Background: Given the high burden of disease in the elderly population, health-related indicators and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are central. Emotional health and pain are two main dimensions of HRQoL along with physical or functional health. Data focusing on these aspects in the elderly are scarce. However, assessment of HRQoL is crucial to evaluation research in this population. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess aspects of physical and psychological health in community-dwelling adults aged ≥65 years selected randomly from population records in Switzerland. The sample was stratified by age (65-69 years; 70-74; 75-79; 80-84; 85-89; ≥90) and gender. Participants were interviewed using a comprehensive questionnaire including the EQ-5D, a validated instrument assessing HQoL. The EQ-5D consists of 3-point (1 = no problems; 2 = moderate problems; 3 = severe problems) Likert scales assessing Mobility, Self-Care, Usual Activities, Pain/ Discomfort, Anxiety/Depression, and a VAS that rates overall current health state. Univariate Chi-square and multivariate regression analyses were conducted. Results: Among the 3061 elderly adults, mean EQ-5D global score was 75 (SD = 20) for the total sample, and decreased with age, ranging from 79 (SD = 19) in the younger group to 71 (SD = 22) in the oldest. However, for Anxiety/Depression, Results showed that the effect of age was not significant, and that only the oldest groups reported more difficulties. Even in these groups, it did not involve more than 25% of the respondents while up to 65% reported problems related to Pain/Discomfort which showed a steady growth across age groups. Interestingly, the global VAS score was impacted by the severity of Pain/Discomfort and Anxiety/Depression only. Conclusion: HRQoL in community-dwelling older adults is overall good although it decreases with age. Interestingly, not all dimensions are equally sensitive to age and emotional dimensions seem to be less affected by age than functional dimensions. There is a similar trend for the global score.
"The pet food industry faced changes recently determining important market growth. During the COVID-19 pandemic the pets’ popularity increased as many people wanted to adopt or buy a pet during this period. Also, in respect with the workplace, the COVID-19 pandemic divided the pets’ owners in those who worked from home or hybrid and those who worked from the workplace. The main goals of the research are to analyze the factors that pet owners consider when they are purchasing pet food products, and the budget allocated for pet food products according to how pets’ owners worked in this period. Based on descriptive research, the study revealed that those who worked from home/ hybrid during the pandemic period put more emphasis on product quality and brand awareness and less on price. Those who have worked at workplace more emphasis on price and less on the quality of pet food. Keywords: pet food, work, purchasing behavior, COVID-19 pandemic, Romania JEL classification: M31, L67, D91"
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