Effects of aging in Masters swimmers: 40-year review and suggestions for optimal health benefits.

The Masters Swimming Program is over 40 years old and has achieved international status, with thousands of participants competing in five-year age categories between 18 and 99. Early studies of Masters swimmers by age groups found an increase in times for most events of about 1% per year, and later studies showed a significant correlation with the age-associated decline in maximal oxygen uptake. As larger sample sizes have become available, the age-related decline in performance among national champion Masters swimmers, both men and women, and for both short and longer swims, has been shown to be linear at about 0.

Life meaning: an important correlate of health in the Hungarian population.

One of the 5 coping scales in Rahe's Brief Stress and Coping Inventory, entitled Life Meaning, was examined in relation to demographic characteristics, other coping measures, and health status in a sample of 12,640 Hungarian participants. Participants were selected to represent the country's population according to sex, age, and place of residence. The study also explored the contribution of life meaning to the explanation of variations of middle-aged (45-64 years) male and female mortality rates across 150 subregions in Hungary.

A novel stress and coping workplace program reduces illness and healthcare utilization.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine if a novel workplace stress management program, delivered either face-to-face or by self-help, would reduce illness and health services utilization among participants.

Methods: Five hundred one volunteers were randomly allocated to one of three groups: full intervention, which received assessment and personalized self-study feedback and was offered six face-to-face, small-group sessions; partial intervention, a self-help group that received assessment and personalized feedback by mail; and a wait-list control group. All participants completed questionnaires for stress, anxiety, and coping at the start of the study and 6 and 12 months later.