ABSTRACT
Background: Pain is a common complaint among the aging population, particularly among the older residents of nursing homes.
Aims: The main aim of the study was to examine the pain characteristics among older residents of nursing homes in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 394 older adults admitted to Tehran nursing homes. To gather the required data, Brief Pain Inventory and Abbreviated Mental Test score were used.
Results: 51% of the female and 26% of the male participants suffered from pain. Lower extremity and lower part of back were the most frequently affected. Pain interfered with general activity [P < 0.001], mood [P = 0.016], walking [P < 0.001], normal work [P < 0.001], relations with others [P = 0.043], sleeping [P = 0.002] and enjoyment of life [P = 0.019] of the older residents and these effects were more prominent in female sex. Factors such as age, gender and schooling were of significant relationships with pain [P < 0.001] and its intensity [P <0.001].
Conclusions: Chronic pain is common among older residents of nursing homes and deteriorates their quality of life. This study reconfirms the previously mentioned importance of using effective pain evaluation and pain management strategies in nursing homes.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Health improvement, control of communicable diseases and increase in life expectancy among the elderly of developed and developing countries has greatly increased. Since the health care and social needs of older adults differ from that of other adults, it is necessary to identify the needs of the elderly in order to make proper plans that will promote their health. The aim of this paper is to critically review these researches
Methods: A comprehensive literature review on the needs assessment of elderly health was applied searching English and Persian databases in Pub Med, Science Direct, ProQuest, Elsevier, Magiran, ISC and using key words including, Health need, Assessment, Elderly, Aging, Older adults, Aged and Health care needs
Results: Initial search yielded 745 references, considering the inclusion criteria, 21 papers were reviewed. Results revealed that in conducting needs assessment, various methods and procedures in various health dimensions including physical health, mental health, emotional, care, social, cultural, economic, nutritional, service, security, legal and educational needs have been utilized. Some of the dimensions had been more explored and some rarely
Conclusion: Most of the conducted studies had mainly focused on the elderly physical health needs and had neglected to take in to account other needs such as social and health care needs. In order to comprehensively recognize the health needs of the elderly, identifying their health care and care services is also important. Furthermore, in addition to quantitative studies, discovering the older adults' perceptions of their own health needs is also necessary. It seems that the challenge ahead of managers, experts and researchers on elderly health is trying to design comprehensive mechanisms of health need assessment and considering it as a reference for any future planning
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Leisure activities are common among the elderly, however the effect of such activities on their mental health is poorly defined and not underpinned by strong evidence. This study aims to determine the prevalence of leisure activities and its relation to mental health in the elderly
Methods: A cross- sectional study was conducted and 400 community dwelling older adults 60 years and more with appropriate cognitive function [Abbreviated Mental Test score 7 and more], were recruited through multi-stage stratified cluster sampling in Tehran, Iran. Data was gathered by demographic questionnaire and General Health Questionnaire [GHQ]. The primary outcomes to measure were the prevalence of leisure activities, and GHQ score in subgroups. Data were analyzed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, ANOVA, independent t-test and multiple linear regressions
Results: Of participants 62% were in their 7th decade [60-74 years], 56% [224] were female with mean age of 66.98 +/- 8.22 , and 44% [176] male with mean age of 66.98 +/- 8.22. GHQ scores showed 65% of participants had good mental health [0-23] and 35% had mental health problems [24 and more]. Mean of GHQ score in participants [n = 377] was 21.8 +/- 11.37 [0-28]. watching television [77%], reading books [ 40.3%], walking [31.5%] and taking trip [36%] were more interesting leisure activities among older adults .Women, single, unemployed, alone and illiterate older adults had statistically significant[p
Conclusion: Encouraging older adults to participation in active leisure activities would be an effective intervention in mental health improvement. On the other hand understanding of relationship between type of leisure activities and mental health, provides evidence for policy makers and health care planners to offer and facilitate a context in which older adults can improve participation in active leisure activitie