Trajectories of Late-Life Disability Vary by the Condition Leading to Death.

Background: Previous research suggested that there might be distinct patterns of functional decline in the last years of life depending on the condition leading to death, but the validity of these results and hence the explanatory value of the condition leading to death for late-life disability are uncertain.

Methods: A total of 636 decedents from a cohort of 754 community-living persons, 70+ years of age (Yale PEP Study) provided 33 700 monthly observations of self-/proxy-reported disability during the last 5 years of life. Nonlinear trajectories and short-term fluctuations of late-life disability by condition leading to death (cancer, organ failure, frailty, severe dementia, sudden death, other) were estimated with flexible mixed spline regression models.

Predictors of Fall Protective Behaviors Among Iranian Community-Dwelling Older Adults: An Application of the Protection Motivation Theory.

Purpose: The protection motivation theory (PMT) is a common framework understanding the use of protective behaviors. The aim of this study was to assess the predictors of fall protective behaviors among community-dwelling older adults, Iran.

Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted in Qom, Iran, from May to October 2018.

Frailty index predicts geriatric psychiatry inpatient mortality: a case-control study.

Background: Many geriatric psychiatry patients suffer from complex psychiatric and medical problems and a minority of patients dies in-hospital. We assess whether a frailty index (FI) predicts inpatient mortality.

Methods: Electronic health records from 276 patients of a geriatric psychiatry department over 3 years (2015-2017) in Austria were analysed using logistic regression analysis.

[Mortality of gerontopsychiatric inpatients in Graz, Austria-a retrospective case-control study].

Background: Despite the demographic development and the increasing number of psychiatric diseases in older people, there are only few scientific investigations on the characteristics of patients in gerontopsychiatry and their mortality. In this retrospective case control study patient data were examined in order to establish which features of patients who died in a department of gerontopsychiatry show differences to those of patients who were discharged.

Method: A total of 284 patient files from the department of gerontopsychiatry and geriatric psychotherapy of the State Hospital Graz II were evaluated.

Health concepts of elementary school pupils in Austria : An explorative study using the draw and write technique.

Studies analysing health concepts of children are scarce. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyse health concepts of elementary school children in Austria. In all, 240 pupils in grades 2 (7 or 8 years old) and 4 (9 or 10 years old) of three rural and three urban elementary schools in Styria took part in this explorative study.

Validity and Reliability Evaluation of the Persian Version of the Heart Failure-Specific Health Literacy Scale.

Background: Health literacy (HL) has important implications for health outcomes in heart failure (HF) patients. Studying health literacy requires culturally appropriate and valid instruments. The aim of the study was validation of the Persian version of the heart failure-specific health literacy scale (HF-Specific HL Scale).

Risk factors for falls in Iranian older adults: a case-control study.

Falls are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in older adults. Identifying potential risk factors would provide a considerable public health benefit. The objective of this retrospective study was to determine the risk factors for falling among Iranian older adults.

Individual and country-level determinants of nursing home admission in the last year of life in Europe.

Background: Previous research has focussed on individual-level determinants of nursing home admission (NHA), although substantial variation in the prevalence of NHA between European countries suggests a substantial impact of country of residence. The aim of this analysis was to assess individual-level determinants and the role of country of residence and specifically a country`s public institutional long-term care infrastructure on proxy-reported NHA in the last year of life.

Methods: We analysed data from 7,018 deceased respondents (65+) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (2004-2015, 16 countries) using Bayesian hierarchical logistic regression analysis in order to model proxy-reported NHA.

Nursing professionals' attitudes toward use of physical restraints in Styrian nursing homes Austria.

Background: Given that nursing staff play a critical role in the decision regarding use of physical restraints, research has examined nursing professionals' attitudes toward this practice.

Aim: Since nursing professionals' views on physical restraint use have not yet been examined in Austria to date, we aimed to explore nursing professionals' attitudes concerning use of physical restraints in nursing homes of Styria (Austria).

Method: Data were collected from a convenience sample of nursing professionals (N = 355) within 19 Styrian nursing homes, based on a cross-sectional study design.

Impact of migration background on health of children and adolescents in Austria. Results of the Austrian Health Survey 2014.

Objective: The present study examines the question as to whether the wellbeing of children and adolescents in Austria and the use of vaccination are influenced by migration background.

Methods: The data was extracted from the Austrian Health Survey 2014 (ATHIS 2014). It contains health-related information of 5,277 children and adolescents aged 0 to 17 years.

Does Sample Attrition Affect the Assessment of Frailty Trajectories Among Older Adults? A Joint Model Approach.

Background: Frailty constitutes an important risk factor for adverse outcomes among older adults. In longitudinal studies on frailty, selective sample attrition may threaten the validity of results.

Objective: To assess the impact of sample attrition on frailty index trajectories and gaps related to socio-economic status (education) therein among older adults in Europe.

