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Objectives: The aims of this study were to investigate (1) whether and (2) the extent to which Taiwanese older adults' leisure time activity (LTA) trajectories mediated the potential association between their sociodemographic factors and their functional disability trajectories., Methods: Longitudinal data from four waves of the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging (TLSA), collected between 1996 and 2007, were used for analysis (N = 3,429). Parallel-process latent growth curve modeling was adopted to evaluate the process by which LTA mediated between sociodemographic factors (age, gender, education, self-rated health, comorbidities, and depression) and the outcome process of functional disabilities., Results: When mediated by baseline level of LTA, five sociodemographic factors-age, gender, education level, self-rated health, and number of comorbidities-had significant and negative mediating effects on baseline or change in functional disability, thus improving disability outcomes. However, four of the sociodemographic factors (age, education level, and number of comorbidities), when mediated through the rate of change in LTA, were found to have significant and positive mediating effects, which increased disability levels. The proportion of effects mediated by the LTA trajectory ranged from 0% to 194%., Discussion: The large proportion of effects mediated through the LTA process underlines the importance of LTA to public health policy and health programs for older adults. The study's findings shed light on how to better target populations of older adults to promote an active lifestyle and achieve more successful aging in late life in Asian countries., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Abstract: The purposes of this study were to measure disparities of age structure between people with an intellectual disability and general population, and to explore the difference of demographic characteristics between these two populations by using data from a population based register in Taiwan. Data were analyzed by SPSS 20.0 statistical software. Results found that the gender and mean age were significantly different between people with an intellectual disability and general population (mean age: 28.86 years vs. 35.26 years; p <0.001). The shape of the pyramid in general population tended to be fatty in the middle age, and intellectual disability population was more populous in the younger age. Furthermore, there were very few people with an intellectual disability can live more than 65 years old (3%) while there were nearly 10% of the general population were the elderly. The results also showed that two groups were different in marital status, educational levels, family status of veteran and aborigine (p <0.001). As the premature aging and short life span of people with an intellectual disability, this study suggested that the government authority should initiate necessary assistance for this group of people in the future. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]