Historical and current predictors of self-reported health status among elderly persons in Barbados.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the relative contribution of past events and of current experiences as determinants of health status among the elderly in the Caribbean nation of Barbados, in order to help develop timely public health interventions for that population. METHODS: The information for this prevalence study was collected in Barbados between December 1999 and June 2000 as part of the "SABE project," a multicenter survey in seven urban areas of Latin America and the Caribbean that evaluated determinants of health and well-being in elderly populations (persons 60 and older). We used ordinal logistic regression to model determinants of self-reported health status, and we assessed the relative contribution of historical socioeconomic indicators and of three current modifiable predictor groups (current socioeconomic indicators, lifestyle risk factors, and disease indicators), using simple measures of association and model fit. RESULTS: Historical determinants of health status accounted for 5.2% of the variation in reported health status, and this was reduced to 2.0% when mediating current experiences were considered. Current socioeconomic indicators accounted for 4.1% of the variation in reported health status, lifestyle risk factors for 7.1%, and current disease indicators for 33.5%. CONCLUSIONS: Past socioeconomic experience influenced self-reported health status in elderly Barbadians. Over half of this influence from past events was mediated through current socioeconomic, lifestyle, and disease experiences. Caring for the sick and reducing lifestyle risk factors should be important considerations in the support of the current elderly. In addition, ongoing programs for poverty reduction and increased access to health care and education should be considered as long-term strategies to improve the health of the future elderly.

Historical and current predictors of self-reported health status among elderly persons in Barbados

OBJECTIVE. To understand the relative contribution of past events and of current experiences as determinants of health status among the elderly in the Caribbean nation of Barbados, in order to help develop timely public health interventions for that population. METHODS. The information for this prevalence study was collected in Barbados between December 1999 and June 2000 as part of the "SABE project," a multicenter survey in seven urban areas of Latin America and the Caribbean that evaluated the determinants of health and well-being in elderly populations (persons 60 and older). We used ordinal logistic regression to model determinants of self-reported health status, and we assessed the relative contribution of historical socioeconomic indicators and three current modifiable predictor groups (current socioeconomic indicators, lifestyle risk factors, and disease indicators), using simple measures of association and model fit. RESULTS. Historical determinants of health status accounted for 5.2 percent of the variation in reported health status, and this was reduced to 2.0 percent when mediating current experiences were considered. Current socioeconomic indicators accounted for 4.1 percent of the variation in reported health status, lifestyle risk factors for 7.1 percent, and current disease indicators for 33.5 percent. CONCLUSIONS. Past socioeconomic experience influenced self-reported health status in elderly Barbadians. Over half of this influence from past events was mediated through current socioeconomic, lifestyle, and disease experiences. Caring for the sick and reducing lifestyle risk factors should be important considerations in the support of the elderly. In addition, ongoing programs for poverty reduction and increased access to health care and education should be considered as long-term strategies to improve the health of the future elderly (AU)

Los ancianos en Barbados: Problemas y políticas / The elderly in Barbados: Problems and policies

Los ancianos en Barbados: Problemas y políticas

Los ancianos en Barbados: Problemas y políticas / The elderly in Barbados: Problems and policies

Los ancianos en Barbados: Problemas y políticas

Vida social de las mujeres de 75 y mas anos en Barbados / Social life among females aged 75 and over in Barbados

Reunion del Grupo Consultor sobre las Mujeres de Edad Mediana y Avanzada de America Latina y el Caribe: Investigacion Actual e Implicaciones Politicas, 1. Organizacion Panamericana de la Salud; 18-20 oct. 1988

