Biomedical subjects

G V Ostir

Publications and source records attributed to G V Ostir.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Prevalence of tooth loss and dental service use in older Mexican Americans.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the prevalence of tooth loss, to examine risk factors for having fewer teeth or no teeth, and to describe the use of dental services in an older Mexican-American population. DESIGN: Data from the baseline phase of the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiological Study of the Elderly survey conducted from 1993 to 1994, a cross-sectional survey of older Mexican Americans. SETTING: Five southwestern states: Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. PARTICIPANTS: 3,050 noninstitutionalized Mexican Americans age 65 to 99. RESULTS: Twenty-seven percent of the sample was completely edentulous and 22% reported visiting or speaking with a dental care professional in the preceding year. Logistic regression analyses showed that being older or being female was significantly associated with tooth loss, adjusting for education, income, smoking status, and diabetes mellitus. Current smokers (odds ratio (OR) = 1.69; 95% CI = 1.31-2.20) and diabetics (OR = 1.53; 95% CI = 1.27-1.84) were more at risk for tooth loss, as were persons of lower socioeconomic status. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of tooth loss and use of dental services in this population of older Mexican Americans is lower than what has been previously found among older people in the general population.

Age Distribution↗

PubMed2001

Lower body function and mortality in Mexican American elderly people.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this analysis was to examine the differential impact of performance-based and self-reported lower body measures on 2-year mortality in Mexican American elderly persons. METHODS: Data employed are from the Hispanic Established Population for Epidemiological Studies of the Elderly, a probability survey of 3050 community-dwelling Mexican Americans aged 65 and older from the five Southwestern states interviewed in 1993 and 1994. Of the baseline sample with complete data, 198 persons were confirmed deceased 2 years later. A three-task, performance-based, lower body function measure consisting of a short walk, balance, and repeated chair stands tests was used. Self-reported lower body function was measured by a 4-item Activities of Daily Living (ADL) measure involving the lower body. RESULTS: The three-task, lower body function measure was a significant predictor of 2-year mortality. The short walk alone was as predictive as the summary measure. The predictive ability of both measures was minimally reduced by the inclusion of the self-reported ADL measure and life-threatening medical conditions. Finally, the ADL measure was not a significant predictor of mortality with all the other variables in the analysis. CONCLUSION: Objective measures of lower body function were significant predicators of mortality in Mexican American elderly persons, as found in the general population. Unlike previous studies, the ADL measure was not an independent predictor of mortality after controlling for the objective measure and other risk factors. Additional research is needed to address why objective measures of function are such strong predictors of death.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2001

Impact of arthritis on disability among older Mexican Americans.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the impact of self-reported diagnosis of arthritis at baseline on the two year incidence of limitation in activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living in initially non-disabled Mexican-American elderly. DESIGN: Longitudinal study. SETTING Southwestern United States (Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and California). SUBJECTS: A probability sample of 2,167 non-institutionalized Mexican-American men and women, aged 65 or older. MEASURES: Having ever been told by a doctor that a subject had arthritis, Activities of Daily Living (ADL), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL), depressive symptomatology, presence of chronic diseases (diabetes mellitus, heart attack, stroke, cancer), and body mass index (BMI). RESULTS: Among non-disabled persons at baseline, 11.2% of subjects with arthritis reported at least one ADL limitation after two years, compared to 6.9% of subjects without arthritis. Similarly, among non-disabled persons at baseline, 34.7% of subjects with arthritis reported at least one IADL limitation after two years, compared to 27.0% of subjects without arthritis. In logistic regression analysis, depression, diabetes, and arthritis were found to be predictive of the development of ADL disability, controlling for sociodemographic variables. Depression was the only condition that significantly predicted IADL disability. CONCLUSIONS: Subjects with arthritis were more likely to develop ADL and IADL disability over a two-year period than those without arthritis.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2000

Lower extremity function and subsequent disability: consistency across studies, predictive models, and value of gait speed alone compared with the short physical performance battery.

