Do financial hardships affect health? A study among older adults in Switzerland.

Background: A growing number of studies have underlined the relationship between socioeconomic status and health. Following that literature, we explore the causal effect of financial hardships on changes in health at older ages. Rather than traditional measures of socioeconomic variables, we study the role of financial hardships.

Older people's experience of the partial lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate older people's experience of a COVID-19 partial lockdown (16 March-11 May 2020) in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Setting And Participants: Community-dwelling participants of the Lausanne cohort (Lc65+) in 2020, aged 71-86 years (n=2642).

Design And Outcome: This cross-sectional study was nested within the Lc65+ longitudinal study.

Identifying common patterns of health services use: a longitudinal study of older Swiss adults' care trajectories.

Background: Population ageing puts pressure on health systems initially designed to handle acute and episodic illnesses. Segmenting an ageing population based on its healthcare utilization may enable policymakers to undertake evidence-based resource planning. We aimed to derive a typology of healthcare utilization trajectories in Swiss older adults.

Slowness as a Predictor of Functional Decline in Older Adults: Comparison of Moberg Picking-Up Test and Walking Speed.

Objectives: Slowness, generally assessed by walking speed (WS), is an estimator of frailty and its outcomes. Because of potential difficulties in assessing WS, the Moberg picking-up test (MPUT) might be an alternative. This study investigated the capacity of slowness measurements (WS and MPUT) to predict nonfatal adverse consequences of frailty: primarily, decline in basic activities of daily living (BADL); and secondarily, decline in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), fall, hospitalization, and incident disease.

Fear of falling and all-cause mortality among young-old community-dwelling adults: a 6-year prospective study.

This study investigated whether fear of falling (FOF) measured by two different instruments, the Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) and the single question on FOF and activity restriction (SQ-FAR), is associated with mortality at 6-year follow-up. Participants ( = 1359, 58.6% women) were community-dwelling persons enrolled in the Lausanne cohort 65 + , aged 66 to 71 years at baseline.

Government recommendations during the COVID-19 epidemic in Switzerland: clarity, compliance and impact on the daily life of seniors in a population-based cohort.

Context: In March 2020, the Swiss Federal Council issued recommendations for a partial lockdown, with an emphasis on people aged 65 years and over because of their vulnerability to COVID-19. This study investigated whether seniors clearly understood the meaning of four recommendations (do not go grocery shopping; do not use public transport; avoid personal contact; stay at home), whether they complied with them, and what was the impact of the partial lockdown on their daily life, including difficulties and opportunities.

Methods: In April 2020, a questionnaire about how seniors experienced the partial lockdown was sent to the participants in the Lausanne Cohort Lc65+, a population-based study.

[Community-based medical practice. New academic teaching through a mass COVID-19 screening].

Clusters of COVID-19 cases emerged during the months of December 2020 and January 2021 in the Vaud Alps. This epidemiological situation was worrying, as it appeared before a winter holiday period. In view of this epidemiological risk, the cantonal authorities decided to carry out mass screening in three communes from 5 to 13 February 2021 in addition to the standard measures in place.

Volunteering transitions and change in quality of life among older adults: A mixed methods research.

Background: The activity theory posits that productive activities are beneficial to older people's well-being. This study examined how quality of life (QoL), globally and in its different dimensions, may be affected by stopping or initiating volunteering, and which psychosocial mechanisms might be at work in such associations.

Method: This study used an explicative sequential mixed method design: analyses of 2011 and 2016 data from participants to the Lausanne cohort 65+ (n = 1,976, age 68-77 years in 2011) were followed by qualitative analyses of focus groups made of volunteers participating in the same cohort.

How blood pressure predicts frailty transitions in older adults in a population-based cohort study: a multi-state transition model.

Background: Low blood pressure (BP) is associated with frailty in older adults. Our aim was to explore how BP predicts transitions between frailty states.

Methods: We used data from the Lausanne cohort Lc65+, a population-based cohort of older adults randomly drawn from a population registry in Switzerland, in 2004, 2009 and 2014.

Instrumented 5-Time Sit-To-Stand Test: Parameters Predicting Serious Falls beyond the Duration of the Test.

Background: Falls are a major cause of injuries in older adults. To evaluate the risk of falls in older adults, clinical assessments such as the 5-time sit-to-stand (5xSTS) test can be performed. The development of inertial measurement units (IMUs) has provided the possibility of a more in-depth analysis of the movements' biomechanical characteristics during this test.

Does the frailty phenotype at the age of 66 to 71 predict death? A 14-year survival analysis of the Lc65+ study.

Background: Frailty is a health characteristic resulting from the loss of physiological reserve of multiple organs, leading to exposure to adverse outcomes, and is possibly reversible in its earliest stages. It is identified by a specific phenotype that contributes to the practice of geriatric medicine, where it is considered a potential target for preventive action. This phenotype has recently attracted interest in other medical specialties for risk assessment before stressful interventions in older adults.

Trajectories of phenotypical frailty over a decade in young-old community-dwelling adults: results from the Lc65+ study.

