scholarly journals The Enigma of Gender Differences in an Environment-Behavior-Health Model of Elderly People: The Choice Between Individually and Sociality

Author(s):  
Zhenhua Zheng ◽  
Junling Gao ◽  
Ye Yang

Gender difference in the health of elderly people has become an important perspective to consider when studying their health. However, the gender differences in terms of “environment–behavior–health” from the social ecology perspective remain unknown. On the basis of survey data from Shanghai, China, including 2839 samples, this study explored the gender differences of outdoor environment–behavior–activity ability in elderly people from two aspects of the mean value of variables and the path relationship, utilizing the structural equation model analysis method combined with social ecology theory. The results showed that, at the level of the mean of variables, the elderly males had significantly higher mean values than the females in terms of individual behaviors, but had significantly lower values in terms of social behaviors. At the level of path relationships, there were similarities in that the health of elderly males was more likely to be affected by individual factors, whereas that of the females was more effected by social factors. Through the great positive effect of the high-level social behaviors, the health of the elderly females was progressively promoted. The study provided some useful insights for future research, aiming at promoting gender-sensitive urban design.

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nagesh Jamwal

Background – Elderly people face many psychological, physical and socio economic morbidities due to ageing. Institutional settings have been opened for those elderly people who are neither able to take care of themselves nor is there any person to look after them. Objectives- The present research work was conducted to study the quality of life, loneliness and psychological distress of the elderly males and females living in institutions and non-institutional settings in urban Jammu district. Methods –The study was conducted using purposive sampling on 40 elderly living in institutional settings and 40 elderly living in non- institutional settings in the age range of 60-80 years. Tools used – GHQ  by Gautam, Nuhawan and Kamal ,UCLA loneliness scale(Russell, 1996)  and WHO (QOL-BREF, 1998),  was used. Results – The results revealed significant differences on loneliness and quality of life between those living in institutional settings and those living with their families.


2005 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 213-225
Author(s):  
Ralf Winkler ◽  
Walter Sendlmeier

This paper presents the results of Open Quotient measurements in EGG signals of young (18 to 30 year old) and elderly (59 to 82 year old) male and female speakers. The paper further presents quantitative results on the relation between the OQ and the perception of a speaker's age. Higgins & Saxman (1991) found a decreased OQEGG with increasing age for females, whereas the OQEGG in sustained vowel material increased for males as the speakers age increased. In Linville (2002), however, the spectral amplitudes in the region of F0 (obtained by LTAS-measurements of read speech material) increased with increasing age independent of gender; this could be interpreted indirectly as an increasing OQ. We measured the OQEGG not only for sustained vowels, but also in vowels taken from isolated words. In order to analyse the relation between breathiness in terms of an increased OQ and the mean perceived age per stimulus a perception test was carried out in which listeners were asked to estimate speaker's age based on sustained /a/-vowel stimuli varying in vocal effort (soft - normal - loud) during production. The results indicated the following: (i) The decreased OQ for elderly females originally found by Higgins & Saxman is not apparent in our data for sustained /a/-vowels. For our female speakers no significant difference between the OQ of young and old speakers was found; for elderly males, however, we also found an increasing OQ with increasing age.(ii) In addition, a statistically significant increased OQEGG occurs for the group of the elderly males for the vowels from the word material. (iii) Our results show a strong positive relation between perceived age and OQ in male voices. Regarding (i) and (ii), at least the male speaker's voice becomes more breathy as age increases. Considering (iii), increased breathiness may contribute to the listener’s perception of increased age.  


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 216-219
Author(s):  
Alisson Padilha de Lima ◽  
Ezequiel Vitório Lini ◽  
Marilene Rodrigues Portella ◽  
Marlene Doring ◽  
Fabrício Bruno Cardoso

ABSTRACT Introduction The increase in chronic diseases and physical inactivity are major public health problems among elderly populations worldwide. Objective This article aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with the practice of physical activity (PA) among elderly people living in urban environment. Methods A cross-population-based study was conducted in 2014, with 196 elderly people aged ≥ 60 years of age living in urban environment in the city of Passo Fundo, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. Gross and multivariable analyses were conducted using Poisson regression, estimating the ratios of gross and adjusted prevalence and calculating their respective 95% confidence intervals. Results The mean age was 71.3 (± 8.4). The gross prevalence for the practice of PA was 56.1%. After adjusted analysis, only the variable independent in activities of daily living (ADLs) remained significant (95% CI 1.05 to 4.83) (p = 0.037). Conclusions This research showed an association between the practice of PA and independence in ADLs. Level of Evidence II, Economic and decision analysis - Development of economic model or decision.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Indra Yohanes Kiling ◽  
Yunita Marcelini Manafe ◽  
Beatriks Novianti Bunga