Social-emotional aspects of quality of life in multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory auto-immune disease of the central nervous system. It leads to many impairments including physical, cognitive, psychological, and social challenges. Our study examined gender and cultural associations with quality of life (QoL), personal characteristics, and benefits from having MS among those with MS.

Sex and gender matters : A sex-specific analysis of original articles published in the Wiener klinische Wochenschrift between 2013 and 2015.

Background: The variables sex and gender are significantly related to health and disease of women and men. Aiming at quality research, biomedical publications need to account for the key variables sex and gender.

Methods: All original articles published in the Wiener klinische Wochenschrift between 2013 and 2015 were extracted into a database.

The moderating role of personal resources in the relationship between psychosocial job demands and health: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: The main objective of this research was to investigate the buffering effects of an individual's physical, mental and social resources in the relationship between psychosocial job demands and (1) health symptoms, (2) mental strain and (3) the body mass index (BMI), respectively.

Methods: We performed moderated regression analysis to examine data from a large cross-sectional survey of an Austrian employee sample (n9434).

Results: The results revealed a robust association between psychosocial job demands and health symptoms as well as mental strain, but only a weak relationship between psychosocial job demands and BMI.

[The Impact of Migration Background on Health: Results of the Austrian Health Interview Survey (ATHIS 2014)].

Objectives: Previous research has shown migrants to have a poorer health status than those without a migration background in many respects. So far, it is not completely clear whether the poorer health results of migrants are mainly the cause of their socioeconomic status (SES), which on average is lower than the SES of people without a migration background. The present study explores the question whether the fact of having a migration background has an impact on health, even though SES and health-related behavior are taken into account.

The Role of Personal and Job Resources in the Relationship between Psychosocial Job Demands, Mental Strain, and Health Problems.

Recent research highlights the importance of both job resources and personal resources in the job demands-resources model. However, the results of previous studies on how these resources are related to each other and how they operate in relation to the health-impairment process of the job demands-resources model are ambiguous. Thus, the authors tested an alternative model, considering job and personal resources to be domains of the same underlying factor and linking this factor to the health-impairment process.

Impact of socioeconomic position on frailty trajectories in 10 European countries: evidence from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (2004-2013).

Background: Whether or not, and how, health inequalities change throughout older age is currently under debate. The goal of this study was to assess the net impact of education, occupational class, income and wealth on frailty trajectories among older adults in Continental Europe.

Methods: We modelled frailty index trajectories within a repeated cohort design among the community-dwelling population (50+) in 10 countries, using growth curve models based on 54 036 observations from 20 965 respondents in 4 waves (2004-2013) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe.

[Attitudes Towards End-of-Life Decisions and Long-Term Care Dependency: Results of a Representative Survey of Austrians Aged 50].

Aim Of The Study: Existing research on attitudes in the general population regarding end-of-life decisions has included neither old age long-term care dependency nor worries regarding age(ing). The aim of this study is to present first results from a recent survey on this topic.

Methods: A nationally representative cross-sectional survey of the population aged 50+was conducted in Austria (n=968) in 2015.

Determinants of acceptance of end-of-life interventions: a comparison between withdrawing life-prolonging treatment and euthanasia in Austria.

Background: End-of-life decisions remain a hotly debated issue in many European countries and the acceptance in the general population can act as an important anchor point in these discussions. Previous studies on determinants of the acceptance of end-of-life interventions in the general population have not systematically assessed whether determinants differ between withdrawal of life-prolonging treatment (WLPT) and euthanasia (EUT).

Methods: A large, representative survey of the Austrian adult population conducted in 2014 (n = 1,971) included items on WLPT and EUT.

Potentially preventable premature deaths in women and men from the two leading causes of death in Austria, mortality statistics of the nine federal states 2010-2012.

Background: In Austria, mortality from diseases of the circulatory system and malignant neoplasms is high and varies among the federal states. Lower mortality in some states indicates a preventive potential in those states with higher mortality.

Methods: We computed the number of premature deaths, for women and men separately, from the two leading causes of death, diseases of the circulatory system (ICD-10: I00-I09) and cancer (ICD-10: C00-C97), in the nine Austrian federal states between 2010-2012.

Medical studies and Nazi medicine: Nazi medicine as perceived by Austrian medical students.

Background: Austrian medical universities have not covered the topic of Nazi medicine in their curricula to any satisfactory degree to date. In the context of medical-ethical education and on-going medical ethics debates, it seems indispensable to be confronted also with the dark chapters of medical history, and especially Nazi medicine. Students should learn to understand controversial discussions, e.

Prevalent Long-Term Trends of Hypertension in Austria: The Impact of Obesity and Socio-Demography.

Background: Globally there are only less long-term-studies on hypertension available to provide reliable estimates and identify risk groups. This study aims to analyse the prevalence and long-term-trend of hypertension in Austria, recognize affected subpopulations and investigate social inequalities.

Methods: This representative population-based study is based on self-reported data of adults (mean age: 47.