Daily home gardening improved survival for older people with mobility limitations: an 11-year follow-up study in Taiwan.

Aims: To test the hypothesis that gardening is beneficial for survival after taking time-dependent comorbidities, mobility, and depression into account in a longitudinal middle-aged (50-64 years) and older (≥65 years) cohort in Taiwan.

Methods: The cohort contained 5,058 nationally sampled adults ≥50 years old from the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging (1996-2007). Gardening was defined as growing flowers, gardening, or cultivating potted plants for pleasure with five different frequencies.

Estimation of life expectancy, loss-of-life expectancy, and lifetime healthcare expenditures for schizophrenia in Taiwan.

By employing a novel semi-parametric extrapolation method, the life expectancies after the first hospitalization for schizophrenia and the associated lifetime healthcare expenditures were both estimated. Based on the linkage between the National Health Insurance Research Database and the National Mortality Registry of Taiwan, we have established a schizophrenic cohort for 2000-2010 and followed up to 2011. Survival function was estimated through Kaplan-Meier's method and extrapolated throughout life.

Long term determinants of functional decline of mobility: an 11-year follow-up of 5464 adults of late middle aged and elderly.

This confirmatory study aims at investigating the long term determinants of mobility limitation among late middle aged and elderly in a physically less active population. Five thousand four hundred and sixty-four participants aged 50-97 in 1996 enrolled the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging (TLSA) for four waves of interview during 11 years. Social and health-related determinants were collected in each interview.

Lower side effects of milnacipran than paroxetine in the treatment of major depression disorder among Han Chinese in Taiwan.

Milnacipran is a dual-action antidepressant which inhibits both serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake. To our knowledge, it has limited affinity for most monoamine neurotransmitter receptors. With limited pharmacokinetic interaction with the cytochrome 450 system, milnacipran may have a low risk in drug interaction.