Antiresorptive drugs, such as the bisphosphonates and the RANKL inhibitor denosumab, are currently the most widely used osteoporosis medications. These drugs increase bone mineral density (BMD) and ...reduce the risk of vertebral (by 40–70%), nonvertebral (by 25–40%) and hip fractures (by 40–53%) in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. Due to the risk of rare side‐effects, the use of bisphosphonates has been limited to up to 10 years with oral bisphosphonates and 6 years with intravenous zoledronic acid. Despite their well‐proven efficacy and safety, few women at high risk of fracture are started on treatment. Case finding strategies, such as fracture risk‐based screening in primary care using the fracture risk assessment tool (FRAX) and Fracture Liaison Services, have proved effective in increasing treatment rates and reducing fracture rates. Recently, anabolic therapy with teriparatide was demonstrated to be superior to the bisphosphonate risedronate in preventing vertebral and clinical fractures in postmenopausal women with vertebral fracture. Treatment with the sclerostin antibody romosozumab increases BMD more profoundly and rapidly than alendronate and is also superior to alendronate in reducing the risk of vertebral and nonvertebral fracture in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. For patients with severe osteoporosis and high fracture risk, bisphosphonates alone are unlikely to be able to provide long‐term protection against fracture and restore BMD. For those patients, sequential treatment, starting with a bone‐building drug (e.g. teriparatide), followed by an antiresorptive, will likely provide better long‐term fracture prevention and should be the golden standard of future osteoporosis treatment.
The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate the pooled prevalence of cognitive frailty among community-dwelling older adults and provide evidence-based support for ...policy-makers planning health and social care policies.
A systematic review and meta-analysis.
PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and the Cochrane Library were systematically searched from their inception to December 10, 2020. Descriptive studies (cross-sectional studies or population-based longitudinal studies) and cohort studies were available. Participants were community-dwelling older adults aged 60 years and above. Two researchers independently screened the literature, extracted the data and evaluated the quality of the included studies. All statistical analyses were conducted using Stata 15.0.
We screened 2815 records, among which 24 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. The pooled prevalence of cognitive frailty was 9% (95% CI: 8%-11%, I2 = 99.3%). The results of the subgroup analysis showed that the pooled prevalence of cognitive frailty was 11% (95% CI: 9%-14%) in men and 15% (95% CI: 11%-19%) in women. The pooled prevalence of cognitive frailty based on the descriptive studies and cohort studies was 7% (95% CI: 5%-9%) and 17% (95% CI: 11%-22%), respectively. The pooled estimates of cognitive frailty prevalence were 6% (95% CI: 4%-8%) from 2012 to 2017 and 11% (95% CI: 9%-14%) from 2018 to 2020.
This systematic review analyzed the available literature and revealed that the pooled prevalence of cognitive frailty among community-dwelling older adults was 9%. The stratified analysis showed that the prevalence of cognitive frailty was higher in older women. In addition, the prevalence has increased in recent years, which has important implications for adapting health and social care systems.
The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of regular exercise in the prevention system or the elderly in order to improve the quality of their life. The four electronic databases are ...researched for collecting articles (PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus and Web of Science). A search was conducted by title, taking a predefined combination of the following keywords into account: recreational exercise, Senior Fitness Test, older women. The search was undertaken in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. 136 studies were identified, of which 18 met the inclusion criteria. It has been determined that regular physical activity enables the improvement of the quality of life and positively affects the health of the examined groups, but older people represent a physically inactive part of the population.
As the global population of older persons continues to increase, the need for improved quality of life and increased life satisfaction has made successful ageing a critical discourse. The concept of ...successful ageing is subject to socio-cultural interpretations; thus, our study delved into the perspectives of rural older women on the determinants of successful ageing. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 rural older women aged 65 years and above in Awgu Local Government Area, Enugu State, Southeast Nigeria. Data collected were analysed thematically, and findings revealed that positive social and spiritual relationships were the most critical determinants of successful ageing. Access to and utilisation of digital technology to maintain social ties were also recognised as crucial to the successful ageing of rural older women. Thus, interventions towards successful ageing should focus on improving healthy spirituality, positive social relations and improved connection with social ties through increased access to digital technology.
