Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5858/1510007
The Relationship of Older Adults' Physical Pain to Depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): A Review
Golnar Alamdari and Luciana Lagana
Article Type: Research Article | First Published: December 31, 2015
In a high quality research study conducted earlier this year, Outcalt, Kroenke, Krebs, et al. emphasized that depression and post-traumatic stress disorder are often present in individuals living with chronic pain and typically have negative consequences on both the experience of pain and health outcomes, yet, the specific nature of the pain-depression-PTSD link remains unclear. This is especially applicable to older adults, a population that has seldom been studied on this topic....
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5858/1510006
A Survey of Obstetrician-Gynecologists Regarding their Care of Women 65 Years or Older
William F Rayburn, Greta B Raglan, Carla J Herman and Jay Schulkin
Article Type: Research Article | First Published: December 02, 2015
The population of older Americans is expected to represent 20 percent of the total U.S. population in the next 50 years, and older women will comprise the majority of that group. Thus, health care needs of this group are and will continue to be an increasing concern. Several factors such as diversity of the population, distinguishing between normal aging and disease, and the impact of socioeconomic concerns on physical and mental health are important for developing preventive and treatment strat...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5858/1510005
Association of SORL1 Polymorphisms with the Risk of Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment in the Han Chinese Population
Lili Zhang, Xiaowei Liu, Bailing Wang, Qing Xu, Jianzhong Zhu, Feng Zhang and Chunhui Jin
Article Type: Communication | First Published: September 14, 2015
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is defined as the symptomatic predementia stage, characterized by cognitive impairment that is not severe enough to influence the usual activities of daily living. MCI is suggested to be a transitional state between healthy aging and clinically probable Alzheimer's disease (AD). Previous studies have identified that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the sortilin-related receptor, L (DLR class) A repeats containing (SORL1) gene are associated with amnestic ...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5858/1510004
Caregiver Abuse of Chicago Chinese Older Adults in a Community-Dwelling Population
Xin Qi Dong and Ge Li
Article Type: Original Article | First Published: September 05, 2015
Elder abuse, also referred to as elder mistreatment or elder maltreatment, is an important public health and human rights issue. The prevalence of elder abuse ranges from 2.2% to 61.1% around the world. The 2008 US National Elder Mistreatment Study suggests that more than 10% of the community-dwelling aging population reported elder abuse or potential neglect in the past year. Existing literature has shown that elder abuse may result in psychological distress, increased morbidity and mortality i...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5858/1510003
Balance and its Clinical Assessment in Older Adults - A Review
Joseph O. Nnodim and Raymond L. Yung
Article Type: Research Article | First Published: September 02, 2015
Balance impairment is common among older adults and estimates of its prevalence range between 20 and 50%. In basic terms, loss of balance occurs when the center of mass (CoM) falls out of alignment with the base of support (BoS). With about two-thirds of body mass about two-thirds of body height above a relatively narrow BoS, human bipedal stance and gait are inherently low in stability. Further, the BoS is about halved when standing on one leg, adding to the potential instability. It is therefo...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5858/1510002
Terminal Care in Older Patients in Hospital: Development of a Quality Indicator Set and its First Application in a Retrospective Comparison of Patients Treated in an Acute Geriatric Unit and a Palliative Care Unit of a Belgian University Hospital
Annelies Cools, Delphine Vaneechoutte, Nele Van Den Noortgate, Karen Versluys, Martine De Laat, Mirko Petrovic and Ruth Piers
Article Type: Research Article | First Published: August 26, 2015
During the last decades, there has been growing interest in high quality end-of-life care for the geriatric patient. This can be explained by the aging of the population, which leads to an increased number of frail, older patients who die in hospitals as a result of one or more chronic condition(s). The quality of end-of-life care for the geriatric patient is not optimal, characterized by inadequately treated symptoms and poor communication between health care professionals, patients and their f...
