Factors affecting the self-rated health of elderly individuals living alone: a cross-sectional study

Factors Associated with Poor Self-Rated Health among Older Women Living Alone

BACKGROUND

The study aimed to identify the differences in self-rated health (SRH) and the factors associated with poor SRH among older women who live alone, based on their sociodemographic and health characteristics.

METHODS

The sample consisted of 812 older women living alone and was obtained from the Seventh Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (Ⅶ-1, Ⅶ-2, Ⅶ-3). Complex sample analysis was performed using the independent t-test, the Chi-square test, and multiple logistic regression in SPSS/WIN 24.0 program.

RESULTS

The study found that SRH status in older women living alone differed according to age, education level, income, occupation, walking practices, sleeping hours, perceived stress, experiencing depression, diabetes, arthritis, and restrictions in daily functions. As the factors associated with poor SRH among older women living alone, a lower education level (OR = 1.89, CI = 1.19-3.02), higher perceived stress (OR = 4.92, CI = 1.84-13.16), experiencing arthritis (OR = 1.52, CI = 1.07-2.16), and higher restrictions in functioning (OR = 6.20, CI = 4.01-9.59) increased the likelihood of rating the poor SRH.

CONCLUSION

SRH is an indicator of overall health status, and physical, psychological, and economic factors affect each other. Therefore, it is necessary to develop effective health education and intervention programs for vulnerable groups, including older women living alone with poor SRH.

Factors influencing the perceived health status of older adults living alone based on the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016-2018)

PURPOSE

Older adults living alone have a lower level of health due to functional degradation and social isolation, and hence, it is important to assess their health condition and health-related factors. In this study we intended to evaluate the factors influencing the perceived health status of older adults living alone in Korea.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data from the 7th (2016-2018) Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) were used. Perceived health status and health-related and demographic characteristics of 1,074 older adults (age≥65 years) living alone were included in this study. A complex sample design analysis method was used to consider the characteristics of the raw data of the KNHANES, and a complex sample ordinal logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors that affect perceived health status.

RESULTS

Female sex, low economic status, not consuming alcohol, perceived stress, high number of chronic diseases, underweight, and limitation of activity were risk factors of low perceived health status of older adults living alone.

CONCLUSIONS

Interventions to improve the identified health-related factors, such as stress, underweight, and activity limitation of older adults need to be devised. In addition, differences in risk factors according to sex should be considered when providing interventions. Furthermore, policies supporting the promotion of health status among older adults with low-income and living alone are warranted to improve health equity in Korea.

What Factors Shape Self-Reported Health Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults? A Scoping Review

Self-reported health is a predictive measure of morbidity and mortality across populations. A comprehensive understanding of the factors that shape self-reported health among community-dwelling older adults, a growing population globally, is lacking. The aim of this review was to summarize the factors that are associated with self-reported health among this population and identify key areas for future research. Accordingly, we conducted a scoping review using the stage-wise framework developed by Arksey and O'Malley. We summarized 42 factors, as identified in 30 publications, and organized them into four categories. Key factors shaping self-reported health included the presence of chronic conditions and depressive symptoms. As the population of community-dwelling older adults continues to increase, there remains a need to understand how these identified factors shape self-reported health. To date, empirical research has been limited to observational and cross-sectional designs. There is a need to further explore these factors in longitudinal data.

Seasonal influenza vaccination in older people: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the determining factors

Background/Objectives

Despite influenza vaccination programs in various jurisdictions, seasonal influenza vaccine (SIV) uptake remains suboptimal among older people (≥65years old), an important subpopulation for influenza vaccination. We sought to summarize determinants of SIV uptake (any vaccine receipt) and vaccination adherence (receipt of vaccine in two or more seasons in sequence) among older people.

Methods

We searched for population-based studies conducted in community-dwelling older people (irrespective of their health status) from 2000–2019. Two reviewers independently selected publications for inclusion. One reviewer extracted data from the included studies; a second checked the extracted data for errors. Disagreements were resolved by discussion and consensus, or a third reviewer. We were interested in the determinants of SIV uptake and vaccination adherence. Where appropriate, we pooled adjusted results using the inverse variance, random-effects method and reported the odds ratios (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results

Out of 11,570 citations screened, we included 34 cross-sectional studies. The following were associated with increased SIV uptake: being older (OR 1.52, 95%CI 1.38–1.67 [21 studies]), white (1.30, 1.14–1.49 [10 studies]), married (1.23, 1.17–1.28 [9 studies]), non-smoker (1.28, 1.11–1.47 [7 studies]), of a higher social class (1.20, 1.06–1.36 [2 studies]), having a higher education (1.12, 1.04–1.21 [14 studies]), having a higher household income (1.11, 1.05–1.18 [8 studies]), having a chronic illness (1.53, 1.44–1.63 [16 studies]), having poor self-assessed health (1.23, 1.02–1.40 [9 studies]), having a family doctor (2.94, 1.79–4.76 [2 studies]), and having health insurance (1.58, 1.13–2.21 [6 studies]). The influence of these factors varied across geographical regions. Being older (1.26, 1.11–1.44 [2 studies]) was also associated with increased vaccination adherence.

Conclusions

Several factors may determine SIV uptake and vaccination adherence among older people. More studies are needed to provide a stronger evidence base for planning more effective influenza vaccination programs.

Are We Ill Because We Age?

Growing elderly populations, sometimes referred to as gray (or silver) tsunami, are an increasingly serious health and socioeconomic concern for modern societies. Science has made tremendous progress in the understanding of aging itself, which has helped medicine to extend life expectancies. With the increase of the life expectancy, the incidence of chronic age-related diseases (ARDs) has also increased. A new approach trying to solve this problem is the concept of geroscience. This concept implies that the aging process itself is the common cause of all ARDs. The corollary and consequence of such thinking is that we can and should treat aging itself as a disease. How to translate this into the medical practice is a big challenge, but if we consider aging as a disease the problem is solved. However, as there is no common definition of what aging is, what its causes are, why it occurs, and what should be the target(s) for interventions, it is impossible to conclude that aging is a disease. On the contrary, aging should be strongly considered not to be a disease and as such should not be treated; nonetheless, aging is likely amenable to optimization of changes/adaptations at an individual level to achieve a better functional healthspan.