Cross-cultural adaptation of the Karnofsky Performance Status instrument to Brazilian Portuguese.

Introduction: The Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) is one of the most widely used tools for assessing the prognosis of oncology patients, providing an estimate of treatment efficiency and survival. Despite this, it is commonly used in free translations without validation. The objective of the present study was to perform the cross-cultural adaptation of the KPS instrument to Brazilian Portuguese (KPS-BR) through the stages of conceptual, semantic, operational, measurement, and functional equivalences.

The sensitivity and specificity of the WHO's ICOPE screening tool, and the prevalence of loss of intrinsic capacity in older adults: A scoping review.

Background: The World Health Organization has developed the Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) program, a public health strategy to maintain older adults' functional abilities and promote healthier aging. The approach comprises a 5-step pathway. Step 1 is the screening for impairment in functions, and Step 2 is an in-depth evaluation to confirm the presence and severity of functional impairment.

Low phase angle in critically ill older patients is associated with late mortality: A prospective study.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to ascertain the accuracy of phase angle (PhA) as a predictor of mortality during intensive care unit (ICU) stay (M) and at 28 (M) and 60 d (M) after ICU admission among patients aged >60 y.

Methods: Patients aged >60 y who were under mechanical ventilation (MV) ≥48 h were included once they were hemodynamically stable. PhA was measured by single-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis up to 48 h after admission.

Predictors of functional impairment and awareness in people with dementia, mild cognitive impairment and healthy older adults from a middle-income country.

Objective: To investigate the demographic, clinical and cognitive correlates of functional capacity and its awareness in people with dementia (PwD; = 104), mild cognitive impairment (PwMCI; = 45) and controls (healthy older adults; = 94) in a sample from a middle-income country.

Methods: Dementia and MCI were diagnosed, respectively, with DSM-IV and Petersen criteria. Performance in activities of daily living (ADL) at three different levels [basic (The Katz Index of Independence), instrumental (Lawton instrumental ADL scale) and advanced (Reuben's advanced ADL scale)], measured through self- and informant-report, as well as awareness (discrepancy between self- and informant-report), were compared between groups.

Exercise with blood flow restriction improves muscle strength and mass while preserving the vascular and microvascular function and structure of older adults.

Background: Changes in muscle mass, strength, vascular function, oxidative stress, and inflammatory biomarkers were compared in older adults after resistance training (RT) performed with low-intensity without blood flow restriction (RT-CON); low-intensity with BFR (RT-BFR); and high-intensity without BFR (RT-HI).

Methods: Thirty-two untrained individuals (72±7 y) performed a 12-week RT after being randomized into three groups: RT-CON -30% of 1 repetition maximum (RM); RT-BFR -30% of 1RM and mild BFR (50% of arterial occlusion pressure); RT-HI -70% of 1 RM.

Results: Improvements in handgrip strength were similar in RT-BFR (17%) and RT-HI (16%) vs.

Correction: Normative reference values of handgrip strength for Brazilian older people aged 65 to 90 years: Evidence from the multicenter Fibra‑BR study.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Association between fear of falling and spatial and temporal parameters of gait in older adults: the FIBRA-RJ study.

Purpose: To evaluate the association between fear of falling (FoF) and spatial and temporal parameters of gait in older adults.

Methods: This cross-sectional study evaluated 291 clients of a private health care insurance who were over 65 years of age and living in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro City in 2013. FoF was assessed by the Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I-BR), and gait parameters, such as gait speed, cadence, step time, step length, stride length, and variability (standard deviation of stride length), were assessed using GAITRite®.

Can Social Resources Explain the Limitations in the Activities of Daily Living of Older Adults Classified by the Phenotype of Physical Frailty?

The objective is to investigate the mediating roles of living alone and personal network in the relationship between physical frailty and activities of daily living (ADL) limitations among older adults. 2271 individuals were classified as vulnerable (pre-frail or frail) or robust. Mediating variables were living alone and personal network.

