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Objectives:There are many stereotypes about ageing and later life. We looked at the association between expectations and stereotyping of loneliness in old age and actual self-reported loneliness status 8 years later in English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). Method:Data from 4465 ELSA core members aged over 50 who responded to Waves 2 (2004) did not report loneliness in Wave 2, and responded to loneliness questions at least once between Waves 3 and 6 (2006–2012) were used in multivariable repeated measures logit regression analysis to estimate relationship between perceived stereotypes and expectation of loneliness in older age and actual loneliness reported within 8 years of follow-up. Results:Twenty-four per cent of respondents from the analytical sample agreed at Wave 2 that old age is time of loneliness and 33% expected to be lonely in old age. Loneliness was reported by 11.5% of respondents at Waves 3–6. Both stereotypes and expectation were significantly associated with later reported loneliness (OR 2.65 (95% CI 2.05–3.42) for stereotypes and 2.98 (95% CI 2.33–3.75) for expectations in age-sex adjusted analysis). Both variables significantly predicted future loneliness even when socio-demographic circumstances were taken into account and both variables were mutually adjusted although the effect was reduced (OR's 1.53 (95% CI 1.16–2.01) for stereotypes and 2.38 (95% CI 1.84–3.07) for expectations). Conclusions:Stereotypes and expectations related to loneliness in the old age were significantly associated with reported loneliness 8 years later. Interventions aimed at changing age-related stereotypes in population may have more impact on reducing loneliness than individually based services. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective: to develop and validate a prediction model for incident locomotor disability after 7 years in older adults.Setting: prospective British cohort studies: British Women's Heart and Health Study (BWHHS) for development and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) for validation.Subjects: community-dwelling older adults.Methods: multivariable logistic regression models after selection of predictors with backward elimination. Model performance was assessed using metrics of discrimination and calibration. Models were internally and externally validated.Results: locomotor disability was reported in BWHHS by 861 of 1,786 (48%) women after 7 years. Age, a history of arthritis and low physical activity levels were the most important predictors of locomotor disability. Models using routine measures as predictors had satisfactory calibration and discrimination (c-index 0.73). Addition of 31 blood markers did not increase the predictive performance. External validation in ELSA showed reduced discrimination (c-index 0.65) and an underestimation of disability risks. A web-based calculator for locomotor disability is available (http://www.sealedenvelope.com/trials/bwhhsmodel/).Conclusions: we developed and externally validated a prediction model for incident locomotor disability in older adults based on routine measures available to general practitioners, patients and public health workers, and showed an adequate discrimination. Addition of blood markers from major biological pathways did not improve the performance of the model. Further replication in additional data sets may lead to further enhancement of the current model. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: the evaluation of the determinants of change over time in health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) in older people is limited. This study aims to identify patterns of change in HR-QoL over 7 years and their determinants using data from the British Women's Heart and Health Study, a representative sample of older women (n = 4286).Methods: longitudinal latent class analysis was used to identify subpopulations of women with similar HR-QoL trajectories from 1999–2000 to 2007. HR-QoL was measured using the EQ-5D. Multivariate multinomial logistic regression was used to model the association of identified trajectories with baseline predictors after multiple imputation of missing data.Results: four distinct EQ-5D trajectories were suggested: high (19% of women), high decline (22%), intermediate (42%) and low decline (16%). Prevalent arthritis (OR = 13.4; 95% CI: 8.8, 20.5), diabetes (OR = 4.6; 95% CI: 1.5, 14.2) and obesity (OR = 3.9; 95% CI: 2.5, 6.0) were the strongest predicting health conditions of adverse changes in HR-QoL and physical activity the strongest predicting lifestyle factor (OR = 2.8; 95% CI: 2.0, 3.9).Conclusions: findings suggest that older women without obesity or pre-existing health conditions who undertake more physical activity are more likely to experience high HR-QoL, reinforcing the importance of these factors for healthy ageing. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objectives To assess whether preferences for patients with angina changed at 18-month follow-up using the Patient Preferences Questionnaire for Angina treatment (PPQA). Background Evidence suggests that patients want information about treatment options. Reliable measurement of patient preferences for treatment is important for empowering patients. Design Postal self-administered questionnaire survey at baseline and follow-up. The preference questionnaire comprised 18 items about the main treatments for angina: medication, angioplasty and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Setting and participants Patients with diagnosed angina from seven participating general practices across England. The sample comprised 222 patients with angina who responded to both baseline and follow-up treatment preference questionnaires. Results Most patients' condition and preferences scores for treatment remained stable over 18 months. An exception was angioplasty preference scores, which indicated more negative attitudes towards this procedure over time. People aged over 75 years least preferred angioplasty. There were no associations between any changes in condition and changes in preferences. However, within-subject agreement could vary by ±5 to 7 points between baseline and follow-up, with stability apparently worst for the medication and best for surgery sub-scales, raising the question of what represents reasonable stability. Conclusion These results suggest preferences are relatively stable, even where there are changes in health, and provide further evidence of the utility (in particular, reliability) of the PPQA. However, this stability in scores did mask some movement in scale scores and in patients' first-ranked treatment choices, showing changing preferences largely from angioplasty to CABG and vice versa, indicating the complexity of preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated associations between chronic inflammation and coagulation and incident locomotor disability using prospective data from the British Women's Heart and Health Study. Locomotor disability was assessed using self-reported questionnaires in 1999/2000, and 3 and 7 years later. Scores for inflammation and coagulation were obtained from summation of quartile categories of all available biomarkers from blood samples taken at baseline. 