Psychology, psychiatry and quality of life

Relationship between meaning in life and death anxiety in the elderly: self-esteem as a mediator

Death anxiety is a common phenomenon in all societies. Older adults may be more prone to death anxiety than their younger counterparts; however, death anxiety among older adults is not well understood. This st...

Authors: Jiaxi Zhang, Jiaxi Peng, Pan Gao, He Huang, Yunfei Cao, Lulu Zheng and Danmin Miao

Systematic review and meta-analysis of second-generation antidepressants for the treatment of older adults with depression: questionable benefit and considerations for frailty

Frail older adults are commonly prescribed antidepressants. Yet, there is little evidence to determine the efficacy and safety of antidepressants to treat depression with concomitant frailty. To better underst...

Authors: Laurie Mallery, Tanya MacLeod, Michael Allen, Pamela McLean-Veysey, Natasha Rodney-Cail, Evan Bezanson, Brian Steeves, Constance LeBlanc and Paige Moorhouse

In-hospital care prior to assisted and unassisted suicide in swiss older people: a state-level retrospective study

Authors: Nathalie Dieudonné-Rahm, Sandra Burkhardt and Sophie Pautex

Interactions between subjective memory complaint and objective cognitive deficit on memory performances

Subjective memory complaint (SMCs) is a common trait amongst older population. The subjective cognition about their memory could depend on objective cognition. The aim of the current study was to examine the i...

Authors: Soowon Park, Ji-Hye Lee, Jiyeon Lee, Youngsung Cho, Hyun Gyu Park, Yongjoon Yoo, Jung-Hae Youn, Seung-Ho Ryu, Jae Yeon Hwang, Jeongsim Kim and Jun-Young Lee

Impact of a delirium prevention project among older hospitalized patients who underwent orthopedic surgery: a retrospective cohort study

Postoperative delirium (POD) is a common clinical syndrome with significant negative outcomes. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a delirium screening tool and multidisciplinary de...

Authors: Jung-Yeon Choi, Kwang-il Kim, Min-gu Kang, Young-Kyun Lee, Kyung-Hoi Koo, Joo Han Oh, Young Ho Park, Jeewon Suh, Nak-Hyun Kim, Hyun-Jung Yoo, Jahyun Koo, Hyun Mi Moon, Eun Hui Kim, Kayoung Park and Cheol-Ho Kim

Psychometric properties of the geriatric quality of life-dementia in older adults with dementia or mild cognitive impairment living in nursing homes

Given the theoretical and methodological limitations, there is insufficient knowledge about the psychometric properties and internal structure of quality of life (QOL) measurements for patients with dementia l...

Authors: Eun-Young Park, Seon-Min Park and Jung-Hee Kim

Melatonin for the prevention of postoperative delirium in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Older surgical patients are at high risk of developing postoperative delirium. Non-pharmacological strategies are recommended for delirium prevention, but no pharmacological agents have compelling evidence to ...

Authors: Ashley M. Campbell, David Rhys Axon, Jennifer R. Martin, Marion K. Slack, Lea Mollon and Jeannie K. Lee

Theory and Design of the Community for successful ageing (ComSA) program in Singapore: connecting BioPsychoSocial health and quality of life experiences of older adults

Despite the emphasis on holistic health promotion in community programs for older people, few studies explicitly consider how BioPsychoSocial (BPS) health elements are interconnected and function to improve Qu...

Authors: Su Aw, Gerald C. H. Koh, Chuen Seng Tan, Mee Lian Wong, Hubertus J. M. Vrijhoef, Susana Concordo Harding, Mary Ann B. Geronimo and Zoe J. L. Hildon

TV-based assistive integrated service to support European adults living with mild dementia or mild cognitive impairment (TV-AssistDem): study protocol for a multicentre randomized controlled trial

Mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia progressively compromise the ability of people to live independently and can have a negative impact on their quality of life. Within the current European Active and ...

Authors: Jessica Marian Goodman-Casanova, José Guzmán-Parra, Gloria Guerrero, Elisa Vera, Pilar Barnestein-Fonseca, Gabriella Cortellessa, Francesca Fracasso, Alessandro Umbrico, Amedeo Cesta, Diana Toma, Flavia Boghiu, Rodolphe Dewarrat, Valentina Triantafyllidou, Elena Tamburini, Pietro Dionisio and Fermín Mayoral

Effectiveness of a group-based psychosocial program to prevent depression and anxiety in older people attending primary health care centres: a randomised controlled trial

Evidence about the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions to reduce the incidence of depression and anxiety and promote subjective well-being in older people is limited, particularly in Latin-American cou...

