Association Between Current Medical Decision-Making Participation Self-Efficacy and Advance Care Planning Engagement Among Older Adults: Baseline Findings from a Nationwide Longitudinal Cohort Study.

Misconceptions of and cultural differences in aging influence older adults' medical decision-making self-efficacy and engagement in advance care planning (ACP). This study aims to investigate the association between current medical decision-making participation self-efficacy and ACP engagement among older individuals receiving home-based medical care (HBMC) in Taiwan. Baseline data analysis of a nationwide cohort study.

Association of fear of falling and low physical activity with fall risk among older Taiwanese community-dwellers.

Background And Purpose: Fear of falling and low physical activity become prevalent in an aged society, but their association with fall risk warrants further investigation.

Methods: Our study involved 600 individuals aged 70.8-96.

Adaptation behaviors modify the effects of body fat on heat-related symptoms among Taiwanese elderly.

Background: The aging process increases body fat and susceptibility to heat-related illnesses. The relationship between body composition and symptoms associated with exposure to extreme heat among the elderly is unclear. Additionally, the influence of individual adaptive behaviors in mitigating these risks has not been adequately explored.

Early palliative care: the surprise question and the palliative care screening tool-better together.

Objective: The 'surprise question' (SQ) and the palliative care screening tool (PCST) are the common assessment tools in the early identification of patients requiring palliative care. However, the comparison of their prognostic accuracies has not been extensively studied. This study aimed to compare the prognostic accuracy of SQ and PCST in terms of recognising patients nearing end of life (EOL) and those appropriate for palliative care.

An Interventional Study for the Early Identification of Patients With Palliative Care Needs and the Promotion of Advance Care Planning and Advance Directives.

Context: Programs identifying patients needing palliative care and promoting advance care planning (ACP) are rare in Asia.

Objectives: This interventional cohort study aimed to identify hospitalized patients with palliative care needs using a validated palliative care screening tool (PCST), examine the ability of the PCST to predict mortality, and explore effects of a pragmatic ACP program targeted by PCST on the utilization of life-sustaining treatment during the last three months of life.

Methods: In this prospective study, we used PCST to evaluate patients' palliative care needs between 2015 and 2016 and followed patients for three months.

Prevalence of Total Physical Activity, Muscle-Strengthening Activities, and Excessive TV Viewing among Older Adults; and Their Association with Sociodemographic Factors.

The study aimed to describe the prevalence of meeting moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA), muscle-strengthening (MS) activities, and television (TV) viewing guidelines, and their association with sociodemographic factors. Data from older adults aged 65 or above were sampled by age and sex to the population aged 65+ years for each area in Taiwan and collected through telephone interviews. The prevalence of meeting MVPA and MS activities, MVPA and MS activities guidelines, and excessive TV viewing were calculated.

Associations between walking parameters and subsequent sleep difficulty in older adults: A 2-year follow-up study.

Purpose: This 2-year follow-up study aimed to examine the associations between total volume, frequency, duration, and speed of walking with subsequent sleep difficulty in older adults.

Methods: A total of 800 older adults aged 65 years and over participated in the first survey in 2012 and 511 of them were followed 2 years later. The 5-item Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS-5) was used to measure sleep difficulty.

Factors associated with advance directives completion among patients with advance care planning communication in Taipei, Taiwan.

Background: Although advance directives (AD) have been implemented for years in western countries, the concept of AD is not promoted extensively in eastern countries. In this study we evaluate a program to systematically conduct advance care planning (ACP) communication for hospitalized patients in Taiwan and identify the factors associated with AD completion.

Methods: In this retrospective evaluation of a clinical ACP program, we identified adult patients with chronic life-limiting illness admitted to Taipei City Hospital between April 2015 and January 2016.

[The Promotion of Resources Integration in Long-Term Care Service: The Experience of Taipei City Hospital].

The home-based medical care integrated plan under Taiwan National Health Insurance has changed from paying for home-based medical care, home-based nursing, home-based respiratory treatment, and palliative care to paying for a single, continuous home-based care service package. Formerly, physician-visit regulations limited home visits for home-based nursing to providing medical related assessments only. This limitation not only did not provide practical assistance to the public but also caused additional problems for those with mobility problems or who faced difficulties in making visits hospital.

Association of Advance Directives Completion With the Utilization of Life-Sustaining Treatments During the End-of-Life Care in Older Patients.

Context: Evidence is mixed regarding the impact of advance directives (ADs) on the utilization of end-of-life treatments.

Objectives: This study evaluated the effect of AD on the utilization of end-of-life treatments during the last month of life in older patients.

Methods: Taipei City Hospital initiated an advance care planning program to promote AD for admitted patients in 2015.

