Longitudinal health and disaster impact in older New Zealand adults in the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquake series.

Pre-existing longitudinal studies of people affected by disasters provide opportunities to examine the effects of these events on health. Data used in the current investigation were provided by participants in the New Zealand Health, Work and Retirement longitudinal surveys conducted in 2010, 2012 and 2014 (n = 428; aged 50-83), who lived in the Canterbury region of New Zealand during the 2010-2011 earthquakes. Latent profile growth analyses were used to identify groups of respondents who had similar pre-post-disaster physical and mental health profiles.

The sensitivity of the MOS SF-12 and PROMIS® global summary scores to adverse health events in an older cohort.

Purpose: To compare the predictive validity of two self-reported outcome measures, the Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Global Health measure and the 12-item Health Survey (SF-12).

Methods: Data were obtained from 1286 persons (55% female) aged 61-77 responding to a longitudinal survey. Inter-correlations of the SF-12 and PROMIS physical and mental summary scores were examined.

Scared behind the wheel: what impact does driving anxiety have on the health and well-being of young older adults?

Background: Driving anxiety can range from driving reluctance to driving phobia, and 20% of young older adults experience mild driving anxiety, whereas 6% report moderate to severe driving anxiety. However, we do not know what impact driving anxiety has on health and well-being, especially among older drivers. This is problematic because there is a growing proportion of older adult drivers and a potential for driving anxiety to result in premature driving cessation that can impact on health and mortality.