Elderly Health Journal
Volume:5 Issue: 2, Dec 2019

Health care providers play a central role as the main members of the health care service providers team for the elderly and their knowledge and attitudes towards the aging phenomenon can play an important role in the quality of health care services provision for the elderly. Therefore, the present study aims to comparatively investigate knowledge and attitude of health care providers about the aging phenomenon in comprehensive health centers of Yazd and Hamadan, Iran.

The cross-sectional study conducted on 220 health care providers who were enrolled in the study from comprehensive health centers in Yazd and Hamadan by cluster sampling. The data were collected by a questionnaire including demographic information, Kogan's attitude towards old people scale, and Palmore Facts on Aging Quiz .Data were analyzed by SPSS using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficient.

Mean score of knowledge about aging (range: 0-25) was 12.24 ± 2.43 in Yazd and 12.17 ± 2.51 in Hamadan. Mean score of attitude towards aging (range: 34-204) was 121.49 ± 10.53 in Yazd and 119.40 ± 11.21 in Hamadan. There was no statistically significant difference in knowledge (p = 0.828) and its three dimensions (misconceptions about aging, psychosocial status and physical condition), and attitude (p = 0.152) and its three levels (negative, neutral and positive attitude) between health care providers in Yazd and Hamadan. There was a significant, positive correlation between knowledge and attitude in both Yazd (p < 0.01, r = 0.656) and Hamadan (p < 0.01, r = 0.718).

The knowledge of health care providers in both cities was moderate and had positive attitude towards aging. Considering the moderate knowledge of health care providers about the aging, effective steps can be taken to promote knowledge and improve the attitudes of health care providers by providing educational curricula on physical, psychological, social and spiritual health of the elderly people and holding in-service training programs.

Falls are considered as the major health problem in ageing and the damages caused by falls (such as fractures, disability, heavy costs on government and family, and death) are the major concern of the World Health Organization. So, determination of risk factors and specific ways to prevent falls in the elderlies are of great importance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a six-week shuttle balance exercises on balance, gait speed, and risk of falling in elderlies.

This ranomised controlled trial study was conducted with the pre-test and post-test design among the elderlies in Tehran, Iran. To conduct the study, 30 healthy men and women older adulth were randomly divided into the experimental (n = 16)  and control (n = 14) groups. Members of the experimental group participated in the six-week exercise program, which was held in three 90-minute sessions per week. The intervention involved five exercises conducted in presence of the researcher. Data were collected using the valid and reliable instruments of Berg Balance Scale, Timed Up and Go Test, and the Falls Efficacy Scale Intrnational. Data were analyzed by independent t-test, paired sample t-test, and analysis of covariance at the significance level of 95% using SPSS 19.

The study findings showed that balance training with shuttle balance improved the participants' balance, gait speed, and fear of falling significantly (p < 0.05).

The six-week balance exercises with shuttle balance improved the participants' walking gait and reduced the risk of falling in elders. These results highlight the beneficial effects of shuttle balance over other devices, such as more security, adjustability of height in chair arms, and possibility to enhance its exercise programs. Therefore, balance shuttle can be applied to improve balance, increase gait speed, and reduce falling risk in elderlies.

Survey about the issues and problems related to elderly in order to improve their Quality Of Life (QOL) of this increasing population has become a universal concern. Even though aging is a natural process but many effective factors such as rest and sleep pattern can affect this process. So this study aimed to determine the relationship between sleep quality and QOL of the retried elderly members of Isfahan retirement center

This descriptive-analytic study was done on 192 retired older adults were referred to Isfahan retirement center by simple random sampling. The information collected via demographic variables, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Elderly Quality of Life Questionnaire (LIPAD). Finally the data analysis by software SPSS 21 and descriptive statistical tests, Pearson correlation coefficient, t-test and ANOVA.

The results showed that the mean score of sleep quality in the elderly was 6.63 ± 3.41 (range 0-21), which show their sleep quality were poor. The mean score of their QOL were 61.15 ± 9.97 (range 0-93). In addition there were significant and positive correlations between sleep quality and QOL and its dimensions in the retried elderly (p < 0.05).

The findings of this study suggest that poor sleep quality in retired elderly people is associated with lack of QOL. Therefore, paying attention to this issue is important in health supporting programs.

Falling is one of the most common problems of the elderly people with a multi factorial nature and frequent cases. This study aimed to determine the risk factors of falls in old people covered by Mashhad University of Medical Sciences.

This retrospective case-control study was conducted on 15,600 elderly participants. Data were extracted from Sina Electronic Health Record System (SinaEHR®, Iran). The obtained data were analyzed using STATA through odds ratio formula.

Risk factors of falls in the elderly subjects included age, fear of falling, higher body mass index, diabetes, anemia, gastrointestinal problems, hypothyroidism, use of sedatives, and smoking, after adjusting the potentially confounding effects of other variables.