. AARP

. UN. Centro para el Desarrollo Social y Asuntos Humanitarios

. UN. Instituto de Ensenanza e Investigacion para el Progreso de la Mujer

The elderly in Barbados: Problems and policies

The elderly in Barbados: Problems and policies

Published in spanish: Bol. Of. Sanit. Panan Vol.109,1990

The elderly in Barbados: problems and policies

Empirical data on conditions affecting elderly people in the Caribbean are very limited. To help deal with this lack of information in the specific case of Barbados, in 1982 a survey was conducted of 525 randomly selected people 65 years of age or older. This article summarises data derived from that survey in order to provide an overview of the social and economic circumstances affecting Barbados' elderly population. While it is true that these circumstances do not necessarily mirror those found elsewhere, they clearly have elements in common; and it seems likely that the survey approach applied in this instance could prove useful elsewhere in obtaining worthwhile information. (AU)

The elderly in Barbados: Problems and policies

The elderly in Barbados: Problems and policies

Demographic and epidemiological aspects of aging in the Commonwealth Caribbean: implications for service delivery

This paper examines the implications of demographic and epidemiological aspects of aging for the care of the elderly, in the Commonwealth Caribbean. Increases in the elderly population stem from declining mortality, increasing life expectancy, declining fertility, and heavy out-migration of the younger population. The concept of caring for the elderly has three domains. The first concerns program development and actual service delivery. A second dimension includes social, economic, and psychological aspects of elderly care. The third domain deals with the process by which decisions are made about whether care will be provided institutionally, or within the family and community, or as a combination of these. Several program needs relating to the three domains are addressed. These include upgraded income maintenance, housing, nutrition, counseling, labor market participation, and wage protection. Even if these programs become reality, utilization may be adversely affected by the independence and privacy desire of the aging themselves (AU)

Social life among females aged seventy five and over in Barbados

A gerontological study in Barbados with specific reference to women, principally concerned with the socio-economic and psychological circumstances of the group. Examined by random sampling, their social relationships, health conditions, retirement, nutrition, employment and attitudes to death. Compares major demographic attributes of the sample to the total elderly proportions. These include: occupational class, marital status, living status, educational attainment, and income source. Findings support that lack of social care and the cost of living are the main concerns of the group. Conclusions highlighted specific areas of disadvantage and dislocation and bear out the view that the circumstances of the group deteriorate rapidly in the latter years of old age. (AU)

Patterns of medication compliance among hypertensives in Barbados - abstract

A sample of 115 hypertensives attending Queen Elizabeth Hospital "Walk-in" and Hypertension Clinics were studied to examine: (1) the levels and patterns of compliance with medication, and (2) the impact of education/intervention on compliance behaviour. Patients were reviewed at one, four, seven and ten months after entering the study. Socio-demographic knowledge and treatment related factors were assessed by questionnaire administered at one and ten months. Nine patients dropped out before the four-month visit. More than half (53 percent) of the 106 respondents then had non-compliance scores greater than 10 percent while 37 percent had scores greater than 15 percent. There were no differences with respect to different drugs at the 10 percent level, but scores at the 15 percent level were 28 percent (direutics), 35 percent (beta-blockers), 50 percent (vasodilators) and 47 percent (others, chiefly methyl dopa). Since vasodilators were only used as part of triple therapy, this suggests poorest compliance with triple therapy and methyl dopa. At ten months, non-compliance had improved in both sub-groups but to a greater extent in the education/intervention sub-groups (31 percent) than in the non-intervention sub-groups (43 percent, Chiý = 17.2; p<0.001). It dropped in both sub-groups to 19 percent of patients at the 15 percent non-compliance level. Drop-out rates at 10 months and failure to return tablet bottles were both lower in the education/intervention groups (7 percent and 25 percent) than in the non-intervention groups (13 percent and 38 percent respectively). In summary, drug compliance and follow-up for hypertension is poor in a hospital setting; education/intervention appears to improve compliance behaviour, but must be further researched and tailored to local socio-demographic factors (AU)

Los ancianos en Barbados: Problemas y políticas / The elderly in Barbados: Problems and policies

Los ancianos en Barbados: Problemas y políticas

Se publica en el Bull. PAHO 24(3), 1990