Coexisting anxiety disorders alter associations with physical disorders in the elderly: A Taiwan cross-sectional nationwide study

Facilitating Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Anxiety in Older People: History, Effectiveness, and Future Possibilities

The origins of mindfulness go back some 25 centuries to Eastern teachings, including Buddhism and Hinduism. Mindfulness-based interventions gained credence in Western mental health settings in the late 1970s through the work of medical researcher Kabat-Zinn, whose interest in Eastern meditation led him to develop a program for stress reduction. Since then, mindfulness-based interventions have been utilized for various populations, including older people with anxiety. Group mindfulness-based interventions have demonstrated benefits for older people with anxiety living in residential aged care and the community. In primary care settings, innovative delivery models for group mindfulness-based interventions could be facilitated by nurses to support older people with anxiety to age in place with dignity. The benefits of mindfulness-based interventions suggest the value of integrating ancient Eastern techniques with modern Western strategies to achieve better health outcomes for older people with mental health concerns.

Higher Anxiety Is Associated with Lower Cardiovascular Autonomic Function in Female Twins

Anxiety symptoms co-occur with cardiovascular health problems, with increasing evidence suggesting the role of autonomic dysfunction. Yet, there is limited behavior genetic research on underlying mechanisms. In this twin study, we investigated the phenotypic, genetic and environmental associations between a latent anxiety factor and three cardiovascular autonomic function factors: interbeat interval (IBI, time between heart beats), heart rate variability (HRV, overall fluctuation of heart-beat intervals) and baroreflex sensitivity (BRS, efficiency in regulating blood pressure [BP]). Multivariate twin models were fit using data of female twins (N = 250) of the Twin Interdisciplinary Neuroticism Study (TWINS). A significant negative association was identified between latent anxiety and BRS factors (r = -.24, 95% CI [-.40, -.07]). Findings suggest that this relationship was mostly explained by correlated shared environmental influences, and there was no evidence for pleiotropic genetic or unique environmental effects. We also identified negative relationships between anxiety symptoms and HRV (r = -.17, 95% CI [-.34, .00]) and IBI factors (r = -.13, 95% CI [-.29, .04]), though these associations did not reach statistical significance. Findings implicate that higher anxiety scores are associated with decreased efficiency in short-term BP regulation, providing support for autonomic dysfunction with anxiety symptomatology. The baroreflex system may be a key mechanism underlying the anxiety-cardiovascular health relationship.