Biomedical subjects

Stig Berg

Publications and source records attributed to Stig Berg.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed2003

Evaluating the interdependence of aging-related changes in visual and auditory acuity, balance, and cognitive functioning.

High proportions of shared age-related variance are found among measures of perceptual acuity, balance, muscle strength, and cognitive capabilities in age-heterogeneous, cross-sectional studies. Reliance on cross-sectional studies is problematic, however, because associations may arise from age-related mean trends. Narrow age-cohort samples provide an alternative basis for testing hypotheses regarding associations among rates of change. Cross-domain associations were evaluated in combined 75-year-old cohort samples from Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. In general, no consistent associations were found across sensory, balance, strength, and cognitive domains. These findings indicate that the effects of aging on sensory acuity, balance, and cognitive functioning are likely to be largely independent, multidimensional, and complex at the level of the individual.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2003

Exploring assistance in Sweden and the United States.

PURPOSE: Few international comparisons of health services are performed using microlevel data. Using such data, this paper compares the need for and receipt of assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs) in comparable samples in the United States and Sweden, a country with a universal system of community-based services. DESIGN AND METHODS: Data from national surveys of community residents completed at approximately the same time in each nation are used to create comparable measures of need and assistance. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses compare need and assistance patterns across the nations and identify individual factors that explain receipt of assistance and unmet needs. RESULTS: Our results indicate that a simple story of greater use of paid formal services in Sweden and more unpaid informal use in the United States masks a more complex relationship. Assistance with ADLs seems to be more targeted in Sweden; narrow differences in assistance widen considerably when the analysis is limited to those reporting need. IMPLICATIONS: Although these two different health systems result in similar levels of overall ADL assistance, a detailed microlevel comparison reveals key distinctions. Further microlevel comparisons of access, cost, and quality in cross-national data can further aid our understanding of the consequences of health policy.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2002

Mortality in three different cohorts of 70-year olds: the impact of social factors and health.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Little is known about changes in mortality among elderly over time, especially in subgroups differing in social and other background factors. The aim of this study was to analyze differences in mortality in three different cohorts of 70-year olds regarding social factors, social network, self-assessed health and number of diseases. METHODS: We used data from 3 random samples of 70-year olds born in 1901/02 (N=973), 1906/07 (N=1036) and 1911/12 (N=619). At age 70 all participants were given medical examinations and interviewed regarding social background, social network, self-assessed health, need of care and number of diseases. Death records were obtained up to and including 1998. RESULTS: The youngest cohorts had significantly decreased mortality compared to the oldest cohort (RR 0.86; CI 0.78-0.95 and RR 0.88; CI 0.78-0.995 respectively). There were no differences between the two youngest cohorts. Decrease in mortality in the younger cohorts was found among those who lived in their own home, did not feel tired, were non- or ex-smokers and had one or more diseases. CONCLUSIONS: There was a small difference in total mortality between these cohorts of 70-year olds. There were differences in development of mortality in subgroups distributed by health and social factors, indicating more years of life, partly due to life-style factors such as non-smoking.

Aged↗

PubMed2002

A comparison of diagnosis capture from medical records, self-reports, and drug registrations: a study in individuals 80 years and older.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Reports of diseases and health problems vary as a function of the information source. In the present study we compared the capture of information on morbidity using medical records, self-reports, and drug registrations. METHODS: A concurrent review of medical records, self-reports, and registration of marker drugs was conducted to determine diagnosis for 44 common diseases. Diagnoses from the various sources were uniformly classified according to ICD-10. The study included a sample of 702 individuals, aged 80 and older, enrolled in population-based longitudinal studies. RESULTS: The morbidity rates differed considerably across the used sources. Although medical records captured most of the morbidity, self-reports offered supplemental information especially for less objective health problems. Marker drugs typically confirmed information in the records, but only for a limited number of diseases. DISCUSSION: In studies of aging and health, a thorough review of medical records and a concurrent evaluation of self-reports and marker drugs represent a valuable strategy for portraying morbidity. This strategy goes beyond the use of a single source like self-reports, and provides better estimates of health conditions in the elderly.

Aged↗

PubMed2002

Diabetes mellitus is a risk factor for vascular dementia, but not for Alzheimer's disease: a population-based study of the oldest old.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to examine if Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a risk factor for dementia in very old age, specifically for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD). METHODS: We evaluated the risk of dementia in relation to Type 2 diabetes using a population-based sample of 702 individuals aged 80 years and older (mean age 83 years). A total of 187 persons received a dementia diagnosis. Thirty-one individuals had a diabetes diagnosis prior to onset of the dementia. RESULTS: Cox proportional hazard analyses, adjusted for age, gender, education, smoking habits, and circulatory diseases, indicated an elevated risk to develop VaD (relative risk = 2.54, 95% confidence interval 1.354.78) in individuals with diabetes mellitus. No association was found between diabetes and AD. CONCLUSION: Type 2 diabetes is selectively related to the different subtypes of dementia. There is no increased risk of AD but more than a twofold risk of VaD in persons with diabetes.

Aged↗

PubMed2002

Colour perception among the very elderly related to visual and cognitive function.

