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Background: Cognitive frailty describes the co‐occurrence of cognitive impairment and physical frailty and is classified into reversible and irreversible phenotypes. Data on the impact of COVID‐19 pandemic imposed lockdowns, locally known as the Movement Control Order (MCO), on the psychological status of cognitively frail older adults remain scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the relationship between depression, anxiety, stress and cognitive frailty among older adults during the MCO. Method: Participants aged above 60 years from three ageing cohorts in Malaysia were interviewed virtually. The Fatigue, Resistance, Ambulation, Illness and Loss of Weight scale, blind Montreal Cognitive Assessment, 15‐item Geriatric Depression Scale, anxiety subscale of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale and four‐item Perceived Stress Scale measured frailty, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), depression, anxiety and stress, respectively. Results: Cognitive frailty data were available for 870 participants, age (mean ± SD) = 73.44 ± 6.32 years and 55.6% were women. Fifty‐seven (6.6%) were robust, 24 (2.8%) had MCI, 451 (51.8%) were pre‐frail, 164 (18.9%) were pre‐frail+MCI, 119 (13.7%) were frail and 55 (6.3%) were frail+MCI. There were significant differences in depression and anxiety scores between the controlled MCO and recovery MCO. Using multinomial logistic regression, pre‐frail (mean difference (95% confidence interval, CI) = 1.16 (0.932, 1.337), frail (1.49 (1.235, 1.803) and frail+MCI (1.49 (1.225, 1.822)) groups had significantly higher depression scores, frail (1.19 (1.030, 1.373)) and frail+MCI (1.24 (1.065, 1.439)) had significantly higher anxiety scores and pre‐frail (1.50 (1.285, 1.761)), frail (1.74 (1.469, 2.062)) and frail+MCI (1.81 (1.508, 2.165)) had significantly higher stress scores upon adjustments for the potential confounders. The MCO was a potential confounder in the relationship between depression and prefrail+MCI (1.08 (0.898, 1.340)). Conclusion: Frail individuals with or without MCI had significantly higher depression, anxiety and stress than those who were robust. Increased depression and stress were also observed in the pre‐frail group. Interventions to address psychological issues in older adults during the COVID‐19 pandemic could target prefrail and frail individuals and need further evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Widowhood affects the social networks and well-being of older adults. Religion might moderate the relationship between a stressor and well-being. This study aimed to identify the moderating roles of intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity on the relationship between social networks and flourishing among widowed older people and whether this relationship varied across gender. This study involved 655 community-dwelling widowed older Malaysians from Wave 1 (2012–2013) of "Identifying Psychosocial Risks and Quantifying the Economic Costs of Age-Related Cognitive Decline among Older Malaysians" in Peninsula Malaysia. The moderated hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the moderating roles of religiosity. Results showed that the moderating effect of religiosity on the relationship between social networks and flourishing was only observed for extrinsic religiosity, not intrinsic religiosity. In terms of gender differences, extrinsic religiosity moderated the relationship between social networks, flourishing only among widows but not widowers. Widows with low levels of extrinsic religiosity should join activities or programs that could expand their social networks to promote higher well-being despite widowhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The main objective of the present trial was to evaluate the efficiency of a preventative multicomponent prospective memory training among healthy older adults. Design: This study was a two-arm within-participants trial with 4- and 12-wk follow-ups. Allocation ratio was 1:1, and pretraining and posttraining measurements were included. A total number of 25 healthy older adults were enrolled (mean = 63.32, SD = 4.44). Participants were randomly allocated into two conditions: (a) prospective memory training: participants underwent a multicomponent prospective memory training, and (b) control: participants were not contacted during the training phase. After the training phase was finished, participants crossed over to undergo the condition they did not experience before. The differences between pretraining and posttraining measures of prospective memory, activities of daily living, negative mood (depression), and anxiety were assessed. All changes in the measurements were analyzed using general linear method. This trial is registered at https://www.isrctn.com (#ISRCTN57600070). Results: Multicomponent prospective memory training program was significantly effective on both subjective and objective prospective memory performances among healthy older adults. Moreover, the training had significant positive effects on activities of daily living (independence) among participants. in addition, negative mood and anxiety levels were reduced after the training was finished. Conclusions: This multicomponent prospective memory training improved prospective memory performance and activities of daily living and reduce negative mood (depression) and anxiety levels among healthy older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Research has found that depression in later life is associated with cognitive impairment. Thus, the mechanism to reduce the effect of depression on cognitive function is warranted. In this paper, we intend to examine whether intrinsic religiosity mediates the association between depression and cognitive function. Method: The study included 2322 nationally representative community-dwelling elderly in Malaysia, randomly selected through a multi-stage proportional cluster random sampling from Peninsular Malaysia. The elderly were surveyed on socio-demographic information, cognitive function, depression and intrinsic religiosity. A four-step moderated hierarchical regression analysis was employed to test the moderating effect. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (version 15.0). Results: Bivariate analyses showed that both depression and intrinsic religiosity had significant relationships with cognitive function. In addition, four-step moderated hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the intrinsic religiosity moderated the association between depression and cognitive function, after controlling for selected socio-demographic characteristics. Conclusion: Intrinsic religiosity might reduce the negative effect of depression on cognitive function. Professionals who are working with depressed older adults should seek ways to improve their intrinsic religiosity as one of the strategies to prevent cognitive impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives:The aim of this study was to identify the predictors of elderly's cognitive function based on biopsychosocial and cognitive reserve perspectives. Method:The study included 2322 community-dwelling elderly in Malaysia, randomly selected through a multi-stage proportional cluster random sampling from Peninsular Malaysia. The elderly were surveyed on socio-demographic information, biomarkers, psychosocial status, disability, and cognitive function. A biopsychosocial model of cognitive function was developed to test variables’ predictive power on cognitive function. