Minimal Shortening of Leukocyte Telomere Length Across Age Groups in a Cross-Sectional Study for Carriers of a Longevity-Associated FOXO3 Allele.

FOXO3 is one of the most prominent genes demonstrating a consistently reproducible genetic association with human longevity. The mechanisms by which these individual gene variants confer greater organismal lifespan are not well understood. We assessed the effect of longevity-associated FOXO3 alleles on age-related leukocyte telomere dynamics in a cross-sectional study comprised of samples from 121 healthy Okinawan-Japanese donors aged 21-95 years.

The past, present, and future of skilled home health agency care.

This article reviews the past history of home health agency care from its beginnings to the present day, evidence regarding the effect of recent changes in financing on these services, the state of skilled home health care in 2008, and a discussion of future directions. Home health care serves several million patients per year, many of whom are recuperating from acute illness episodes. Due to illness burden and Medicare funding, a large proportion of care that home health agencies deliver is geriatric care.

Derivation and confirmation of scales measuring medical directors' attitudes about the hospitalization of nursing home residents.

Objective: To derive and confirm scales measuring medical director's attitudes about hospitalization of nursing home residents.

Method: The authors surveyed nursing facility medical directors about the necessity of hospitalizing residents for eight clinical conditions and compared the ratings to those obtained from an expert panel to derive a relative hospitalization score. They also asked about factors that might influence hospitalization decisions.

Nursing home capabilities and decisions to hospitalize: a survey of medical directors and directors of nursing.

Objectives: To obtain information from decision makers about attitudes toward hospitalization and the factors that influence their decisions to hospitalize nursing home residents.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Setting: Four hundred forty-eight nursing homes, 76% of which were nonprofit, from 25 states.

Length of stay in home care before and after the 1997 Balanced Budget Act.

Context: Prior to 1997, home health agencies (HHAs) were reimbursed on a fee-for-service basis and had incentives to provide more services. The 1997 Balanced Budget Act (BBA) reduced payments for home care services to help control Medicare spending.

Objective: To examine the length of stay in home care before and after the 1997 BBA.