Accelerometer-assessed light physical activity is protective of future cognitive ability: A longitudinal study among community dwelling older adults.

Objective: Physical activity (PA), especially moderate-to-vigorous intensity, could protect older adults from cognitive impairment. However, most literature is based on self-reported PA which is limited by recall bias. Light PA is popular among older adults, but a paucity of objective longitudinal data has considered the relationship between light PA and cognitive ability.

Prospective relationship between objectively measured light physical activity and depressive symptoms in later life.

Background: The use of self-report measures of physical activity is a serious methodological weakness in many studies of physical activity and depressive symptoms. It is still equivocal whether light physical activity protects older adults from depressive symptoms.

Objective: This study aimed to explore whether objectively measured light physical activity, independent of sedentary and moderate-to-vigorous activity, is associated with a reduced risk of subsequent depressive symptoms in older adults.

Prospective associations of objectively assessed physical activity at different intensities with subjective well-being in older adults.

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the longitudinal independent associations of objectively assessed physical activity at different intensities, including moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, light physical activity, and sedentary behaviors, with dimensions of subjective well-being in older adults.

Methods: A total of 307 community-dwelling older adults aged 65 or older in Taiwan were interviewed in 2012. Physical activity was assessed using triaxial accelerometry.

Associations of exercise, sedentary time and insomnia with metabolic syndrome in Taiwanese older adults: A 1-year follow-up study.

Background: Understanding the risk factors of metabolic syndrome (MetS) is important to public health, since individuals with MetS have an increased risk of health problems. This study examined the associations of exercise, sedentary time and insomnia with incident MetS among older adults 1 year later.

Method: A total of 1,359 older adults receiving hospital health examinations in 2012 were studied, and 779 subjects had a follow-up after 1 year.

Evaluating the satisfaction of immigrant women from a rural community regarding family functioning and health-related quality of life.

Transnational marriages in Taiwan are largely mediated by marriage brokers. The present study was conducted to evaluate the satisfaction of immigrant women with their family function and health-related quality of life in a rural township in southern Taiwan. Data were collected from January 1, 2006 to November 31, 2006, and 157 immigrants agreed to participate in the study, with a 79.

Prospective associations between household-, work-, and leisure-based physical activity and all-cause mortality among older Taiwanese adults.

Most studies on the health effects of leisure time physical activity have focused on mortality. There has been limited research regarding physical activity undertaken at work or around the home and mortality. This study assessed the associations between leisure, work, and household physical activity and subsequent all-cause mortality among older adults aged 65 years and older (n = 2133) in Taiwan, over 8 years.

A rapid screening test for depression in junior high school children.

Background: Depression generates a remarkable disease burden. Early onset of depression in young people is associated with a poor prognosis. This has precipitated developing a screening instrument for early detection of depression in Taiwan adolescents.

Assessment of changes in knowledge and stigmatization following tuberculosis training workshops in taiwan.

Background/purpose: There is little understanding of the depth of knowledge of health workers involved in tuberculosis (TB) control programs, and even less is known about health workers attaching stigma to TB patients. This study surveyed health workers enrolled in TB training workshops prior to the execution of the directly observed treatment, short course (DOTS) program.

Methods: All participants attended the training course and completed structured questionnaires before (pre-test) and after training (post-test).

Epidemiologic psychiatric studies on post-disaster impact among Chi-Chi earthquake survivors in Yu-Chi, Taiwan.

The aim of the present study was to survey a cohort population for the risk factors of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression, and the prevalence of different psychiatric disorders at 6 months and 2 and 3 years after a major earthquake. The Disaster-Related Psychological Screening Test (DRPST), part I, and the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) were, respectively, administered by trained interviewers and psychiatrists in this community-interview program. The prevalence of PTSD decreased from 8.

Survey of quality of life and related risk factors for a Taiwanese village population 3 years post-earthquake.

Objective: To investigate quality of life (QOL) and related risk factors in Taiwanese earthquake survivors diagnosed with different psychiatric disorders 3 years after the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake.

Method: This study was a population survey. Trained assistants used the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (MOS SF-36) and questionnaires to interview 405 respondents (189 men and 216 women) aged 16 years or older, who had been exposed to the earthquake.

Three-year follow-up study of the relationship between posttraumatic stress symptoms and quality of life among earthquake survivors in Yu-Chi, Taiwan.

Objective: To prospectively evaluate the relationship between the clinical course of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and quality of life (QOL) among Taiwan earthquake survivors for 3 years.

Methods: A population survey was done in a Taiwan township near the epicenter of a severe earthquake (7.3 on the Richter scale).