No abstract

This investigation examined the predictive validity of routinization preference measures, as well as the association of routinization to state affect in daily life. The authors collected naturalistic repeated observations from elderly participants living in private residences or retirement homes. Preferences for routinization were significantly associated with the repetition of both behaviors and environmental contexts. Routines were associated with decreases in positive affect in within-person analyses but had no association to anxious or depressed mood states. The findings are discussed in terms of the complexity of the routinization concept and its relevance for understanding emotional well-being in elderly people.

These findings confirm the value of investigating nutritional deficiencies in dementia within the caregiving dyad and suggest that the functional status of older people with dementia and the nutritional status of family caregivers should be carefully assessed.

ABSTRACTBackground:Whereas the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y) is probably the most widely used self-reported measure of anxiety, the lack of current norms among elderly people appears to be problematic in both a clinical and research context. The objective of the present study was to provide normative data for the STAI-Y trait scale from a large elderly cohort and to identify the main sociodemographic and health-related determinants of trait anxiety.Methods:The STAI-Y trait scale was completed by 7,538 community-dwelling participants aged 65 years and over from the “Three City” epidemiological study. Trained nurses and psychologists collected information during a face-to-face interview including sociodemographic characteristics and clinical variables.Results:The scale was found to have good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.89). Norms were stratified for gender and educational level differentiating persons with and without depressive symptoms. Multivariate linear regression found the STAI-Y trait score to be significantly associated with female gender, psychotropic medication use, higher depressive symptoms, higher cognitive complaints, and with an interaction between subjective health and marital status. Age was not associated with the total score.Conclusion:This study provides norms for the STAI-Y trait scale in the general elderly population which are of potential use in both a clinical and research context. The present results confirm the importance of several factors previously associated with higher trait anxiety in the elderly. However, more research is needed to better understand the clinical specificities of anxiety in the elderly and the improvement of assessment.

The progressive routinization of behaviors and activities in older people is discussed as a marker of affective and cognitive vulnerability, and its understanding has potential for improving the early detection of adaptation difficulties and overall care in this population.