller ◽  
J. Bergström ◽  
S. Eriksson ◽  
P. Fürst ◽  
K. Hellström
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Free Amino Acids ◽  
Free Amino ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Plasma Concentrations ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Essential Amino Acids ◽  
Elderly Men ◽  
Healthy Elderly ◽  
The Difference

1. The concentrations of electrolytes and free amino acids in plasma and the quadriceps femoris muscle were studied in ten apparently healthy elderly men, 52–77 years of age. The results were compared with those previously recorded for men 20–36 years old. 2. The two groups of subjects did not differ with regard to serum electrolytes and intracellular water content but the extracellular water in the older subjects exceeded that of the younger group by about 50%. The muscle specimens of the elderly men were also characterized by a 40% elevation of their total contents of Na+ and Cl−, whereas the content of K+ and Mg2+ was almost identical in both groups. 3. The means recorded for the plasma concentrations of most amino acids tended to be higher in the elderly men. The differences reached statistical significance for tyrosine, histidine, valine, lysine and total essential amino acids. In keeping with the findings in plasma, the amino acid concentrations in the muscle of the older group tended to exceed those of the younger ones. The difference reached statistical significance with regard to total amino acids, essential and non-essential amino acids, aspartate, alanine, citrulline, histidine, arginine, leucine and lysine. The various mechanisms that may contribute to these findings are discussed.

scholarly journals Prevalence and risk factors of pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial infections in the Zhejiang Province of China

2019 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jintian Xu ◽  
Ping Li ◽  
Shengchao Zheng ◽  
Wei Shu ◽  
Yu Pang
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Reference Group ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Zhejiang Province ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Pulmonary Tb ◽  
History Of ◽  
Normal University ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Culture Positive

Abstract Risk factors and prevalence of pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) diseases were retrospectively evaluated in 1208 suspected pulmonary TB patients seeking care at the Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University between July 2018 and December 2018. Further analysis of 390 culture-positive cases demonstrated that 358 (358/390, 91.8%) were infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), 24 (24/390, 6.2%) with NTM and eight (8/390, 2.0%) with both MTB and NTM. M. intracellulare was the most prevalent NTM isolated (16/24, 66.7%), followed by M. abscessus (3/24), M. kansasii (2/24), M. avium (1/24), M. szulgai (1/24) and M. fortuitum (1/24). The difference between NTM and TB case rates for the ⩾65-year-old age group significantly exceeded the difference for the reference group (patients aged 25–44 years) (OR (95% CI): 4.63 (1.03–20.90)). Pulmonary NTM diseases incidence positively correlated with prior TB history (OR (95% CI): 12.92 (3.24–31.82)). Moreover, pulmonary NTM patients were significantly more likely to exhibit underlying bronchiectasis than pulmonary TB patients (OR (95% CI): 18.89 (7.54–47.88)). In conclusion, approximately one-tenth of culture-positive suspected pulmonary TB patients are infected with NTM (most frequently M. intracellulare) in Zhejiang Province, China. The elderly and those with bronchiectasis or a history of TB are at the greatest risk of contracting pulmonary NTM disease.

A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF AGE-SPECIFIC DIFFERENCES IN BALANCE, MUSCLE STRENGTH, AND POSTURAL SWAY FOR THE RISK OF FALLING

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (07) ◽  
pp. 1740021
Author(s):  
JIN SEUNG CHOI ◽  
DONG WON KANG ◽  
JEONG WOO SEO ◽  
TAE HO KIM ◽  
HAE MI CHO ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Strength ◽  
Postural Sway ◽  
Fall Detection ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Berg Balance Scale ◽  
Total Power ◽  
Median Frequency ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Healthy Elderly ◽  
Wide Range