The elderly as a vulnerable group of people in the community has various physical, psychological and social adversities in their life. In this age, someone who is of old age should have a positive attribute that could help the person to achieve a life with quality. Dispositional optimism is an individual’s positive attribute that could give a positive impact to elderly people. This paper reviewed theories related to dispositional optimism by reviewing existing literature. Indicators and measurement of dispositional optimism also discussed in this paper. Dispositional optimism theory was reviewed from the perspective of the initial founder of the theory and then further looked at its development in global application. Indicators of dispositional optimism were discussed to further understand the process of measurement of the concept itself. The measurement of dispositional optimism was often referred to as the Life Orientation Test scale, which was developed into various kinds of similar tests in order to use the test in other settings. The discussion in this paper hopefully could provide knowledge regarding dispositional optimism in elderly people especially future research in an Indonesian setting.


Author(s):  
Fatemeh Kaseb ◽  
Zahra Motavalian ◽  
Hossein Fallahzadeh

Introduction: Water, as one of the most essential nutrients, is involved in almost all biochemical processes of the human body. Although different degrees of dehydration have various symptoms such as physical and mental decline, severe dehydration is associated with decreased survival capacity in the physiological environment of the body that can put individuals, especially the elderly, at the risk of death. The present study aimed to determine the status of fluid intake and its association with cognitive impairments in the elderly people of Naein City in 2018. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 225 randomly selected elderlies in Naein City. Data collection tools included demographic questionnaire, Mini–Mental State Examination, and 24-hour food recall questionnaire. The obtained data were analyzed using ANOVA, t-test and chi-square via SPSS software. Results: The mean of total fluid intake was 2637.05 ± 772.35 ml / day. Among 225 participants, 36.4%, 37.3%, and 26.2% had normal, mild, and moderate cognitive impairment, respectively. Cognitive impairment had a significant relationship with gender, occupational status, level of education, marital status, and place of residence (p < 0.05). No significant relationship was observed between the mean of water consumption and cognitive impairment (p = 0.6). Conclusion: The amount of fluid intake in elderly people living in Naein City was at a satisfactory level. Since no significant relationship was observed between the amount of fluid intake and cognitive impairments and more than half of the participants had cognitive impairments, we hypothesize that other factors are  involved in  prevalent of cognitive impairment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 7319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaniz Fatima ◽  
Sara Moridpour ◽  
Chris De Gruyter ◽  
Tayebeh Saghapour

The number of elderly people as a proportion of the world’s population is growing significantly. Special attention to the accessibility and mobility requirements of this group is needed. The contribution of this paper is a review of travel patterns, mode preferences, infrastructure solutions, accessibility indices, mode choice models and datasets as they relate to elderly mobility. Key findings highlight the role of residential location characteristics in shaping elderly travel patterns, helping to explain why research on elderly travel has largely relied on case studies to date. The review also summarizes a range of indices that have been developed to measure public transport and walking accessibility among the elderly, including distance and time-based methods. Future research should consider the dominance of private transport in facilitating elderly mobility and its implications for cities experiencing an aging population.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (91) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina Kreivėnaitė ◽  
Vytautas Streckis ◽  
Kristina Visagurskienė ◽  
Alfonsas Buliuolis ◽  
Asta Lileikienė