534 women developed locomotor disability after 3 years, 260 women after 7 years, while 871 women remained free of locomotor disability over the whole study period. After adjustment for demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors and health conditions, we found associations between inflammation and incident locomotor disability after three (OR per unit increase in score = 1.08, 95 % confidence interval (CI): 1.03, 1.13) and 7 years (OR = 1.10, 95 % CI: 1.03, 1.18) and between coagulation and incident locomotor disability after 3 (OR = 1.06, 95 % CI: 0.98, 1.14) and 7 years (OR = 1.09, 95 % CI: 1.00, 1.18). This corresponds to ORs between 1.8 and 2.4 comparing women with highest to lowest inflammation or coagulation scores. These results support the role of inflammation and coagulation in the development of locomotor disability in elderly women irrespective of their lifestyle factors and underlying age-related chronic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Longitudinal studies of loneliness among older people are comparatively rare. At 8 years after the initial survey in 1999–2000, we followed up on the 999 people aged 65+ years who were living in the community in the United Kingdom. We found that 583 participants were still alive, and 287 (58%) participated in the follow-up survey. The overall prevalence of loneliness at both time points was very similar, with 9% reporting severe loneliness; 30% reporting that they were sometimes lonely, and 61% reporting that they were never lonely. We developed a 12-category typology to describe changes in loneliness across the follow-up period and report that 60% of participants had a stable loneliness rating, with 40–50% rating themselves as never lonely, and 20–25% rating themselves as persistently lonely; 25% demonstrated decreased loneliness, and approximately 15% demonstrated worse loneliness. Changes in loneliness were linked with changes in marital status, living arrangements, social networks, and physical health. Importantly improvements in physical health and improved social relationships were linked to reduced levels of loneliness. This result suggests that strategies to combat loneliness are not confined to the arena of social interventions such as befriending services, which aim to build and support social embeddedness, but may also result from the treatment of chronic and long-term health conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The WHO International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is now the dominant model for exploring the social consequences of a health condition. This paper investigates the association of the different ICF disability domains with mortality. Methods Data are from the British Women Heart and Health Study, a large (n=4157) prospectively studied cohort of women randomly selected from 23 towns aged 64-83 years in 2003. Scores were calculated to describe the cumulative load of impairments, limitations and restrictions within each ICF domain. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to calculate mortality HRs per unit score increase within each ICF domain. Adjustments were made for age, town, living status, socioeconomic status, lifestyle behaviours and health conditions. Results Each ICF domain was associated with mortality after controlling for lifestyle factors and health conditions. However, only complex activities (HR=1.09, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.18) and participation (HR=1.10, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.16) were independent predictors of mortality following adjustment for all other disability domains and potential confounders. Conclusions Results suggest that difficulties with complex activities or social participation could be used to identify and target women at high risk of dying. Interventions to facilitate complex activities or improve social participation may help to delay mortality in elderly women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Most measures of quality of life (QoL) are based on 'expert' opinions. This study describes a new measure of QoL in older age, the Older People's QoL Questionnaire (OPQOL), which is unique in being derived from the views of lay people, cross-checked against theoretical models for assessment of comprehensiveness. Its performance was assessed cross-sectionally and longitudinally. It was compared with two existing QoL measures in the cross-sectional studies in order to identify the optimal measure for use with older populations. Methods Data were taken from three surveys of older people living at home in Britain in 2007-2008: one population survey of people aged 65+, one focused enumeration survey of ethnically diverse older people aged 65+, one follow-up of a population survey of people aged 65+ at baseline in 1999/2000. Measures were QoL (using OPQOL, Control, Autonomy, Satisfaction, Pleasure - 19 items (CASP-19), World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire - version for older people (WHOQOL-OLD)), health, social and socioeconomic circumstances. The CASP-19 and WHOQOL-OLD were not administered to the longitudinal sample in order to reduce respondent burden. Results Psychometric tests were applied to each QoL measure. The OPQOL, CASP-19 and WHOQOL-OLD performed well with the cross-sectional samples; however, only the OPQOL met criteria for internal consistency in the Ethnibus samples. Conclusion The OPQOL is of potential value in the outcome assessment of health and social interventions, which can have a multidimensional impact on people's lives. Further research is needed to examine whether differences by ethnicity reflect real differences in QoL, methodological issues, variations in expectations or cultural differences in reporting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]