ObjectivesLow uptake of cervical screening in women in their 50s and 60s leaves them at elevated risk of cancer in older age. An age‐targeted intervention could be an effective way to motivate older ...women to attend cervical screening. Our primary objective was to test the impact of different candidate messages on cervical screening intention strength.DesignA cross‐sectional online survey with randomized exposure to different candidate messages.MethodsWomen aged 50–64 years who were not intending to be screened when next invited were recruited through an online panel. Those meeting the inclusion criteria (n = 825) were randomized to one of three groups: (1) control group, (2) intervention group 1, (3) intervention group 2. Each intervention group saw three candidate messages. These included a descriptive social norms message, a diagram illustrating the likelihood of each possible screening outcome, a response efficacy message, a risk reduction message and an acknowledgement of the potential for screening discomfort. We tested age‐targeted versions (vs. generic) of some messages. The primary outcome was screening intention strength.ResultsAfter adjusting for baseline intention, social norms (p = .425), outcome expectancy (p = .367), risk reduction (p = .090), response efficacy (p = .136) and discomfort acknowledgement messages (p = .181) had no effect on intention strength. Age‐targeted messages did not result in greater intention than generic ones.ConclusionsThere was no evidence that a single message used to convey social norms, outcome expectancy, risk reduction or response efficacy had an impact on intention strength for older women who did not plan to be screened in future.
Intuitive eating has been described as representing a positive relationship with food that can support health. However, to date, most of the extant research on intuitive eating has been conducted ...among young women, limiting our understanding of how intuitive eating can contribute to supporting health in aging women. This study aimed to bridge this gap by exploring body image and eating correlates of intuitive eating in older women. The hypotheses were that among older women, intuitive eating would be significantly associated with lower disordered eating, weight and shape concerns, and fewer depressive symptoms, and that an indirect relationship between BMI and intuitive eating via weight and shape concerns would exist. Community women aged 60–75 (N = 200) completed questionnaires assessing intuitive eating, disordered eating, body concern, depressive symptoms and body mass index (BMI). Higher intuitive eating global scores were associated with lower restraint, lower eating concern, lower body concern, fewer depressive symptoms, and lower BMI. An indirect relationship between BMI and intuitive eating via weight and shape concern emerged, suggesting that being preoccupied by one's appearance hinder the ability to practice intuitive eating. These results suggest that intuitive eating is associated with positive outcomes among older women and might be a useful target for interventions designed to increase healthy aging.
Abstract
Background
to better understand the development of frailty with ageing requires longitudinal studies over an extended time period.
Objective
to investigate changes in the degree of frailty ...during later life, and the extent to which changes are determined by socio-demographic characteristics.
Methods
six measurement waves of 1,659 Dutch older adults aged 65 years and over in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) yielded 5,211 observations over 17 years. At each wave, the degree of frailty was measured with a 32-item frailty index (FI), employing the deficit accumulation approach. Socio-demographic characteristics included age, sex, educational level and partner status. Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) analyses were performed to study longitudinal frailty trajectories.
Results
higher baseline FI scores were observed in older people, women, and those with lower education or without partner. The overall mean FI score at baseline was 0.17, and increased to 0.39 after 17 years. The average doubling time in the number of deficits was 12.6 years, and this was similar in those aged 65–74 years and those aged 75+. Partner status was associated with changes over time in FI score, whereas sex and educational level were not.
Conclusions
this longitudinal study showed that the degree of frailty increased with ageing, faster than the age-related increase previously observed in cross-sectional studies. Even so, the rate of deficit accumulation was relatively stable during later life.
Abstract
Critical race scholars in social work have underlined the importance of race. However, research in social work with older people have often bypassed analysis of the significance of race and ...racialisation as barriers that marginalised groups encounter due to their complex identities. The lived experiences of older racialised women in Finland are not sufficiently explored to understand how racialisation has an impact in their ageing. This article aims to address the gap in scholarship on how accumulated experiences of racism from the personal to structural levels throughout the life-course contribute to inequalities in ageing of migrant women. It investigates how older women from non-European migrant background narrate their experiences of racialisation in their everyday lives in Finland. It utilises the theoretical concepts of race, racism and racialisation to interpret the research findings. The article presents empirical findings from semi-structured interviews with twenty older women, which were analysed using a thematic analysis. The article concludes that it is key to recognise racism and its ramifications for ageing migrants in structures beyond the personal level. This study sheds light on the need to better understand the structural inequalities, intersecting identities and the lived experiences of older racialised women to promote social justice.
The concept of race and racism is often omitted in mainstream social work discourses and more euphemistic terms such as diversity, ethnicity, culture and migration are substituted instead. This article explores how older women from non-European migrant background in Finland narrate their experiences of racialisation in their everyday lives. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with twenty older women, it uses the theoretical concepts of race, racism and racialisation to guide the interpretation of the research findings. We explore the challenges experienced by these older women on the grounds of race and consider what implications these findings have for social work knowledge and practice. The article suggests that it is key to recognise racism and their ramifications for ageing migrants in structures beyond the personal level. This study sheds light on the need to better understand the structural inequalities, intersecting identities, and the lived experiences of older racialised groups to promote social justice.
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