Fall is the main cause of activity decline for the elderly. In general, it has been known to be closely related to decline in muscle strength and physical balance. The age profile of the elderly has a very wide range from 60 to 90 or more. Therefore, this study was to determine age-specific risk factors for falling in elderly individuals. Elderly females were included either in the old group ([Formula: see text]75 years; [Formula: see text], with 11 fallers and 24 nonfallers) or the older group ([Formula: see text]75 years; [Formula: see text], with 14 fallers and 22 nonfallers). The following were assessed and compared between the age-based groups and between fall-based subgroups (fallers and nonfallers within a given age group): height, weight, mental state, balance on the Berg balance scale (BBS), muscle strength of nine muscle groups, and 20 variables of postural sway. The two age-based groups differed significantly in terms of height, weight, balance, and postural sway (total sway area, 95% ellipse area, root mean square, mean distance, and total power); on the other hand, the fall-based subgroups differed only in terms of the median frequency of postural sway. Furthermore, the strength of the hip abductors displayed an interaction effect between age and fall status, and the result of main effect analysis revealed significant differences between fallers from the two age-based groups. These results confirm that extraction of specific factors for each age group is necessary to perform fall detection and prevention studies for the healthy elderly.

Estimating influenza-related excess mortality and reproduction numbers for seasonal influenza in Norway, 1975–2004

2010 ◽  
Vol 138 (11) ◽  
pp. 1559-1568 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. GRAN ◽  
B. IVERSEN ◽  
O. HUNGNES ◽  
O. O. AALEN
Keyword(s):  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Excess Mortality ◽  
Reproduction Number ◽  
Severe Disease ◽  
Risk Groups ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Reproduction Numbers ◽  
All Cause Mortality ◽  
The Difference

SUMMARYInfluenza can be a serious, sometimes deadly, disease, especially for people in high-risk groups such as the elderly and patients with underlying, severe disease. In this paper we estimated the influenza-related excess mortality in Norway for 1975–2004, comparing it with dominant virus types and estimates of the reproduction number. Analysis was done using Poisson regression, explaining the weekly all-cause mortality by rates of reported influenza-like illness, together with markers for seasonal and year-to-year variation. The estimated excess mortality was the difference between the observed and predicted mortality, removing the influenza contribution from the prediction. We estimated the overall influenza-related excess mortality as 910 deaths per season, or 2·08% of the overall deaths. Age-grouped analyses indicated that the major part of the excess mortality occurred in the ⩾65 years age group, but that there was also a significant contribution to mortality in the 0–4 years age group. Estimates of the reproduction number R, ranged from about 1 to 1·69.

scholarly journals Characteristics of Clustering and Switching in Verbal Fluency according to Healthy Elderly Group

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 630-640
Author(s):  
Juyeong Kim ◽  
Hyunjoo Choi
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Semantic Fluency ◽  
Verbal Fluency Task ◽  
Healthy Elderly ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Phonemic Verbal Fluency ◽  
Fluency Task

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of clusters and switches through verbal fluency tasks by different age groups among the elderly.Methods: Ninety-four healthy elderly adults participated in this study. The verbal fluency task consisted of semantic verbal fluency and phonemic verbal fluency. The categories of ‘animal’ and ‘supermarket’ were used for semantic fluency, and the categories ‘/k/’, ‘/o/’ and ‘/s/’ were used for phonemic fluency.Results: First, there was a significant difference between the age groups. The number of correct responses in the verbal fluency task decreased as age increased. Second, the mean cluster size for verbal fluency did not show a significant difference among groups in tasks of semantic and phonemic verbal fluency. Third, the number of switches showed a significant difference between groups in semantic and phonemic verbal fluency. In the post-analysis results of semantic fluency, a significant difference was found in the category of ‘animals’ between the young-old and old-old age group, and a significant difference was found in the number of switches in the category of ‘supermarket’ between the middle-old and old-old age group. Finally, the semantic fluency task showed the highest frequency of perseverative error, and the phonemic fluency task showed the highest frequency of other errors.Conclusion: These results of this study are meaningful in investigating characteristics of cluster and switch as well as the performance of correct rate through the verbal fluency tasks according to the elderly group.

scholarly journals Exploring the affective toxicity of commonly prescribed medications in the elderly

1999 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-128
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Cognitive Dysfunction ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Drug Approval ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Elderly Adults ◽  
Behavioral Consequences ◽  
Healthy Elderly ◽  
Daily Affect

