Clinical utility of CERAD neuropsychological battery in elderly Jamaicans.

Information on the clinical utility of neuropsychological tests in non-North-American samples is limited. We examined the diagnostic efficacy of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) neuropsychological battery in Jamaican men and women age 65 and older. A total of 72 elders were diagnosed as normal and 12 were demented based on history, physical, and neurological examination.

Diabetes mellitus in the Jamaican elderly.

10.2% of 1318 people aged 60 to 97 years old interviewed in a community based survey in Jamaica reported that they had type II diabetes mellitus, and this was confirmed by appropriate blood and urine tests. The disease occurred more frequently in females (12.

Level of mental impairment in the Jamaican elderly and the issues of screening levels, caregiving, support systems, carepersons, and female burden.

Jamaica, although a developing country, has an aging population and is facing the many issues confronting aging. A community-based study using the Folstein minimental screening tool identified 2.3% of the over-60 population as severely impaired and 11.

Working women's sexual risk taking in Jamaica.

Although the rates of HIV are increasing among female populations in developing countries, there is little information available about factors influencing sexual risk taking among working class women. This paper describes some of the issues discussed by two groups of 58 women working in Jamaica: Informal Commercial Importers and women working in the Freezone. These women discuss their economic vulnerability, expectations about the role of men as providers, multiple partners, perceptions of children as resources and concern about physical abuse as factors that could influence decisions about condom use.

A pilot study of alcohol and drug-related traffic accidents and death in two Jamaican parishes, 1991.

This study is a preliminary effort to document the role of drugs in motor vehicle accidents as it examines the presence of alcohol, marijuana and cocaine in blood samples of thirty-one motor vehicle fatalities. The study identified that males (90.3%) and pedestrians (41.

The ageing of the population--a time for action. The role of public health.

The past two decades have witnessed the growth of the over-60, "elderly" population both in numbers and life expectancy. Similarly, there has been a shift in overall morbidity from acute to chronic causes and associated lifestyle factors. The increasing elderly population provides health care planners with new challenges at a time of decreasing resources.