Colour perception was studied among a representative sample of 95-year olds and compared with previously examined 80-year olds and a group with Alzheimer's disease (AD), mean age of 80 years. The 95-year olds' results were on a significantly lower level than the other two groups but showed a similar pattern as to colour -discrimination, -naming, -preferences and colour/form recognition. Visual function among 95-year olds had only minor influence on their result in contrast to cognitive function which had a more profound impact. Most interestingly though, the subjects with Alzheimer's diagnosis, younger than the 95-year olds but with a conclusive diagnosis of dementia, performed on an overall higher level than the 95-year olds. This advantage for the Alzheimer group remained even when compared with a sub sample of the 95-year olds with possible dementia diagnosis excluded. On the other hand, only including 95-year olds with a Mini Mental Examination score of >26 in comparison with the Alzheimer group made the differences between the two groups disappear. It is suggested that colour perception as measured in this study is well preserved throughout life. The overall lower colour perception ability in 95-year olds compared with both 80-year olds and subjects with AD may be an expression of the complexity of very high age rather than any isolated concomitant factor.

Aged↗

PubMed2002

Terminal decline and markers of cerebro- and cardiovascular disease: findings from a longitudinal study of the oldest old.

The purpose of this study was to examine the cognition-survival relationship among nondemented individuals in late life. The longitudinal design included three examinations at 2-year intervals. At baseline, 466 individuals (age range = 80-98) were examined. During the 6 years of follow-up, 206 individuals died. Four survival groups were defined on the basis of mortality prior to the subsequent measurement occasion. Tests of cognitive functioning encompassed the domains of crystallized knowledge, inductive reasoning, visuospatial ability, short-term memory, episodic memory, and speed. Significant associations were found between cognitive performance at baseline and subsequent survival. After adjusting for stroke and markers of cardiovascular disease, the authors found that only three out of six cognitive domains remained significant predictors of survival. The longitudinal analyses revealed limited evidence for an accelerated decline prior to death. The main results suggest that level of cognitive performance in late life is associated with proximity to death, that this relationship is longstanding, and that it is partially influenced by compromised cardio- and cerebrovascular functioning.

Aged↗

PubMed2002

Gender and health: a study of older unlike-sex twins.

OBJECTIVES: The primary goal of this study was to assess gender differences in various measures of health conditions, symptoms, and self-rated health among older persons by comparing brothers and sisters in a sample of unlike-sex twins. METHODS: All living pairs of unlike-sex twins born between 1906 and 1925 were identified through the Swedish Twin Registry and sent surveys assessing health and other factors. This population-based sample consisted of 605 twin pairs. Paired sample t tests were used to analyze gender differences in health-related measures, including a three-level measure of health problems based on physicians' ratings. RESULTS: Women had more total health conditions, not life-threatening health conditions, somewhat life-threatening cardiovascular conditions, and physical and psychological symptoms. Men had more very life-threatening health conditions and cardiovascular conditions. No gender differences were found in somewhat life-threatening health conditions, total cardiovascular conditions, or self-rated health. DISCUSSION: Important gender differences and similarities in health were found using an unlike-sex twin design that reduced variability due to background characteristics. This design also minimized problems caused by gender differences in survival. Research on gender and health in older persons requires more detailed approaches to address the complexity of this topic.

Aged↗

PubMed2002

Depressed mood: changes during a five-year follow-up in 75-year-old men and women in three Nordic localities.

The aim of the study was to look firstly at the changes that occurred in depressive symptomatology over a 5-year period among originally 75-year-old residents in three Nordic localities: Glostrup in Denmark, Göteborg in Sweden and Jyväskylä in Finland, and secondly, at some selected variables if they predicted depressed mood in this study. The study is a part of a 5-year follow-up of the Nordic comparative NORA study on functional capacity. A 5-year follow-up was carried out with the survivors in 1994. Depressive symptomatology was assessed by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). The number of survivors was 277 in Glostrup, 226 In Göteborg and 250 in Jyväskylä. The proportion of respondents with depressive symptoms was highest in Jyväskylä; this was true for both men and women at baseline and at the follow-up. In the baseline study, minor depression was more common among women than men in all three localities, and at the follow-up in Göteborg and Glostrup. In the follow-up study, men and women in Jyväskylä scored higher means on the CES-D scale than did the groups in Göteborg and Glostrup. During the follow-up, there was no significant change in the mean score describing depressed mood (CES-D total scale) in any locality in either men or women. The mean score of those who died during the follow-up period differed significantly from the score of survivors among women in Göteborg and in Glostrup. The most clear predictors for depressed mood in this Nordic 5-year follow-up study were chronic diseases, feelings of loneliness, and self-rated health.

Affect↗

PubMed2002

Changes in social relations in old age. Are they influenced by functional ability?

The aims of this article were to describe changes in social relations from ages 75 to 80, and analyze whether changes in social relations are influenced by functional ability at age 75. The study includes data from the NORA follow-up study of 75-80 year-old men and women in Jyväskylä (Finland), Göteborg (Sweden) and Glostrup (Denmark). The present analyses include the 743 persons who participated in both studies and who answered the questions about social relations. The structure of social relations was measured by: 1) frequency of contacts with children, grand/greatgrandchildren, relatives, close friends, acquaintances, and neighbors; 2) diversity of social relations (number of types of social contacts); 3) telephone contacts; and 4) social participation. The function of social relations was measured by instrumental social support. Functional ability was measured by tiredness and need for help in Physical Activities of Daily Living (PADL). Depressive symptoms, living alone and locality were included as covariates in the multivariate analyses. There were large changes in social relations in old age, but the changes included widely varying patterns of losses and gains among the participants. Women who felt tired in their daily activities had more sustained little contact with children [OR=4.2 (1.4-12.1)] and more sustained little diversity in social relations [OR=2.2 (0.95-5.3)]. Both men and women in need of help had more sustained little diversity in social relations compared to the well-functioning persons [men: OR=4.4 (1.3-15.0); women: OR=3.0 (0.93-9.6)].

Activities of Daily Living↗