Adverse effects of medications that occur at low frequency or low severity are often not detected in the current framework of drug approval and monitoring. Of particular concern are potential behavioral consequences such as depression or cognitive dysfunction that may occur from commonly prescribed medications. This study explores the use of measuring daily affect, both positive and negative, as a method for detecting clinically relevant affective toxicity from medications commonly prescribed to older adults. Findings from this study suggest that metoclopramide may have the potential for causing significant changes in affect among healthy elderly adults. This may suggest that more vulnerable or disabled adults may be at even greater risk for affective changes related to this medication.

scholarly journals screening for cognitive impairment in late onset depression in a Brazilian sample using the BBRC-edu

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tânia Maria da Silva Novaretti ◽  
Marcia Radanovic ◽  
Ricardo Nitrini
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Late Onset ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Brazilian Sample ◽  
Depressed Patients ◽  
Healthy Elderly ◽  
Better Than

ABSTRACT Depression and dementia are the most prevalent neuropsychiatric disorders in the elderly population. Alzheimer's disease is the leading cause of dementia in most countries, being responsible for more than half of all dementia cases. Late-onset depression is a frequent cause of cognitive decline in the elderly. Differentiating between cognitive impairment secondary to depression and incipient dementia poses a challenge in the clinical setting. Objective: To evaluate the performance of elderly depressed patients using the BBRC-Edu. Methods: We studied 25 patients with late onset depression (mean age: 73.6 y (6.6); schooling: 9.1 y (5.7)) and 30 patients with mild AD (mean age 76.6 y (5.4); schooling: 7.5 y (7.1)), who were compared to a control group of 30 healthy elderly (mean age 73.8 y (5.8); schooling: 9.1 y (5.4)) using the CERAD and BBRC-Edu batteries. Results: For the CERAD battery, depressed patients performed better than AD patients on all tasks (p<0.0001) except for Constructional Praxis (p>0.05), and performed poorer than controls on verbal fluency (animals) and Word List Recall tasks (p<0.0001). For the BBRC-Edu, depressed patients performed better than AD patients on all tasks (p<0.0001) except for Digit Span (direct order) (p=0.076) and Incidental Memory (p>0.05), and performed worse than controls on Learning (second presentation) and verbal fluency (fruits) tasks (p<0.0001). Conclusion: Overall performance on the BBRC-Edu allowed differentiation of controls and depressed patients from AD patients.

scholarly journals Consumption ofBifidobacterium lactisBi-07 by healthy elderly adults enhances phagocytic activity of monocytes and granulocytes

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sujira Maneerat ◽  
Markus J. Lehtinen ◽  
Caroline E. Childs ◽  
Sofia D. Forssten ◽  
Esa Alhoniemi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Immune Function ◽  
Phagocytic Activity ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Elderly Adults ◽  
Immune Functions ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Healthy Elderly ◽  
Oxidative Burst Activity ◽  
Carry Over

AbstractElderly adults have alterations in their gut microbiota and immune functions that are associated with higher susceptibility to infections and metabolic disorders. Probiotics and prebiotics, and their synbiotic combinations are food supplements that have been shown to improve both gut and immune function. The objective of this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over human clinical trial was to study immune function and the gut microbiota in healthy elderly adults. Volunteers (n37) consumed prebiotic galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS; 8 g/d), probioticBifidobacterium lactisBi-07 (Bi-07; 109colony-forming units/d), their combination (Bi-07 + GOS) and maltodextrin control (8 g/d) in four 3-week periods separated by 4-week wash-out periods. Immune function was analysed by determining the phagocytic and oxidative burst activity of monocytes and granulocytes, whole-blood response to lipopolysaccharide, plasma chemokine concentrations and salivary IgA levels. Gut microbiota composition and faecal SCFA content were determined using 16S ribosomal RNA fluorescencein situhybridisation and HPLC, respectively. Primary statistical analyses indicated the presence of carry-over effects and thus measurements from only the first supplementation period were considered valid. Subsequent statistical analysis showed that consumption of Bi-07 improved the phagocytic activity of monocytes (P < 0·001) and granulocytes (P = 0·02). Other parameters were unchanged. We have for the first time shown that the probiotic Bi-07 may provide health benefits to elderly individuals by improving the phagocytic activity of monocytes and granulocytes. The present results also suggest that in the elderly, the effects of some probiotics and prebiotics may last longer than in adults.

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