BACKGROUND: Although it has been demonstrated that physical performance measures predict incident disability in previously nondisabled older persons, the available data have not been fully developed to create usable methods for determining risk profiles in community-dwelling populations. Using several populations and different follow-up periods, this study replicates previous findings by using the Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (EPESE) performance battery and provides equations for the prediction of disability risk according to age, sex, and level of performance. METHODS: Tests of balance, time to walk 8 ft, and time to rise from a chair 5 times were administered to 4,588 initially nondisabled persons in the four sites of the EPESE and to 1,946 initially nondisabled persons in the Hispanic EPESE. Follow-up assessment for activity of daily living (ADL) and mobility-related disability occurred from 1 to 6 years later. RESULTS: In the EPESE, compared with those with the best performance (EPESE summary performance score of 10-12), the relative risks of mobility-related disability for those with scores of 4-6 ranged from 2.9 to 4.9 and the relative risk of disability for those with scores of 7-9 ranged from 1.5 to 2.1, with similar consistent results for ADL disability. The observed rates of incident disability according to performance level in the Hispanic EPESE agreed closely with rates predicted from models developed from the EPESE sites. Receiver operating characteristic curves showed that gait speed alone performed almost as well as the full battery in predicting incident disability. CONCLUSIONS: Performance tests of lower extremity function accurately predict disability across diverse populations. Equations derived from models using both the summary score and the gait speed alone allow for the estimation of risk of disability in community-dwelling populations and provide valuable information for estimating sample size for clinical trials of disability prevention.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2000

Emotional well-being predicts subsequent functional independence and survival.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether positive affect has an independent effect on functional status, mobility, and survival in an older Mexican American sample. DESIGN: A 2-year prospective cohort study. SETTING: Five Southwestern states: Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. PARTICIPANTS: A population-based sample of 2282 Mexican Americans aged 65 to 99 who reported no functional limitations at baseline interview. MEASUREMENTS: In-home interviews in 1993-1994 and again in 1995-1996 assessed demographic variables, health conditions, activities of daily living, performance-based mobility, survival, and a rating of positive and negative affect. RESULTS: In multivariate analyses, there was a direct relationship between positive affect scores at baseline and mobility, functional status, and survival 2 years later, controlling for functional status, sociodemographic variables, major chronic conditions, body mass index (BMI), smoking status, drinking status, and negative affect at baseline. Subjects with high positive affect were half as likely (odds ratio (OR) = 0.48; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.29, 0.93) to become disabled in activities of daily living (ADLs), two-thirds as likely (OR = 0.64; 95% CI 0.51, 0.79) to have a slow walking speed, and half as likely (OR 0.53; 95% CI 0.30, 0.93) to have died during the 2-year follow-up compared to those with lower positive affect scores. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the concept that positive affect, or emotional well-being, is different from the absence of depression or negative affect. Positive affect seems to protect individuals against physical declines in old age.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2000

Obesity and health conditions in elderly Mexican Americans: the Hispanic EPESE. Established Population for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly.

The objective of this analysis was to determine the prevalence of obesity and its association with selected medical conditions in a non-institutionalized elderly Mexican-American population. Data employed are from a representative sample of 3050 elderly Mexican Americans from the five Southwestern states: Texas, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. Complete Body Mass Index (BMI) data were available for 2769 individuals. The in-home survey obtained socio-demographic data, anthropometric measurements, including height and weight, blood pressure readings, self-reported health conditions and depressive symptomatology. It was found that 23% of men and 35% of women were obese (BMI > or =30 kg/m2). Using a weighted logistic regression model, a BMI of > or =26 kg/m2 was associated with a significantly higher risk of diabetes; a BMI of > or =30 kg/m2 was significantly associated with arthritis and measured hypertension and a BMI<22 kg/m2 was associated with a higher likelihood of self-reported cancer. In addition, the prevalence of obesity was found to be much higher in this elderly Mexican-American population than in the general population.

