Key Points
Questions
Are centenarians less lonely than elderly people, and if so, are there any demographic and psychosocial differences that may account for this?
Findings
This cross-sectional study of 73 286 community-dwelling New Zealanders 65 years and older found that centenarians were more likely to be female, widowed, living alone or with relatives, receiving family support, and not depressed compared with those aged 65 to 99 years. Loneliness was significantly less common with older age, and living arrangements, race/ethnicity, marital status, family support, and depression were significantly associated with loneliness.
Meaning
Knowing the variables associated with loneliness may help our society address risk factors to reduce loneliness in older people.
Abstract. Understanding how persons with serious mental illness (SMI) age is crucial. We compared the aging of persons with SMI with that of older adults from the general population in a large community sample focusing on demographic and clinical variables: cognitive performance, dementia, and diabetes. Participants were New Zealanders 65 years and older who completed the international Resident Assessment Instrument (interRAI). Data from 10,361 participants (mean age 80.4 years, 55.5% female) were analyzed. 258 of them were persons with SMI (mean age 73.0, 57.0% female). Persons with SMI were significantly younger than those from the general population. InterRAI assessments showed no clinical differences. Significantly, more persons with SMI were living alone and without a partner. Older community-dwelling persons with SMI exhibited onset of frailty at a younger age.
Despite being recognized as a major global health issue, older adult abuse (OAA) remains largely undetected and under-reported. Most OAA assessment tools fail to capture true prevalence. Follow up of patients where abuse exposure is not easily determined is a necessity. The interRAI-HC (International Resident Assessment Instrument—Home Care) currently underestimates the extent of abuse. We investigated how to improve detection of OAA using the interRAI-HC. Analysis of 7 years of interRAI-HC data from an Aotearoa New Zealand cohort was completed. We identified that through altering the criteria for suspicion of OAA, capture rates of at-risk individuals could be nearly doubled from 2.6% to 4.8%. We propose that via adapting the interRAI-HC criteria to include the "unable to determine" whether abuse occurred (UDA) category, identification of OAA sufferers could be substantially improved. Improved identification will facilitate enhanced protection of this vulnerable population.
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