PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M Luszcz

Publications and source records attributed to M Luszcz.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Measurement of subjective quality of life of elders.

There are two aims in this article, to define subjective quality of life and to suggest a way to standardize its measurement to enable comparisons to be made across studies. One of the unresolved issues in gerontological research has concerned the definition and measurement of quality of life (Lawton, 1991). This article focuses on subjective well-being, one of the four components proposed by Lawton (1991). There seems to be a growing consensus that most scales of well-being have at least two concepts in common, positive and negative affect. To test this hypothesis, two well-being scales, the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale (Lawton, 1975) and the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (Radloff, 1977), were subjected to confirmatory factor analyses, using data on 1717 participants in the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing aged between 70 and 103 years. Each scale was shown to contain factors of positive and negative affect. The article concludes with a suggestion that the measurement of quality of life in elders should include, at a minimum, scales of positive and negative affect as well as other measures relevant to the aspect of quality of life under consideration.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

The role of self-perceived usefulness and competence in the self-esteem of elderly adults: confirmatory factor analyses of the Bachman revision of Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale.

This article reports on a confirmatory analytic study of the Bachman Revision (1970) of Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale (1965) that was used in the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ALSA). Participants comprised 1,087 elderly people aged between 70 and 103 years (mean 77 years). Five competing factor models were tested with LISREL8. The best-fitting model was a nested one, with a General Self-Esteem second-order factor and two first-order factors, Positive Self-regard and Usefulness/Competence. This model was validated with data from a later wave of ALSA. Usefulness and competence have received little attention in the gerontological literature to date. Preliminary results indicate that usefulness/competence may be an important predictor of well-being. Further work is required on the relationships among usefulness, competence, self-esteem, and well-being in elderly people.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Everyday problem solving in elderly women: contributions of residence, perceived control, and age.

This study examined the use of relativistic operations in everyday problem solving by elderly women. Thirty-two community residents and 32 nursing hostel residents aged between 65-90 years participated. Structured interviews canvassed the role of residence and other factors thought to contribute to the maintenance of problem-solving skills. Path analysis was used to test the developed model of the influences of age, engagement in problem-solving activities, control orientation, problem familiarity and residence on the use of relativistic operations. Partial support was found for the proposed model. Community residents used significantly more relativistic operations to solve the problems than did hostel residents. A revised model showed that in addition to residence and control orientation, the use of relativistic operations was influenced indirectly by the level of everyday problem-solving activity, through the orientation of perceived control. Increased problem-solving activity was associated with an internal control orientation, which in turn was directly related to the use of relativistic operations. The influence of age on problem solving was indirect, through problem-solving activity and residence. Our findings provide initial evidence of the extent to which variables other than age can influence everyday problem-solving performance.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1993

Enhancing memory performance in Alzheimer's disease: acquisition assistance and cue effectiveness.

Twenty-seven probable Alzheimer's disease (SDAT) subjects studied pictures using either alphabetical or category cues at acquisition and retrieval, to determine whether remembering (a) can only be enhanced when cues at acquisition and retrieval match (encoding specificity); and, (b) is sensitive to levels of processing. Encoding specificity was superior to 'mixed' cues at acquisition and retrieval but both were superior to free recall. A levels of processing effect in the encoding specificity conditions appeared due to the superiority of category over alphabetical cues, a superiority also reflected in the 'mixed' condition that incorporated category recall cues. Alphabetical cues helped only if acquisition had been alphabetical; they interfered with recall of categorically encoded items. Discussion highlighted (a) the sensitivity to, necessity for, and nature of, assistance at both acquisition and retrieval; and (b) the possibility that SDAT subjects may engage in more spontaneous processing, using the semantic network, than hitherto thought.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

Medication use and its correlates among the elderly.

Medication use and its correlates were examined in a randomly selected sample of 178 urban-dwelling elderly people: 89 per cent were currently using medication and 44 per cent were using four or more medications concurrently. Forty percent were using at least one nonprescription medication, usually in combination with prescription medication. The treatment of hypertension was the most commonly given reason for medication use. Respondents demonstrated good knowledge of their medication and how to take it, and good compliance with prescribing instructions. Multiple medication use was associated with advanced age, living in supervised accommodation, and a range of measures indicative of reduced wellbeing. There was no association between cognitive functioning and multiple medication use. These findings suggest that stereotypical images of older people as being poor compliers and having little knowledge about their medication should be treated with caution. However, the extensive use of medication and of multiple medications and concerns about the appropriateness of use of some classes of medication highlight the need for more detailed study of medication use among the elderly.

Aged↗
PubMed1991

Encoding specificity, depth of processing, and cued recall in Alzheimer's disease.

Unlike normal aging, Alzheimer's disease (SDAT) subjects typically show no benefit in free recall from semantic depth of processing cues at acquisition, but their recall is enhanced by semantic cues at both acquisition and retrieval. However, this apparent encoding-specificity effect might result from cued recall alone. SDAT and control subjects studied pictures in a design comparing depth of processing, cued recall, and encoding specificity. Cued recall alone was ineffective for SDAT subjects but, consistent with other studies, the encoding specificity condition did enhance recall. Both control and SDAT subjects also showed a levels of processing effect in free recall, modified by recency of presentation. Conclusions were: (a) though impaired in the capacity spontaneously to do so, SDAT subjects can be assisted to exploit semantic aspects of material in memory; (b) for optimal remembering in SDAT, substantial cued support should be provided at both ends of the processing continuum.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Challenges to understanding age-related memory loss in late adulthood: an introduction.

BACKGROUND: In the first 1999 issue of Gerontology several current hypotheses of age-related memory loss were canvassed. OBJECTIVE: In hopes of fostering debate and further consideration of factors implicated in memory loss in late adulthood, commentaries were sought from a number of prominent cognitive ageing researchers on this review. METHODS: Four commentaries were received and are briefly distilled in this preamble to them. RESULTS: The papers elaborate on several themes raised in the original review, articulate assumptions implicit in the review, question the techniques used to assess mediational hypotheses, and suggest factors omitted from the review that need also to be considered. CONCLUSION: Despite an extensive literature on memory ageing, we are still a long way from understanding the mechanisms responsible for it. While considerable progress has already been made, over-reliance on between-person analyses, ambiguity in underlying constructs, and omission from consideration of key situation-specific characteristics of a memory episode may all contribute to a less than definitive understanding of memory ageing.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

News from the IAG.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Geriatrics↗