The current study provides evidence that patient-related factor such as diabetes, anemia, hypothyroidism and smoking are associated with falls in the elderly. The results of the present research can be used by health policy-makers to reduce fall-related costs of the old people by focusing on care services and high-risk individuals.

Frailty is a common geriatric syndrome. Studies of frailty and old age have been able to help reduce its underlying causes and complication. Understanding the frailty and its associated factors in developing countries such as Iran, can help gather information on conditions of the elderly and better plan for this age population. Therefore, the present study was implemented to investigate the prevalence and determinants of frailty in the rural elderly population of Shabestar, East Azarbayjan, Iran.

This cross-sectional study was conducted among 565 rural older people in Shabestar, Iran during 2018-2019. The data collection tool was the Tilburg Frailty Indicator. The participants were selected by using stratified and simple random approach. Descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA and logistic regression were used to perform data analysis.

Of the participants, 46.7% were detected as being frail. The associations between the prevalence of frailty and sociodemographic characteristics such as age, gender, marital status, types of lifestyle, educational level, and income status were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Regression analysis showed that age (β = -0.84, p < 0.05), the number of medications used (β = -2.72, p < 0.001), hypertension (β = -0.633, p < 0.006), diabetes (β = -535, p < 0.045) and the history of fall during the last year (β = -4.21, p < 0.001) were the most important predictors of frailty among non-institutionalized rural older people.

The study confirms the importance of common chronic medical conditions and sociodemographic characteristics in the development of frailty syndrome among older adults. The descriptive nature of the study implies observational trials to clarify more deeply relationship between frailty and the determinants found.

Fatigue is one of the most common causes of disability in most elderly people affected with diabetes. Considering the growing population of this group, the present study aimed to determine the effect of warm foot bath on the fatigue of the elderly people with diabetes.

The randomized clinical trial study was carried out on 66 elderly diabetic patients who had referred to the Diabetes Research Center in Yazd. Eligible participants were selected by convenience sampling and randomly divided into two experimental and control groups. Participants of the experimental group performed a warm foot bathing for 20 minutes during two weeks. The Piper Fatigue Scale was completed in three steps (at the beginning of the study, two and four weeks after intervention). Data were analyzed by SPSS software, using ANOVA for repeated measures, independent t-test, Chi-Square and Fisher exact test.

The mean ± standard deviation of fatigue in the three phases of evaluation in the experimental group was 5.91 ± 0.81, 4.80 ± 1.19, 4.55 ± 1.57 and in the control group was 5.95 ± 0.97, 6.06 ± 1.13 and 5.79 ± 1.33, respectively. The difference in the mean of fatigue scores in both groups after the intervention was significant (p < 0.001).

Revealing the positive effects of warm foot bathing, this method, as a non-pharmacological and easy-to-use method, is recommended to improve fatigue condition in the elderly patients with diabetes.

As rapid urbanizing spreads throughout Thailand, the combination of urban-rural lifestyle has been gradually found. These changes may effect on health pattern of the older adults. This study was aimed to explore the incidence of health problems and life styles of the elderly in urban-rural areas.

A random interview survey with qualitative approach was used. Data were randomly collected from 14 areas in central sub-districts of Nakhonratchasima province, Thailand. Twenty-five older adults in each area were interviewed. The recording forms consisted of demographic data, perceived health status and health problems, medication use, activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, mental health, social and religious activities, and accommodation and environment. Non-invasive physical examinations of the elderly were performed by weighing, measuring height and testing muscle strength with one leg standing.

Most of the elderly reported having at least one chronic disease and/or degenerative problems that had impact on their daily lives. Forty percent rated their health status as moderate to poor, 18% encountered falls while 18% were hospitalized in the past six months. Only one-third underwent an annual health check–up while 30% of the female had cancer cervix screening. Most of the elderly could perform daily tasks on their own with assistive instruments and were healthy in mind. However, many of them drank tap water without boiling or filtering.

The older adults in the urban-rural areas had access to health care services and had a good health status. However, their health promotion and prevention behaviors are questionable.

Narrative therapy is a psychological intervention focusing on remembering and reconstruction of the people's life events in ways that are of benefit to them, and reduce the impact of challenges in their lives. This study was performed to examine the effect of narrative group therapy (NGT) on aging perceptions and death anxiety among older adults.

Forty-seven subjects, elderly nursing home residents (Tehran, Iran) with the mean age of 69.2 ± 2.55 were selected and assigned to intervention (n = 24), and control groups (n = 23). The intervention group received eight 90 min weekly sessions of NGT, and data were collected at the baseline, post-test and one month follow-up.

Compared to the control and baseline, NGT intervention was positively influenced the aging perceptions of participants, especially their emotional representations, as well as their beliefs about aging consequences and control over experiences relating to aging. NGT was also found to be effective in the reduction of death anxiety, which were also sustained over the time with significant interaction effect between group and test times (p < 0.05).

To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the psychological interventions for aging perceptions, as well as NGT for death anxiety in older adults. The intervention was effective to improve the aging perceptions and reduce death anxiety and could be recommended for elderly nursing home residents