Mortality, sarcopenic obesity, and sarcopenia: Frailty in Brazilian Older People Study - FIBRA - RJ.

Objective: To investigate the risk of mortality associated with sarcopenic obesity (SO), obesity (OB), and sarcopenia in elderlies.

Methods: We analyzed longitudinal data from 270 participants > 65 years of age of Phase III of the Study on Frailty in Brazilian Older People (FIBRA-RJ-2012). Socioeconomic, demographic, lifestyle, morbidity, and functional data were collected by home based interviews.

Difficulty in taking medication and stroke among older adults with systemic arterial hypertension: the Fibra Study.

This article aims to investigate whether difficulty in taking medication is associated with stroke among older adults with Systemic Arterial Hypertension (SAH) and to explore their association with living arrangements. Cross-sectional study was based on 3,502 older adults with SAH from the four universities pole of Frailty in Brazilian Older People (Fibra) Study, Brazil, including 14 municipalities of the five Brazilian regions. We used the medical diagnosis of stroke and difficulty in taking medications (self-reported difficulty and financial difficulty affording prescribed medications).

Sarcopenia in the elderly versus microcirculation, inflammation status, and oxidative stress: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Age-related mechanisms of sarcopenia associated with vascular function have been recently suggested. This study compared and tested associations between muscle mass and strength, microcirculation, inflammatory biomarkers, and oxidative stress in older adults classified as sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic.

Methods: Thirty-three physically inactive individuals (72±7 yrs) were assigned to age-matched sarcopenic (SG) and non-sarcopenic (NSG) groups.

Does Resistance Training with Blood Flow Restriction Affect Blood Pressure and Cardiac Autonomic Modulation in Older Adults?

Resistance training (RT) with blood flow restriction (BFR) appears to accelerate muscle hypertrophy and strength gains in older populations. However, the training-related effects of RT with BFR upon blood pressure (BP) and cardiac autonomic modulation in the elderly remains unclear. The objective of this study is to compare the chronic effects of low-intensity RT performed with soft BFR (BFR) .

Normative reference values of handgrip strength for Brazilian older people aged 65 to 90 years: Evidence from the multicenter Fibra‑BR study.

Background: Handgrip strength (HGS) is an indicator of muscle strength, suited for evaluating the aging process. Its use depends on the availability of reliable normative reference values (NRV). The main objective of this study is to provide NRV of HGS for Brazilians aged 65 to 90 years.

A multidimensional approach to frailty compared with physical phenotype in older Brazilian adults: data from the FIBRA-BR study.

Background: Frailty is a predictor of negative health outcomes in older adults. The physical frailty phenotype is an often used form for its operationalization. Some authors have pointed out limitations regarding the unidimensionality of the physical phenotype, introducing other dimensions in the approach to frailty.

Presence of Senescent and Memory CD8+ Leukocytes as Immunocenescence Markers in Skin Lesions of Elderly Leprosy Patients.

Leprosy is an infectious disease that remains endemic in approximately 100 developing countries, where about 200,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. Moreover, multibacillary leprosy, the most contagious form of the disease, has been detected at continuously higher rates among Brazilian elderly people. Due to the so-called immunosenescence, characterized by several alterations in the quality of the immune response during aging, this group is more susceptible to infectious diseases.

Increased oxidative stress in elderly leprosy patients is related to age but not to bacillary load.

Background: Leprosy continues to be a public health problem in Brazil. Furthermore, detection rates in elderly people have increased, particularly those of multibacillary (L-Lep) patients, who are responsible for transmitting M. leprae.

Prevalence of Sarcopenic Obesity and its Association with Functionality, Lifestyle, Biomarkers and Morbidities in Older Adults: the FIBRA-RJ Study of Frailty in Older Brazilian Adults.

Objectives: To assess the prevalence of sarcopenic obesity and its association with functionality, lifestyle, biomarkers, and morbidities in older adults.