Authors: Sandra Saldivia, Carolina Inostroza, Claudio Bustos, Paulina Rincón, Joseph Aslan, Vasily Bühring, Maryam Farhang, Michael King and Félix Cova

Understanding changes and stability in the long-term use of technologies by seniors who are aging in place: a dynamical framework

If technologies are to support aging in place, then it is important to develop fundamental knowledge on what causes stability and changes in the use of technologies by seniors. However, longitudinal studies on...

Authors: S. T. M. Peek, K. G. Luijkx, H. J. M. Vrijhoef, M. E. Nieboer, S. Aarts, C. S. van der Voort, M. D. Rijnaard and E. J. M. Wouters

The course of depressive symptoms with decline in cognitive function - a longitudinal study of older adults receiving in-home care at baseline

Depressive symptoms in old age are common, but the prevalence, persistence, and incidence of depressive symptoms in older adults with and without dementia receiving in-home care is less well studied, and descr...

Authors: Anne-Sofie Helvik, Maria Lage Barca, Sverre Bergh, Jūratė Šaltytė-Benth, Øyvind Kirkevold and Tom Borza

Sleep disorders among educationally active elderly people in Bialystok, Poland: a cross-sectional study

Sleep disorders in an ageing society constitute a significant public health problem. It is estimated that approximately 50% of people aged 55 years and older have trouble sleeping, including initiating and mai...

Authors: Mateusz Cybulski, Lukasz Cybulski, Elzbieta Krajewska-Kulak, Magda Orzechowska, Urszula Cwalina and Krystyna Kowalczuk

Perceptions and expectations of health-related quality of life among geriatric patients seeking emergency care: a qualitative study

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL), encompassing social, emotional, and physical wellbeing is an important clinical outcome of medical care, especially among geriatric patients. It is unclear which domains...

Authors: Scott M. Dresden, Danielle M. McCarthy, Kirsten G. Engel and D. Mark Courtney

Factors related to health-related quality of life in older people with multimorbidity and high health care consumption over a two-year period

The prevalence of multimorbidity is increasing worldwide, and older people with multimorbidity are frequent users of health care services. Since multimorbidity has a significant negative impact on Health-relat...

Authors: Leonie Klompstra, Anne W. Ekdahl, Barbro Krevers, Anna Milberg and Jeanette Eckerblad

Effects of intermittent hypoxia-hyperoxia on mobility and perceived health in geriatric patients performing a multimodal training intervention: a randomized controlled trial

Additional benefits of passive exposures to intermittent hypoxia and hyperoxia on cognitive performance and functional exercise capacity have been demonstrated in geriatric patients who performed a multimodal ...

Authors: Ulrike Bayer, Rudolf Likar, Georg Pinter, Haro Stettner, Susanne Demschar, Brigitte Trummer, Stefan Neuwersch, Oleg Glazachev and Martin Burtscher

Validity of a novel screen for cognitive impairment and neuropsychiatric symptoms in cardiac rehabilitation

Currently, there is no composite screening tool that can efficiently and effectively assess prevalent yet under-recognized cognitive and neuropsychiatric comorbidities in patients with cardiovascular disease. ...

Authors: Dana Mohammad, Nathan Herrmann, Mahwesh Saleem, Richard H. Swartz, Paul I. Oh, Janelle Bradley, Parco Chan, Courtney Ellis and Krista L. Lanctôt

“We live as good a life as we can, in the situation we’re in” – the significance of the home as perceived by persons with dementia

The coming years will see more persons with dementia living longer at home. However, “the home” is a complex concept with a multitude of meanings, varying among individuals and raising ethical and practical di...

Authors: Stein Erik Fæø, Bettina S. Husebo, Frøydis Kristine Bruvik and Oscar Tranvåg

Pain and symptoms of depression: international comparative study on selected factors affecting the quality of life of elderly people residing in institutions in Europe

As the number of elderly people is on the rise in societies throughout the world, providing them with optimal care is becoming a major demand, especially in the context of rising interest in institutional care...

Authors: Izabela Wróblewska, Dorota Talarska, Zuzanna Wróblewska, Robert Susło and Jarosław Drobnik

Factors promoting Iranian older adults’ spirituality: a qualitative content analysis

Spirituality plays an important role during old age, but reveals itself as a confounding mental health concept, which needs to be defined when providing spiritual care. The purpose of this study was to explore...

