Association between Physical Fitness and Perceived Well-Being in Functionally Independent Community Dwelling Elderly of North-Eastern India.

Background: Regular physical activity helps in independent living, prevention of chronic health problems and quality of life in the elderly. The aim of the study is to determinewhether physical fitness is associated with multiple dimensions of well-being in the community dwelling elderly. Materials and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was undertaken to assess the physical fitness and perceived wellness in 400 elderly (≥65 years) subjects. The Senior Fitness Test (SFT) for assessing functional/physical fitness and Perceived Wellness Survey (PWS) were used to assess their well-being. Bivariate correlation analysis was used for individual testsand multiple linear regressions were used to analyze relationship of wellness composite score with physical fitness test. Results: 284men and 116 women (mean ages 69.80±3.82 and67.25±2.57 years, respectively) were assessed for physical fitness tests and perceived wellness.'Arm-curl' and 'chair-sit' testsshowedlinear decrease in strength with increasing age. In 'back-scratch' and 'chair-sit and reach' tests lower limb flexibility was better than upper limb in all except the 65-69 year sub-group. Maximum time to perform the '8-feet up-and-go' test increased progressively with age, whereas '2-minute step' test showed a linear decrease in mean score with advancing age. Wellness composite score (14.54±2.31) inmaleswas maximum in the 75-79 year age-group, while in females it (15.26±2.29) was maximum in the 70-74 year age-group. Correlation analysis of physical fitness test with perception of wellness (composite score) showed significant association of 'arm-curl' test (p=0.012), 'back-scratch' test (p=0.0002), '8-feet up-and-go' test (p=0.005), '2-minute step' test (p=0.005) with the composite wellness score in the male participants, whereas in the females such significance was observed only in the '2 minute step' test (p=0.007) with the wellness score. Conclusion: Screening of physical fitness and wellness are important measures in assessing wellness of community dwelling elderly, and in predicting theiroverall state of well-being, including age-specific comparison of fitness performance and wellness score.

Validity and Test-retest Reliability of perceived Wellness Survey among Geriatric Population: A Community-based Study from North Eastern India.

OBJECTIVES: Chronic illness and functional decline threaten elderly well-being. "Perceived Wellness Survey (PWS)," which measures psychosocial, physical, and intellectual well-being, may be appropriate for assessing the wellness of the geriatric population. This work has been planned to find out the validity and test-retest reliability of a PWS as a wellness-measuring tool for community-based elderly peopleMaterials and methods: This observational study was undertaken in the community was undertaken to assess PWS in 60 elderly individuals (≥65 years). The validity of PWS was tested using Pearson product-moment correlation test. For test-retest reliability, the internal consistency of PWS was tested by Cronbach's alpha testResult: Around 60 individuals ≥65 years (mean 69.45 ± 4.27 years), 48 males were selected by convenient sampling. Pearson's correlation showed psychological, emotional, and physical subscale scores had a very strong positive relationship (0.734, 0.703, and 0.722, respectively) with a composite score of PWS score. Spiritual, intellectual, and social subscales showed a strong positive relationship with the composite PWS score. Test-retest variability between observations for subscales was ≥0.8, which showed good reliability, except for the physical subscale, which showed unacceptable reliabilityConclusion: Perceived Wellness Survey (PWS) is an effective, feasible, highly reliable, and valid measure as a clinical assessment tool for assessing wellness in the elderly population.

On the influence of Raman scattering of water in the photoluminescence measurement of water dispersed ZnO nanocrystals.

We present our investigation on the photoluminescence properties of water dispersed ZnO nanocrystals at various excitation wavelengths, and show that one peak in the emission spectrum (recorded by spectrofluorometer) changes its position when the excitation wavelength is changed. The relationship between the peak position and the excitation wavelength is found to be linear. Recording of the emission spectra (by spectrofluorometer) of water at different excitation wavelengths reveals that the linearly varying peak is present in them as well. It could be recognized that the excitation wavelength dependent peak originates because of Raman scattering of water and it is not intrinsically related to the ZnO nanocrystals. The present work thus highlights the importance of considering Raman scattering of water while interpreting the emission spectrum (recorded by spectrofluorometer) of water dispersed ZnO nanocrystals, which otherwise may lead to misinterpretation such as UV emission and violation of the Kasha's rule, which actually may not be the case.