The quality of life assessed by the Nottingham Health Profile Questionnaire was compared in a group of women (n = 120) suffering from urinary incontinence (age 75.4 +/- 1.9, range 65-84 years) and an age-matched representative sample of the total population (n = 313). There were no significant differences between the two groups of women in occurrence of other illnesses or social characteristics. Women suffering from urinary incontinence obtained higher scores in the domains of emotional disturbances (p < 0.05) and social isolation (p < 0.001) than women from the control group. When subdividing the incontinent women by type of incontinence it was found that women suffering from urge and mixed incontinence reported emotional disturbances (p < 0.05) more than women from the control group. There was, however, no difference within the domain of emotional disturbances between stress-incontinent women and the control group. Women suffering from urge incontinence reported more disturbance of sleep (p < 0.05) than the control group. Women suffering from all types of urinary incontinence (p < 0.05) were socially more isolated than those from the age-matched group of women from the total population. Urinary incontinence in women has a detrimental effect on their daily lives and causes them to avoid social contacts.

Ratings of grief reactions, post-bereavement hallucinations and illusions and quality of life were made during the first year after the death of a spouse among 14 men and 36 women in their early seventies. In both sexes, the reactions were generally moderate or mild and characterized by loneliness, low mood, fatigue, anxiety and cognitive dysfunctioning. Feeling lonely was the most persistent problem during the year. Post-bereavement hallucinations or illusions were very frequent and considered helpful. Half of the subjects felt the presence of the deceased (illusions); about one third reported seeing, hearing and talking to the deceased (hallucinations). Former marital harmony was found to make a person more prone to loneliness, crying and hallucinations or illusions. The quality of life was significantly lower among the bereaved than among married people and those who never married, but equalled that found among divorcees.

In a representative population of ambulant and home-dwelling 76-year-old citizens in Sweden (n = 565), dizziness was reported in about one third of the sample and more frequent in women. The dizzy subjects had more locomotor disorders, angina, urinary incontinence, stroke/paresis, and mental disorders than the non-dizzy. Unsteadiness was the most frequently reported sensation of dizziness and was more common in women than in men. Dizziness had a detrimental influence on all quality of life dimensions and daily life areas, as measured by the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP), except home life and, in women, social life. Dizzy subjects reported more frequently memory problems and anxiety than non-dizzy subjects. Dizziness showed a significant correlation with nervousness and depression in men. Dizziness seems to be one of the most important single symptoms with a negative influence on well-being in old age. It should be recognized as a serious complaint, especially in men, and, therefore, recorded in regular screenings in the elderly.

No abstract