Authors: Fatemeh Hajinejad, Ebrahim Ebrahimi, Anneke de Jong and Maryam Ravanipour

Validation of Addenbrooke’s cognitive examination III for detecting mild cognitive impairment and dementia in Japan

Early detection of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia is very important to begin appropriate treatment promptly and to prevent disease exacerbation. We investigated the screening accuracy of the Japa...

Authors: Shintaro Takenoshita, Seishi Terada, Hidenori Yoshida, Megumi Yamaguchi, Mayumi Yabe, Nao Imai, Makiko Horiuchi, Tomoko Miki, Osamu Yokota and Norihito Yamada

Prevalence and persistent use of psychotropic drugs in older adults receiving domiciliary care at baseline

Little is known about the use of psychotropic drugs in older adults receiving domiciliary care. The first aim was to describe the prevalence and persistency of use of psychotropic drugs in older adults (≥ 70 y...

Authors: Marie Turmo Lornstad, Marte Aarøen, Sverre Bergh, Jūratė Šaltytė Benth and Anne-Sofie Helvik

Elder abuse victimization patterns: latent class analysis using perpetrators and abusive behaviours

Research on elder abuse has defined it as a multidimensional construct that encompasses a set of different abusive behaviours, victims, perpetrators and settings. The array of possible elder abuse configuratio...

Authors: Ana João Santos, Baltazar Nunes, Irina Kislaya, Ana Paula Gil and Oscar Ribeiro

Predictors of unmet needs in Chilean older people with dementia: a cross-sectional study

The needs of people with dementia (PWD) have not been assessed in any Latin American country. Several European countries have already related unmet needs with quality of life, caregiver’s age, burden, stress, ...

Authors: Thamara Tapia Muñoz, Andrea Slachevsky, María O. León-Campos, Michel Madrid, Alejandra Caqueo-Urízar, Gustav C. Rohde and Claudia Miranda-Castillo

Quality of life profile in three cohorts of community-dwelling Swiss older people

Quality of life (QoL) is a subjective and dynamic concept resulting from an interplay between importance of and satisfaction with different aspects of life. However, it is unclear whether social contexts exper...

Authors: Nazanin Abolhassani, Brigitte Santos-Eggimann, Christophe Büla, René Goy, Idris Guessous and Yves Henchoz

Non-spouse companions accompanying older adults to medical visits: a qualitative analysis

Medical Visit Companions (MVCs) are encouraged for older adults’ routine medical encounters. Little data exist on the experiences and contributions of non-spouse companions for the growing population of older ...

Authors: Orla C. Sheehan, Anita L. Graham-Phillips, John D. Wilson, Deidra C. Crews, Cheryl L. Holt, Jennifer Gabbard, Katherine C. Smith, Jennifer L. Wolff and David L. Roth

CareACT - internet-based intervention for enhancing the psychological well-being of elderly caregivers – a study protocol of a controlled trial

The rapid increase in the number of elderly family caregivers underlines the need for new support systems. Internet-delivered psychological interventions are a potential approach, as they are easy to access fo...

Authors: Päivi Lappalainen, Inka Pakkala and Riku Nikander

The cost-effectiveness of a telephone-based intervention to support caregivers of older people discharged from hospital

A telephone intervention for caregivers of older people discharged from hospital was shown to improve preparedness to care, reduce caregiver strain and caregiver distress. No cost-effectiveness analysis has be...

Authors: David Youens, Richard Parsons, Christine Toye, Susan Slatyer, Samar Aoun, Keith D. Hill, Matthew Skinner, Sean Maher, Sue Davis, Rebecca Osseiran-Moisson and Rachael Moorin

Implementation and evaluation of a driving cessation intervention to improve community mobility and wellbeing outcomes for people living with dementia: study protocol of the ‘CarFreeMe’ for people with dementia program

Giving up driving is a pivotal life event and universal challenge for people living with dementia and their families, and a complex area of clinical practice for health professionals who monitor driving cessat...

Authors: Theresa Scott, Jacki Liddle, Geoffrey Mitchell, Elizabeth Beattie and Nancy Pachana

Association between health behaviors and mood disorders among the elderly: a community-based cohort study

According to a WHO report, nearly 15% of adults aged 60 and over suffer from a mental disorder, constituting 6.6% of the total disability for this age group. Taipei City faces rapid transformation towards an a...

