Older working adults in the HEAF study are more likely to report loneliness after two years of follow-up if they have negative perceptions of their work quality.

Background: Loneliness is an important public health issue associated with mortality and morbidity. Often researched amongst older people, less is known about risk factors for loneliness among adults aged 50-64 years who are in work. We investigated (a) if exit from the workforce increases the odds of loneliness; (b) whether adverse psychosocial work factors are associated with increased odds of loneliness over 2 years of follow-up; and (c) whether the association is stronger among subjects still working compared with those who have exited the workforce.

Mortality in the Hertfordshire Ageing Study: association with level and loss of hand grip strength in later life.

Background: weak hand grip strength in later life is a risk factor for disability, morbidity and mortality and is central to definitions of sarcopenia and frailty. It is unclear whether rate of change in grip strength adds to level of grip strength as a risk factor for poor ageing outcomes.

Methods: study participants were 292 community-dwelling men and women whose grip strength was measured during the 1994/5 (average age 67) and 2003/5 (average age 76) phases of the Hertfordshire Ageing Study, UK.

Grip strength and its determinants among older people in different healthcare settings.

Background: low muscle strength is central to geriatric syndromes including sarcopenia and frailty. It is well described in community-dwelling older people, but the epidemiology of grip strength of older people in rehabilitation or long-term care has been little explored.

Objective: to describe grip strength of older people in rehabilitation and nursing home settings.

Prevalence of sarcopenia in community-dwelling older people in the UK using the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) definition: findings from the Hertfordshire Cohort Study (HCS).

Introduction: sarcopenia is associated with adverse health outcomes. The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of sarcopenia in community-dwelling older people in the UK using the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) consensus definition.

Methods: we applied the EWGSOP definition to 103 community-dwelling men participating in the Hertfordshire Sarcopenia Study (HSS) using both the lowest third of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) lean mass (LM) and the lowest third of skin-fold-based fat-free mass (FFM) as markers of low muscle mass.

Is grip strength associated with length of stay in hospitalised older patients admitted for rehabilitation? Findings from the Southampton grip strength study.

Background: identification of patients at risk of prolonged hospital stay allows staff to target interventions, provide informed prognosis and manage healthcare resources. Admission grip strength is associated with discharge outcomes in acute hospital settings.

Objective: to explore the relationship between grip strength and length of stay in older rehabilitation in-patients.

Markers of inflammatory status are associated with hearing threshold in older people: findings from the Hertfordshire Ageing Study.

Background: Age-related hearing loss is a common disabling condition but its causes are not well understood and the role of inflammation as an influencing factor has received little consideration in the literature.

Objective: To investigate the association between inflammatory markers and hearing in community-dwelling older men and women.

Design: Cross-sectional analysis within a cohort study.