Background: Few studies have examined the frailty trajectories of young-old adults using Fried frailty phenotype. Dropouts due to death were rarely taken into account. This longitudinal study aimed to identify trajectories with and without adjustment for non-random attrition and to analyse related factors.

Slowness Predicts Mortality: A Comparative Analysis of Walking Speed and Moberg Picking-Up Tests.

Objectives: Slow walking speed (WS) is predictive of mortality but may be difficult to measure, which compromises the assessment of frailty, based on Fried et al's phenotype. The timed Moberg picking-up test (MPUT), developed to evaluate hand's function, was found moderately but significantly correlated with WS. We compared the relationship between slowness, assessed by MPUT and WS tests, and mortality.

Validity of the older people quality of life-7 domains (OQoL-7) scale.

Background: The Older people Quality of Life-7 domains (OQoL-7) is a 28-item multidimensional questionnaire developed to measure community-dwelling older people's QoL. The OQoL-7 assesses both importance of and satisfaction in seven QoL domains (Material resources; Close entourage; Social and cultural life; Esteem and recognition; Health and mobility; Feeling of safety; and Autonomy). This study aimed to investigate concurrent and construct validity of the OQoL-7.

Is Fear of Falling Associated With Incident Disability? A Prospective Analysis in Young-Old Community-Dwelling Adults.

Objectives: Fear of falling (FOF) is common in older people and is related to negative outcomes. This study aimed to investigate whether 2 different instruments, the Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) and the single question on FOF and activity restriction (SQ-FAR), were associated with incident disability at 3 years.

Design: Prospective observational study.

A Single Question as a Screening Tool to Assess Fear of Falling in Young-Old Community-Dwelling Persons.

Objectives: Fear of falling (FOF) is common in older persons and related to negative outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between 2 FOF measures: the Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) and the single question on FOF and activity restriction (SQ-FAR). Factors associated with disagreement between the 2 measures were further examined.

Older People's Health-Related Behaviors: Evidence from Three Cohorts of the Lc65+ Study.

Baby-boomers might be more health-conscious than earlier birth cohorts, but limited evidence has been produced so far. To investigate such changes, this study compared health-related behaviors at age 65 to 70 among three successive five-year birth cohorts (pre-war: born 1934-1938; war: born 1939-1943 and baby-boom: born 1944-1948) representative of the community-dwelling population. Information about alcohol use, smoking, physical activity, and nutrition was compared across the three cohorts ( = 4,270 participants) using Chi-squared test.

Formal home care use by older adults: trajectories and determinants in the Lc65+ cohort.

Background: Given the increasing importance of formal home care services in policies dedicated to elder care, there is major interest in studying individuals' characteristics determining their utilization. The main objective of this research was to quantify, during a 6-year timeframe, home care use trajectories followed by community-dwelling participants in a cohort study of older adults. The secondary objective was to identify factors associated with home care utilization using Andersen's Behavioural Model of Health Services Use.

Readiness to accept health information and communication technologies: A population-based survey of community-dwelling older adults.

Introduction: The development of health information and communication technologies (HICTs) could modify the quality and cost of healthcare services delivered to an aging population. However, the acceptance of HICTs - a prerequisite for users to benefit from them - remains a challenge. This population-based study aimed to 1) explore the acceptance of HICTs by community-dwelling older adults as well as the factors associated to the overall acceptance/refusal of HICTs; 2) identify the factors associated with confidentiality (i.

Quality of life profile in three cohorts of community-dwelling Swiss older people.

Background: Quality of life (QoL) is a subjective and dynamic concept resulting from an interplay between importance of and satisfaction with different aspects of life. However, it is unclear whether social contexts experienced by individuals born at specific times in history (cohort effects) may influence QoL in old age. This study aimed to compare among older persons born before, during, and at the end of World War II: a) satisfaction with QoL, overall and per domains; b) importance of QoL domains.

Do baby boomers feel healthier than earlier cohorts after retirement age? The Lausanne cohort Lc65+ study.

Objective: Despite the popular belief that baby boomers are ageing in better health than previous generations, limited scientific evidence is available since baby boomers have turned retirement age only recently. This study aimed to compare self-reported health status at ages 65-70 years among three cohorts of older people born before, during and at the end (baby boomers) of the Second World War.

Design: Repeated cross-sectional population-based study.

Change in quality of life among community-dwelling older adults: population-based longitudinal study.

Purpose: This population-based study aimed to determine 5-year change in multidimensional QoL among community-dwelling older people, and to identify predictors of QoL change among demographic, socioeconomic, and health characteristics.

Methods: Data of the 2011 and 2016 annual assessments of 1845 older men and women (age range 68-77 years) from the Lc65 + cohort study were used. QoL was assessed using a 28-item instrument yielding a QoL overall score and seven domain-specific QoL subscores.

Childhood adversity: A gateway to multimorbidity in older age?

Background: Multimorbidity, or co-occurrence of several chronic diseases, has major consequences in terms of function, quality of life and mortality. Recent advances suggest that the aetiology of multimorbidity includes a life-long process. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between childhood adversity and multimorbidity in community-dwelling older adults, and to investigate variation in participants born immediately before, during and at the end of the Second World War.