Authors: Tzu-Jung Tseng, Yi-Syuan Wu, Jia-Hong Tang, Yen-Hui Chiu, Yu-Ting Lee, I-Chun Fan and Ta-Chien Chan

Development and validation of a simple screening tool for caregiver grief in dementia caregiving

Loss and grief are experienced by caregivers of persons with dementia (PWD), relating to the ambiguous loss of PWD even when they are still alive and the anticipation of future loss related to their physical d...

Authors: Tau Ming Liew, Bee Choo Tai, Philip Yap and Gerald Choon-Huat Koh

Cognitive function in Prefrail and frail community-dwelling older adults in China

Physical frailty, characterized by reduced physiologic complexity and ability to cope with stressors, is closely associated with cognitive impairment, which increases the risk of poor clinical outcomes. To bet...

Authors: Lina Ma, Li Zhang, Fei Sun, Yun Li and Zhe Tang

The (cost-) effectiveness of exergaming in people living with dementia and their informal caregivers: protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Physical activity is linked to benefits such as increased physical fitness, cognition, emotional and social functioning, general health and well-being in older people. Some evidence suggests that this also app...

Authors: Joeke van Santen, Rose-Marie Dröes, Judith E. Bosmans, Olivier A. Blanson Henkemans, Sjef van Bommel, Esther Hakvoort, Ronald Valk, Carla Scholten, Joris Wiersinga, Annemieke van Straten and Franka Meiland

Kaumātua Mana Motuhake: A study protocol for a peer education intervention to help Māori elders work through later-stage life transitions

The Aotearoa/New Zealand population is ageing and numerous studies demonstrate with this phenomenon comes increases in non-communicable diseases, injuries and healthcare costs among other issues. Further, sign...

Authors: John G. Oetzel, Brendan Hokowhitu, Mary Simpson, Rangimahora Reddy, Sophie Nock, Hineitimoana Greensill, Michael P. Cameron, Pare Meha, Kirsten Johnston, Truely Harding, Pita Shelford and Linda Tuhiwai Smith

Study protocol of a multi-center RCT testing a social-cognitive intervention to promote volunteering in older adults against an active control

Volunteering could be a win-win opportunity for older adults: Links between volunteering and societal improvements as well as older adults’ own health and longevity are found in several observational studies. ...

Authors: Lisa M. Warner, Da Jiang, Alice Ming-Lin Chong, Tianyuan Li, Julia K. Wolff and Kee-Lee Chou

Change in quality of life and potentially associated factors in patients receiving home-based primary care: a prospective cohort study

The trajectories for health-related quality of life of patients receiving home-based primary care are not well identified. Our objective was to investigate changes in the quality of life (QOL) and factors that...

Authors: Chi-Hsien Huang, Hiroyuki Umegaki, Hiroko Kamitani, Atushi Asai, Shigeru Kanda, Keiko Maeda, Hideki Nomura and Masafumi Kuzuya

Refining caregiver vulnerability for clinical practice: determinants of self-rated health in spousal dementia caregivers

Caregivers of a family member with a chronic disability or illness such as dementia are at increased risk for chronic disease. There are many factors that contribute to dementia caregiver vulnerability and the...

Authors: Roland von Känel, Brent T. Mausbach, Joel E. Dimsdale, Michael G. Ziegler, Paul J. Mills, Matthew A. Allison, Thomas L. Patterson, Sonia Ancoli-Israel and Igor Grant

Influence of activity space on the association between neighborhood characteristics and dementia risk: results from the 3-City study cohort

Socioeconomic level of residential environment was found to influence cognitive performance. However, individuals from the same place of residence may be affected differently. We aim to investigate for the fir...

Authors: Noémie Letellier, Isabelle Carrière, Laure-Anne Gutierrez, Audrey Gabelle, Jean-François Dartigues, Carole Dufouil, Catherine Helmer, Emmanuelle Cadot and Claudine Berr

Study protocol: individualized music for people with dementia - improvement of quality of life and social participation for people with dementia in institutional care

People with dementia (PwD) experience a range of negative behavioral and psychological symptoms which can lower their quality of life. Because of the increasing prevalence of dementia, interventions that maint...