Methods: The study analyzed cross-sectional data from 270 older adults who participated in phase III of the Frailty in Brazilian Older People Study (Fragilidade em Idosos Brasileiros-Rio de Janeiro, FIBRA-RJ study-2013). They took part in a home interview surveying socioeconomic, demographic, lifestyle, morbidities, and functional data.

Incidence, persistence and risk factors of fear of falling in older adults: cohort study (2008-2013) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Objective: To evaluate the incidence and persistence of fear of falling in older adults and the clinical/functional, psychosocial and lifestyle-related risk factors.

Methods: A longitudinal study with 393 community-dwelling older adults aged 65 years and over (110 men/ 283 women) resident in the North Zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The fear of falling was assessed by the Falls Efficacy Scale-I-BR.

Frailty syndrome in Brazilian older people: a population based study.

This article aims to categorize elderly non-frail (NF), pre-frail (PF) and frail (FF) as to fast and slow gait speed. Compare NF, PF and FF, and analyze associations between fast or slow gait speed with clinical, functional and mental factors. 5,501 elderly (65 years or over; to the Frailty in Brazilian Older People Study), classified as NF, PF and FF (Fried´s frailty phenotype) and, in relation to fast gait speed (≥ 0.

Strength training with blood flow restriction - a novel therapeutic approach for older adults with sarcopenia? A case report.

Introduction: A 91-year-old sedentary man presenting exhaustion, lower-limb weakness, hypertension, and history of multiple falls was diagnosed with sarcopenia - appendicular skeletal muscle mass index (ASM) of 7.10 kg/m.

Purpose: To investigate the effects of strength training performed with low intensity in isolation (LI) or with blood flow restriction (LI-BFR) on strength, muscle mass, IGF-1, endothelial function, microcirculation, inflammatory biomarkers, and oxidative stress.

Prevalence of sarcopenia and its associated factors: the impact of muscle mass, gait speed, and handgrip strength reference values on reported frequencies.

Objectives: Sarcopenia is a common treatable geriatric condition. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of sarcopenia and its associated factors in community-dwelling elderly living in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and to discuss the impact of different muscle mass, handgrip strength and gait speed cut-off values on the reported frequency of sarcopenia.

Methods: The health habits, functional capacity, and anthropometric measurements of 745 individuals aged ≥65 years from the Frailty in Brazilian Older People study were analyzed.

Prevalence of frailty and associated factors in a community-dwelling older people cohort living in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil: Fibra-JF Study.

Frailty is a state of multisystem physiological vulnerability related to aging and an increased risk of adverse outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and associated factors of frailty in the Fibra-JF Study, Minas Gerais, Brazil. We selected a random sample of 461 individuals aged 65 years or more stratified by territorial unit, gender and age.

[Dimensional structure of the Brazilian version of the Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ-BR)].

This study aimed to assess the dimensional structure and internal consistency of the Brazilian version of the Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ-BR) for measurement of functional capacity in the elderly, based on the informant's report. This was a cross-sectional study with 525 non-institutionalized elderly informants, in which confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) and exploratory/confirmatory factor analyses (E/CFA) modeled according to CFA principles were used to identify the most parsimonious model and that with the best fit. The internal consistency of the FAQ-BR was assessed by composite reliability, and correlations between its dimensions were examined to investigate discriminant factor validity.

Permanence in the labour market and life satisfaction in old age.

Population aging is a global trend that has drawn attention to policies to encourage a productive life and delayed retirement. Thus, it is necessary to expand our understanding of the effects of work on health indicators and well-being in old age. The purpose of this study was to determine the association of permanency in the labor market with sociodemographic and medical factors and life satisfaction in elders.

The impact of dementia, depression and awareness on activities of daily living in a sample from a middle-income country.

Objective: Previous studies have indicated that dementia and depression have a considerable impact on the functional capacity of older adults, also influencing awareness about ability. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the impact of dementia, depression and awareness on activities of daily living (ADL) in a sample from a middle-income country.

Methods: The current study explored impairments in basic, instrumental and advanced ADL using a factorial design comparing four groups: people with dementia and depression, people with dementia without depression, older adults with depression but no dementia and healthy older adults.