Do work and family care histories predict health in older women?

Background: Social and policy changes in the last several decades have increased women's options for combining paid work with family care. We explored whether specific combinations of work and family care over the lifecourse are associated with variations in women's later life health.

Methods: We used sequence analysis to group women in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing according to their work histories and fertility.

Is being in paid work beyond state pension age beneficial for health? Evidence from England using a life-course approach.

Background: Given the current policy emphasis in many Western societies on extending working lives, we investigated the health effects of being in paid work beyond state pension age (SPA). Until now, work has largely focused on the health of those who exit the labour force early.

Methods: Our data come from waves 2-4 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, including the life history interview at wave 3.

Relationship between employment histories and frailty trajectories in later life: evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Background: Given the acceleration of population ageing and policy changes to extend working lives, evidence is needed on the ability of older adults to work for longer. To understand more about the health impacts of work, this study examined the relationship between employment histories before retirement and trajectories of frailty thereafter.

Methods: The sample comprised 2765 women and 1621 men from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

A life course perspective on socioeconomic inequalities in health: a critical review of conceptual frameworks.

Social scientists and public health researchers have long known that social position is related to health and that socioeconomic inequalities in health persist in later life. Increasingly, a life course perspective is adopted to understand the socioeconomic position (SEP)-health dynamic. This paper critically reviews the conceptual perspectives underlying empirical research seeking to better understand socioeconomic inequalities in health in the context of the life course.

Mental health care use in later life: results from a national survey of Canadians.

Objective: To estimate the proportion of older adults who have used mental health services in the past 12 months among those who meet the criteria for one or more Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), Fourth Edition, 12-month psychiatric disorders. We also examine the factors associated with mental health care use in this population.

Method: We used secondary data from the Canadian Community Health Survey: Mental Health and Well-Being (CCHS 1.

Transitions in hearing impairment and psychological distress in older adults.

Objective: Although previous research has demonstrated an association between hearing impairment (HI) and psychological distress, less work has explored the effect of transitions in hearing status on distress over time, or the explanatory pathways that may explain this association.

Method: We use 2 waves of data from the Canadian National Population Health Survey to examine the effect of HI transitions on changes in distress during 6 years, and to test the potential mediating effects of psychosocial factors and chronic stressors.

Results: Experiencing a decline in hearing was associated with increased distress at Wave 4, net of Wave 1 distress, although the significance of the relation was reduced to trend level following adjustment for sociodemographic variables (P < 0.

Corrected and uncorrected hearing impairment in older Canadians.

Background: Hearing impairment (HI) is a common chronic condition in later life, but one that can often be improved with the use of a hearing aid. However, a distinction is not often made between corrected and uncorrected HI in the literature.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of corrected and uncorrected HI, and assess whether there are differences in sociodemographic factors among older adults (age 50+) with corrected HI, uncorrected HI and no HI.

The social epidemiology of affective and anxiety disorders in later life in Canada.

Objective: To examine the association between markers of social position and psychiatric disorder among older adults, and test whether social support mediates the association between social position and psychiatric disorder in this population.

Methods: We used data from the Canadian Community Health Survey: Mental Health and Well-Being to examine the social patterning of disorder. Using a series of logistic regression analyses, we regressed indicators of mood, anxiety, and any disorder on markers of social position and social support.

Comorbid depression and anxiety in later life: patterns of association, subjective well-being, and impairment.

Objective: Very little epidemiological work has examined comorbidity between depression and anxiety disorders in community-dwelling older adults, despite the fact these disorders are known to co-occur in younger adults and that this co-occurrence is associated with greater clinical severity. In this study, the authors examine psychiatric comorbidity and associated impairment of four disorders (major depression, panic disorder, social phobia, and agoraphobia) in a community-based sample of adults aged 55 and older.

Setting: Population-based sample of older adults (N=12,792) from the Canadian Community Health Survey-Mental Health and Well-Being (CCHS 1.

Does greater frequency of contact with general physicians reduce feelings of mastery in older adults?

In this study, we test one aspect of Rodin's hypothesis concerning age-related decline in mastery: The effect of frequent contact with the health care sector on mastery. We conducted cross-sectional and longitudinal multiple regression analyses to examine the effect of general physician (GP) visits on mastery. In the cross-sectional analyses, a higher number of GP visits is associated with lower mastery, but this relationship is substantially weakened when physical health is entered into the analysis.

Panic disorder in later life: results from a national survey of Canadians.

Background: At present, our understanding of the risk markers associated with panic disorder among older, community dwelling older adults is limited. To address this gap, we examined the prevalence, risk markers, and comorbidity of panic disorder defined using DSM-IV criteria among older adults.

Method: Using data drawn from a large, nationally representative sample of Canadians, we estimated lifetime and 12-month prevalence of panic disorder, and examined demographic predictors and patterns of comorbidity of current panic disorder in adults aged 55 years and older (n = 12,792).

Epidemiology of social phobia in later life.

Objective: Although anxiety disorders, including social phobia (SP), are common among older adults, very little is known about the epidemiology of SP in later life.

Method: Using data drawn from a large, nationally representative sample of older adults from Canada (N=12,792), the authors estimate lifetime and 12-month prevalence of social phobia and examine demographic predictors and patterns of comorbidity of current SP in this population.

Results: The results reveal that SP is a prevalent disorder in later life with lifetime and 12-month prevalence estimates of 4.

The role of social support in the relationship between urinary incontinence and psychological distress in older adults.

While an association between UI and psychological distress among older adults has been established in the literature, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain less clear. Using a sample of 4,689 older adults from the Canadian Community Health Survey (1.1), we test the potential mediating and moderating effects of four dimensions of social support on the UI-distress relationship.