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (version 15.0) in conjunction with Analysis of Moment Structures Graphics (AMOS 7.0). Results:The estimated theoretical model fitted the data well. Psychosocial stress and metabolic syndrome (MetS) negatively predicted cognitive function and psychosocial stress appeared as a main predictor. Socio-demographic characteristics, except gender, also had significant effects on cognitive function. However, disability failed to predict cognitive function. Conclusion:Several factors together may predict cognitive function in the Malaysian elderly population, and the variance accounted for it is large enough to be considered substantial. Key factor associated with the elderly's cognitive function seems to be psychosocial well-being. Thus, psychosocial well-being should be included in the elderly assessment, apart from medical conditions, both in clinical and community setting. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: The link between psychosocial stress and cognitive function is complex, and previous studies have indicated that it may be mediated by processing speed. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to examine whether processing speed mediates the association between psychosocial stress and global cognition in older adults. Moreover, the moderating role of gender in this model is examined as well. Methods: The study included 2322 community‐dwelling older adults in Malaysia who were randomly selected through a multistage proportional cluster random sampling technique. Global cognition construct was measured by the Mini‐Mental State Examination and Montreal Cognitive Assessment; psychosocial stress construct was measured by perceived stress, depression, loneliness, and neuroticism; and processing speed was assessed by the Digit Symbol Substitution Test. Structural equation modelling was used to analyze the mediation and moderation tests. Results: Processing speed was found to partially mediate the relationship between psychosocial stress and global cognition (β in the direct model = −0.15, P < 0.001; β in the full mediation model = −0.11, P < 0.001). Moreover, the relationship between psychosocial stress and global cognition was found to be significant in men only, whereas the association between processing speed and global cognition was significant in men and women. Conclusions: Psychosocial stress may increase the likelihood that older adults will experience poor processing capacity, which could reduce their higher level cognition. Results indicate that there is a need to develop processing capacity intervention programmes for psychologically distressed older adults to prevent them from suffering cognitive decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Social support that may contribute to the physical and mental health of older adults is widely studied. However, much of the existing research has focused on the impact of receiving support; the effects of giving support have largely been neglected. Using the biopsychosocial perspective, this study aimed to examine the independent impact of giving support to others on older adults' perceived health status. Methods Data for this study were obtained from a nationwide community-based cross-sectional survey entitled ' Determinants of Wellness among Older Malaysians: A Health Promotion Perspective', which was conducted in 2010. To assess the unique effects of giving support on perceived health status, above and beyond other possible known factors, a four-step hierarchical regression model using SPSS was used to test the hypothesis. Results The findings from the analysis revealed that giving support to others was a significant positive predictor of older adults' perceived health status after receiving support, demographic variables and chronic medical conditions were considered. Further results showed that giving support to others had almost twice the effect on perceived health status (β = 0.11, P < 0.001) as receiving support (β = 0.06, P < 0.05). Conclusion The findings from this study underscore the need to develop programmes that encourage older adults' participation in productive activities such as caring for and helping others and volunteering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research has found that physical health decline in later life is associated with poor psychological well-being. This study aimed to examine the possible moderating effect of Islamic religiosity on the relationship between chronic medical conditions and psychological well-being. Methods: The sample for this study consisted of 1415 elderly Malay Muslims. It was obtained from a cross-sectional survey entitled 'Patterns of Social Relationship and Psychological Well-Being among Older Persons in Peninsular Malaysia', which conducted from 2007 to 2009, using a multistage stratified sampling procedure. Data collection was performed through face-to-face interviews. A four-step moderated hierarchical regression analysis using SPSS software for Windows and the 'ModGraph-2' software program was used to test the hypothesis. Results: Results of bivariate analysis showed, at certain levels of chronic medical conditions, older persons with a high level of religiosity reported significantly higher levels of psychological well-being compared to their counterparts with a low level of religiosity. Four-step moderated hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the negative effect of chronic medical conditions on psychological well-being is reduced by both personal and social religiosity (β= 0.07, P≤ 0.01), after controlling for selected sociodemographic factors. Conclusion: Taken together, these findings indicate that the depressogenic effect of physical illness is decreased by religiosity in chronically ill elderly people. The implications and limitations of the current study are discussed and recommendations for future research are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Sexuality as an important part of life has not been well studied in Malaysia, particularly among older adults. The main aim of this study was to investigate the racial and socioeconomic differences in sexual activity among older married Malaysians. Data for this study consisting of 1036 older married adults aged 60 years and older were obtained from the nationwide community-based cross-sectional survey entitled “Determinants of Wellness among Older Malaysian: A Health Promotion Perspective”, conducted in 2010. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 21 for Windows. The results showed that 57.3% (95% CI: 54.3–60.3) of the respondents (61.6% of men and 50.6% of women) had engaged in sexual intercourse during the last 12 months. The adjusted multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that ethnicity and educational attainment were independently and significantly associated with sexual activity, after controlling for the possible confounding effects of chronic medical conditions and demographic characteristics. The findings from this study do support the notion that sexuality is a lifelong need and cultural teachings and formal education may have important role in maintaining the quality of sexuality in later life. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]