Aged↗

PubMed1999

Disability in older adults. 1: Prevalence, causes, and consequences.

The effects of disability on an aging population's health and welfare are an important issue in gerontological research. The rapid growth of the elderly population and increases in longevity have led to an ongoing debate about whether longer lives can be matched by longer active lives that are free from disability. After a detailed review of current disability literature, the authors discuss the impact of disability in the elderly, defining disability and reviewing three classes of disability--physical, mental, and social. Both subjective and objective disability measures are described, and disability trends and prevalence rates are reviewed and compared cross culturally, by gender, by age, and over time. The path from chronic disease to disability is described and the consequences of living with disability are discussed in terms of family burdens and the increased need for medical care.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed1999

Disability in older adults. 2: Physical activity as prevention.

In this 2nd article in the series on older adults (persons aged > or = 65 years), the role of physical activity in preventing disability associated with aging in the absence of specific illnesses is discussed, and different types of activities and the measures of outcome are described. Evidence for physical activity as a prevention measure is restricted to primary and secondary prevention because the application of physical activity for tertiary prevention of disability is limited. Chronic disease is considered in the context of its influence on disability only when physical activity offers some potential benefit to elderly persons.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed1998

Lower body functioning as a predictor of subsequent disability among older Mexican Americans.

BACKGROUND: Disability measures among elderly non-Hispanic White populations have traditionally been associated with activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). More recently, performance-based measures have increasingly been used to predict the onset of disability in initially nondisabled elderly populations. METHODS: We used data from two waves (1993-94 and 1995-96) of the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (EPESE) to assess the degree with which lower mobility performance measures predict future disability in a representative sample of older Mexican Americans from the Southwestern United States. RESULTS: Performances on an 8-foot walk, repeated chair stands, and standing balance among nondisabled subjects at baseline were significantly associated with the onset of ADL and lower body disability 2 years later, controlling for age, gender, and the presence of medical conditions. The results were significant for each performance measure and for a measure combining all three. CONCLUSION: This study offers further evidence that performance-based measures of lower body function are able to predict future disability in older Mexican Americans, as has been found with other elderly populations. These measures were able to detect changes over a relatively short period of time (2 years). In addition, the study found that the short (8-foot) walk was the most sensitive measure in predicting future disability.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Logistic regression: a nontechnical review.

Medical rehabilitation researchers are increasingly interested in investigating complex, multivariate problems. Logistic regression analysis is a statistical tool that may be useful in exploring the relationship between multiple explanatory factors and a categorical outcome. The purpose of this article is to describe logistic regression analysis in nontechnical terms.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The association between emotional well-being and the incidence of stroke in older adults.

OBJECTIVE: Individuals with high levels of depressive symptoms have an increased risk of many illnesses, including stroke. Measures of depressive symptoms include questions about the presence of negative affect, such as sadness, as well as the absence of positive affect, such as happiness and optimism. We assessed whether positive or negative affect, or both, predicted risk of stroke. METHODS: Data were from a 6-year prospective cohort study of a population-based sample of 2478 older whites and blacks from five counties in North Carolina who reported no history of stroke at the baseline interview. Baseline, in-person interviews were conducted to gather information on sociodemographic, psychosocial, and health-related characteristics of subjects. Thereafter interviews were conducted annually for 6 years. RESULTS: Increasing scores on the modified version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) were significantly associated with stroke incidence for the overall sample (relative risk [RR] = 1.04 for each one-point increase, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.01-1.09) over the 6-year follow-up period after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, blood pressure, body mass index, smoking status, and selected chronic diseases. Positive affect score demonstrated a strong inverse association with stroke incidence (RR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.62-0.88). CONCLUSIONS: Increasing scores on the modified CES-D are related to an increased risk of stroke, whereas high levels of positive affect seem to protect against stroke in older adults.

Affect↗