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Objective: To assess the relationship between discrimination and falling among older people. Methods: A cross-sectional nationwide population-based face-to-face survey, 2015. The SABE (Salud, Bienestar y Envejecimiento) Colombia Study, 19,004 community-dwelling adults aged ≥60 years. Recurrent falling was defined as ≥2 falls during the prior year. Main independent variable was discrimination. Results: Multivariate logistic regression models showed that recurrent falling was significantly associated with a number of reasons for experiences of everyday discrimination (due to racial, socioeconomic status, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, or disability) (OR = 1.27, 95% CI 1.21–1.33), childhood discrimination score (never = 0 to many times = 3) (OR = 1.23, 95% CI 1.13–1.33), and number of situations for discrimination during the last 5 years due to skin color (group activities, public places, inside the family, or health centers) (OR = 1.12, 95% CI 1.08–1.17). Discussion: Discrimination experiences were associated with higher odds of recurrent falling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between depressive symptoms and religiosity among older adults in Colombia. Methods: Data are drawn from the SABE (Salud, Bienestar y Envejecimiento) Colombia Study, a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2015 involving 19,004 community-dwelling adults aged 60 years and older living in urban and rural areas of Colombia. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Geriatric Depression scale (GDS; range 0–15), examined both as a continuous and categorical variable. Religiosity was assessed by self-rated religiosity and comfort derived from religion. Logistic and linear regression analyses were used to assess the association adjusting for confounders. Results: Multivariate logistic regression analyses demonstrated that being more religious (OR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.85–0.95, p <.001) or perceiving greater strength or comfort from religion (OR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.82–0.93, p <.001) was associated with a lower likelihood of scoring above the cutoff on the GDS for significant depressive symptoms (≥6). Similarly, linear regression analyses indicated that being more religious (unstandardized beta coefficient B = −0.16, p <.001) or perceiving greater strength or comfort from religion (B = −0.20, p <.001) was associated with a significantly lower score on the GDS assessed on a continuous scale. Conclusion: Being more religious or perceiving greater strength or comfort from religion is associated with fewer depressive symptoms among older adults in Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore the association between educational level and the scores obtained in each of the domains of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment test. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of the SABE/2012 Bogotá survey; a cross-sectional study including 2000 subjects aged ≥60years. The MoCA test was the dependent variable and was stratified by cognitive domains, incorrect answers and scores were considered. Educational level was assessed through years of formal education. Age, sex and selected medical conditions were also included to adjust the multivariate models. Bivariate analyses, fitted logistic and linear regression models were employed for analyzing association between these variables. Results: The proportion of incorrect answers increased as schooling years decreased and as age increased. In the multivariate analysis, visuospatial and executive function were the most affected domains. Educational level displayed less influence than age on short memory-recall task (standardized beta 0.19 vs -0.24). Educational level showed a greater influence than age on no-memory tasks (the sum of all other domains; standardized beta 0.50 vs -0.29). Conclusions: It seems logical to consider that performance in most domains of the MoCA is influenced by years of education. Therefore, low scores on these tasks could lead to low total MoCA scores and thus to bias and over diagnosis of cognitive impairment in patients with lower educational levels. Memory-recall domain is not affected much by education and applying it separately could be useful in patients with low educational level in whom we suspect memory impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of frailty and evaluate the relationship with the social determinants of health in elderly residents in urban and rural areas of Colombia. Methods: The SABE (Health, Wellbeing, and Aging) Colombia project is a cross-sectional study, carried out in 2014-2015, involving 24,553 men and women aged 60 years and older who live in the community in Colombia. For this analysis, we used data from 4,474 participants included as a subsample with grip strength measurements. The frailty syndrome was diagnosed according to the Fried criteria (weakness, low speed, low physical activity, exhaustion, and weight loss). The independent variables were grouped as (a) biological and genetic flow, (b) lifestyle (adverse conditions in childhood) (c) social networks and community, and (d) socio-economic, cultural and environmental conditions. Multiple logistic and linear regression analyses were used to assess the prognostic value of frailty for the outcomes of interest. Results: The prevalence of frailty was 17.9%. The factors significantly associated with frailty were older age, being women, living in rural areas, having low education, a greater number of medical conditions, insufficient current income, childhood health problems and a poor economic situation in childhood. Conclusions: Our results support the need to include frailty prevention programs, to improve the socioeconomic health conditions of infants to avoid future development of frailty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the association between past sexual abuse and depression in elders living in Bogotá, Colombia, we used data from the SABE (Salud, Bienestar y Envejecimiento [Health, Well-being, and Aging]) Bogotá Study. Participants were 2000 community-dwelling adults aged 60 years and older in 2012. Sexual abuse was assessed by self-report. Depression was measured by the Geriatric Depression Scale. The weighted prevalence estimate was 2.6% for past sexual abuse and 23.4% for depression. Multivariate data analyses showed significantly higher odds of depression for past sexual abuse (odds ratio [OR] = 3.91, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.13-7.16). Other characteristics associated with depression were history of being displaced by violence (OR = 1.77, 95% CI: 1.30-2.40), low socioeconomic status, low education, poor self-rated health status, and poor self-rated memory. Thus, past sexual abuse and history of being displaced by violence were strongly associated with depression among Colombian elderly individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Latin American countries like Colombia are experiencing a unique aging process due to a mixed epidemiological regime of communicable and non-communicable diseases. Aims: To estimate the prevalence of frailty and sarcopenia among older adults in Colombia and identify variables associated with these conditions. Methods: Data come from the 'Salud Bienestar y Envejecimiento' (SABE) Bogotá Study, a cross-sectional study conducted in 2012 in Bogotá, Colombia. Sociodemographic, health, cognitive and anthropometric measures were collected from 2000 community-dwelling adults aged 60 years and older. Frailty variable was created using the Fried phenotype and sarcopenia following the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People algorithm. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with frailty and sarcopenia. Results: A total of 135 older adults are frail (9.4 %), while 166 have sarcopenia (11.5 %). Older age and female gender have a significant association with both conditions (Frailty: Age OR 1.05, 95 % CI 1.03-1.06, Gender OR 1.44, 95 % CI 1.12-1.84; Sarcopenia: Age 1.04, 95 % CI 1.02-1.07, Gender OR 1.51, 95 % CI 1.05-2.17). Depression was also significantly associated with frailty (OR 1.17, 95 % CI 1.12-1.22), while smoking was significantly associated with sarcopenia (OR 2.38, 95 % CI 1.29-4.37). Finally, higher function, measured by independence in IADL (Instrumental Activities of Daily Living) was significantly associated with less frailty (OR 0.74, 95 % CI 0.64-0.86). Education, higher number of comorbidities, better MMSE score, activities of daily living disability and alcohol consumption were not significantly associated with frailty or sarcopenia. Conclusions: Frailty, sarcopenia and multimorbidity are overlapping, yet distinct conditions in this sample. There are potentially reversible factors that are associated with frailty and sarcopenia in this sample. Future studies need to analyze the best way to prevent these conditions, and examine individuals that have frailty, sarcopenia and comorbidities to design interventions to improve their quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To determine the frequency of vaccination in older adults within the city of Bogotá and to estimate the association with sociodemographic and health factors. Methods: This is a secondary data analysis from the SABE-Bogotá Study, a cross-sectional population-based study that included a total of 2,000 persons aged 60 years. Weighted percentages for self-reported vaccination [influenza, pneumococcal, tetanus] were determined. The association between vaccination and covariates was evaluate by logistic regression models. Results: A total of 73.0% of respondents received influenza, 57.8% pneumococcal and 47.6% tetanus vaccine. Factors independently associated with vaccination included: 1- age (65-74 years had higher odds of receiving vaccinations, compared to 60-64 years; 2- socioeconomic status (SES) (higher SES had lower odds of having influenza and pneumococcal vaccines, compared to those with lower SES); 3- health insurance (those with contributive or subsidized health insurance had higher odds (between 3 and 5 times higher) of having vaccinations, compared to those with no insurance); 4- older adults with better functional status (greater Lawton scores) had increased odds for all vaccinations; 5- older adults with higher comorbidity had increased odds for influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations. Conclusion: Vaccination campaigns should be strengthened to increase vaccination coverage, especially in the group more reticent to vaccination or vulnerable to reach it such as the disable elder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the nutritional status and factors associated to malnutrition in older adults. Method: Data come from the SABE Bogotá study (Health, Well-Being, and Aging), a cross-sectional survey conducted in Bogotá, Colombia, in 2012 in community-dwelling adults aged 60 years and older. Using the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), we evaluated the nutritional status and factors associated to malnutrition in this population with regression models. Results: From the 1,573 older adults interviewed, 4.58% were malnourished and 34.27% were at risk of malnourishment. Factors associated to malnourishment were older age (odds ratio [OR] =1.02, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.00, 1.04]), perceived poor health (OR = 1.46, 95% CI = [1.13, 1.88]), comorbidities (OR = 1.16, 95% CI = [1.04, 1.30]), and low calf circumference (OR = 2.63, 95% CI = [1.86, 3.72]). Having dentures, perception of being well-nourished, and higher functionality decreased the odds for malnourishment (p < .05). Conclusion: The MNA is useful to evaluate factors associated with malnutrition among older adults in Bogotá. Malnutrition is associated with perception of poor health, comorbidities, number of medications, and cognitive impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the relationship between body mass index and cancer screening utilization, we analyzed data from six cities of the Health, Well-Being and Aging in Latin America and the Caribbean Study on 5,230 women aged 60 and older, from 1999 to 2000. We found that underweight women were less likely to have had a mammogram, a breast self-exam, and a Pap smear, relative to normal-weight women. However, overweight or obese women were more likely to have a breast self-exam and a Pap smear. Thus, being underweight had a role for decreased cancer screening utilization among older women in Latin American cities, but not being overweight or obese, which was associated with decreased cancer screening in most previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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Agricultural labor involves exposure to many occupational hazards, some of which can lead to chronic health conditions. The purpose of this study was to conduct an occupational health needs assessment of illnesses and work-related injuries among a Latino migrant farmworker population (recruited to harvest Vidalia onions) in South Georgia. Study data included survey responses from 100 farmworkers attending mobile farm clinics in 2010 at their worker housing residences, supplemented by medical diagnoses data from the same clinics collected over 3 years (2009–2011) for 1161 farmworkers at six different farms. From the survey, the main health problems reported were hypertension (25%), eye problems (12%), musculoskeletal problems (11%), diabetes (10%), and depression (7%). In multivariate analyses, depression scores were associated with having a history of musculoskeletal problems (p = .002). According to the mobile farm clinic data, the most common medical diagnoses included back pain (11.8%), hypertension (11.4%), musculoskeletal problems (11.3%), gastrointestinal disorders (8.6%), eye problems (7.2%), dermatitis or rash (7.0%), and tinea or fungal skin infections (5.6%). The study identified eye and musculoskeletal problems as the major occupational health conditions for this population of farmworkers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]