Authors: Lisette Weise, Elisabeth Jakob, Nils Frithjof Töpfer and Gabriele Wilz

Improving living and dying for people with advanced dementia living in care homes: a realist review of Namaste Care and other multisensory interventions

Seventy percent of people with advanced dementia live and die in care homes. Multisensory approaches, such as Namaste Care, have been developed to improve the quality of life and dying for people with advanced...

Authors: Frances Bunn, Jennifer Lynch, Claire Goodman, Rachel Sharpe, Catherine Walshe, Nancy Preston and Katherine Froggatt

What enables good end of life care for people with dementia? A multi-method qualitative study with key stakeholders

People with advanced dementia often experience suboptimal end of life care (EoLC) with inadequate pain control, increased hospitalisation, and fewer palliative care interventions compared to those with cancer....

Authors: Claire Bamford, Richard Lee, Emma McLellan, Marie Poole, Karen Harrison-Dening, Julian Hughes, Louise Robinson and Catherine Exley

A randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a staff training program to implement consumer directed care on resident quality of life in residential aged care

Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs) are moving towards a Consumer Directed Care (CDC) model of care. There are limited examples of CDC in ageing research, and no evaluation of a comprehensive CDC interven...

Authors: Marita P. McCabe, Elizabeth Beattie, Gery Karantzas, David Mellor, Kerrie Sanders, Lucy Busija, Belinda Goodenough, Michelle Bennett, Kathryn von Treuer and Jessica Byers

Quality of life and paracetamol in advanced dementia (Q-PID): protocol of a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled crossover trial

No proven effective interventions on quality of life (QoL) are available for persons with dementia in a long-term care facility (LTCF). However, several interventions are effective in diminishing mediators of ...

Authors: Paulien H. van Dam, Wilco P. Achterberg, Jacobijn Gussekloo, Bettina S. Husebo and Monique A. A. Caljouw

Serum cystatin C, impaired kidney function, and geriatric depressive symptoms among older people living in a rural area: a population-based study

The relationship between kidney function and depressive symptoms among elderly people has been rarely investigated in settings of the general population. The aim of our study was to examine the association of ...

Authors: Ling Wu, Zhongrui Yan, Hui Jiang, Huaimei Xing, Haohao Li and Chengxuan Qiu

Montreal cognitive assessment reflects cognitive reserve

The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is known to have discriminative power for patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Recently Cognitive Reserve (CR) has been introduced as a factor that compensate...

Authors: Jae Myeong Kang, Young-Sung Cho, Soowon Park, Byung Ho Lee, Bo Kyung Sohn, Chi Hyun Choi, Jeong-Seok Choi, Hee Yeon Jeong, Seong-Jin Cho, Jae-Hong Lee and Jun-Young Lee

Alzheimer’s disease risk factors as mediators of subjective memory impairment and objective memory decline: protocol for a construct-level replication analysis

Subjective memory impairment (SMI), or the perception of memory problems in the absence of objective memory deficits, is associated with negative outcomes of individual and societal significance, including a s...

Authors: Nikki L. Hill and Jacqueline Mogle

Effect of cognitive and executive functions on perception of quality of life of cognitively normal elderly people dwelling in residential aged care facilities in Sri Lanka

Although cognitive functions affect the health related quality of life (QoL), the relationship between perceived QoL and cognition including executive functions has not been studied adequately. Available studi...

Authors: Madushika Wishvanie Kodagoda Gamage, Chandana Hewage and Kithsiri Dedduwa Pathirana

Associations between health-related quality of life, physical function and fear of falling in older fallers receiving home care

Falls and injuries in older adults have significant consequences and costs, both personal and to society. Although having a high incidence of falls, high prevalence of fear of falling and a lower quality of li...

Authors: Maria Bjerk, Therese Brovold, Dawn A. Skelton and Astrid Bergland

A comparison of perceived uselessness between centenarians and non-centenarians in China

Self-perceived uselessness is associated with poorer health in older adults. However, it is unclear whether there is a difference in self-perceived uselessness between centenarians and non-centenarians, and if...

Authors: Yuan Zhao, Hong Fu, Aimei Guo, Li Qiu, Karen S. L. Cheung, Bei Wu, Daniela Jopp and Danan Gu

Octo- and nonagenarians’ outlook on life and death when living with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator: a cross-sectional study

Elderly individuals are increasingly represented among patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD), but data describing life with an ICD are scarse among octo- and nonagenarians. Moreover, few ...

Authors: Ingela Thylén, Debra K. Moser and Anna Strömberg