Research background and hypothesis. Increase in physical capacity and ftness can lead to additional improvements in health status, which is so important for healthy aging. Most scientists emphasize the physical activity decline in people of all ages. Therefore, it is important to assess health-related physical capacity and encourage people of various ages to improve their health, physical ftness and the quality of their life. Hypothesis – a signifcant decline in physical capacity of the elderly will be identifed during the research period. Research aim – to identify the variation dynamics of physical capacity indices of elderly people. Research methods. 60–69-year-old males and females were selected for the data analysis (n = 244). The anthropometric data and the physical capacity test results of trunk flexion, sit ups, balance and 1000 meter run were analysed. Physical capacity tests were carried out on the basis of the ‘Euroft’ test methodology. The methods of descriptive statistics were used for the data analysis. Research results. Body balance (43.8%) and aerobic capacity (20.8%) of the elderly males signifcantly declined (p < 0.05) during the experimental period. However, improvement in the flexibility of males 16.5% (p < 0.05) was identifed. The capacity of trunk flexor muscles of elderly females improved signifcantly by 39.3%, while the balance – by 18.1% (p < 0.05). Analysis of the results in reference to gender showed that the balance, the capacity of trunk flexor muscles and aerobic capacity of elderly females increased signifcantly in comparison with males (p < 0.05). Nevertheless, the flexibility variation of males was higher than the one of females (p < 0.05) at the end of the research period. Discussion and conclusions. The balance and aerobic capacity of elderly males signifcantly decreased, whereas the flexibility improved. The capacity of trunk flexor muscles and balance of elderly females resulted in a statistically signifcant increase. In reference to the gender aspect it was determined that the majority of physical capacity results of elderly females statistically signifcantly developed more than the physical capacity results of males. Keywords: physical capacity, elderly people, ‘Euroft’.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aida-Isabel Tavares

BACKGROUND Ten years ago, an age-related digital divide was identified, where the elderly were a group of people at risk of losing the benefits of a digital society. Since then a 'new' generation of elderly has emerged. We are now updating previous studies on the relationship between self-assessed health and internet use by elderly persons. OBJECTIVE The two aims of this work are to find a relationship between self-assessed health and internet use by elderly people in European countries and to ascertain whether this relationship differs in countries with a more developed eHealth policy. METHODS Individual data from the SHARE survey version 6.0.0 published in 2017 for 18 countries are used. An ordered logistic regression is estimated for all the countries in the sample and for two subsets of countries which differ in their eHealth performance. RESULTS Results show that elderly people who use the internet tend to report better health status. The estimated coefficient equals 0.288 (p=0.00). This relationship is stronger in countries with higher eHealth performance where the estimated coefficient equals 0.413 (p=0.00). In countries with lower eHealth performance, that coefficient equals 0.148 (p=0.00). CONCLUSIONS This study showed that internet use is a determinant of self-assessed health among the elderly. There are lines for future research such as explaining 'why' and 'how' trust may influence the relationship between internet use and self-assessed health and examining the digital divide due to socioeconomic inequality.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Yi-Hui Liu

In addition to medical care and health promotion, happiness, care and thoughtfulness associated with medical assistance are among the expectations and demands of the elderly society. Therefore, this study aims to explore the effects of health promotion and emotional improvement on elderly people by understanding the behavioral intentions of elderly people with various personality traits in participating in virtual reality games. In this study, we used a questionnaire on five personality traits, including extraversion (Extraversion), friendliness (Agreeableness), diligence and integrity (Conscientiousness), and psychosomatic (Neurotic), which was designed by the scholar Martinez and John (1998) in 1998 as a tool to improve the mental health of the elderly. This study validates that sensorial perception is an important influencing factor in the theoretical model of the behavioral intention of the elderly using virtual reality (VR) wearable devices. That is, the stronger the behavioral intention of the elderly when using VR high-tech products, the more frequent the use will be, and the more significant the improvement of the emotional effect. It is suggested that future research could develop a game plan suitable for the elderly with different characteristics.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lambok K. K. Stein ◽  
Siska Wiramihardja ◽  
Iceu D. Kulsum

The proportion of elderly continues to increase from year to year due to theincrease of life expectancy. Elderly will experience degenerative process related tomuscle mass. This can disrupt the quality of life. The aim of this study was to determinethe muscle mass and quality of life (QoL) in the elderly. This study used cross sectionalapproach with the number of subjects as many as 32 elderly residents of Tresna Werdhain Bandung. The tool used to measure muscle mass is BIA Tanita SC-240 while theinstrument used in measuring quality of life is the WHOQL-BREF questionnaire. Theresult showed that the mean value of muscle mass per unit body surface area was 22.86±2.20 kg/m 2 . The highest average value of QoL is the physical domain (59.15±8,06%)while the lowest is the environmental domain (42.97±11.11%). The conclusion of thisstudy is muscle mass possessed by elderly study participants is good. The QoL isclassified as moderate.Keywords: elderly people, muscle mass, quality of life,  WHOQL-BREF questionnaire


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document