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Background: Earlier studies have shown that physical exercise and a higher workload increase muscle strength and improve gait and balance at all ages for both sexes. Published studies have, so far, failed to investigate the functional performance of elderly individuals concerning their long-term physical activity and variables of daily living.Objective: To compare elderly women who participate in long-term, moderate exercise programmes with two age-matched groups of women from an urban and a rural community.Methods: All participants answered a questionnaire about health, social circumstances and fractures. We measured the vibration threshold of the lower extremities, bone mineral density of the distal radius and functional performance such as muscle strength, balance and gait.Results: The elderly, active groups performed significantly better in all functional tests and had sustained fewer fractures than the urban control group. When the comparison was made with the rural control group the differences were less obvious. The active group rated their health as better than both the control groups.Conclusion: Elderly women, who continue with moderate exercise programmes over many years, sustain fewer fractures and have better muscle strength, balance, gait and health ratings than women in general. Whether this is the result of the exercise or inherited characters, remains to be proved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: A qualitative study was conducted among healthcare staff and district and community leaders in May and June 2002 to describe their perceptions of violence occurring between intimate partners. It focused on male violence towards females, and its forms, consequences and preparedness to act in a rural setting in Vietnam. Methods: Twenty men and 20 women were strategically selected for focus group discussions and a phenomenographic approach was employed. Findings: Violence was described not only as physical but also, primarily, as affecting women's mental health status. Mental violence was exemplified as verbally offending, ignoring or humiliating a woman. Sexual abuse was mentioned less frequently. IPV was considered to be a private matter, occurring in the home away from relatives, neighbours and the local community. Only very serious cases would seek health care. Divorce and deteriorating family finances were reported as serious consequences, not least for the children. Local reconciliation groups, comprised of trusted community members, played a role in mediating, while health professionals were found to be uninformed about prevalence rates and reluctant to intervene. Conclusions: Gender-based violence needs to receive attention from policy makers, and effective advocacy programmes are needed at all levels. In Vietnam, partner violence against women seems to be recognized at Government level. At community Level, Women's Union staff and local reconciliation groups are prepared to act. However, the subject is surrounded by silence. We found that healthcare workers exhibited a lack of understanding of violence against women as a health problem in their own working environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To compare the differences in standing balance and gait performance between two populations, correlated with age and physical activities of daily living., Design: A cross-sectional study., Settings: Malmö, the third largest city in Sweden, and Sjöbo, a typical agricultural community 60 km east of Malmö., Participants: Participants were 570 men and women from the urban community (urban) and 391 from the rural community (rural), born in 1938, 1928, 1918, and 1908, and women born in 1948. The two cohorts were subdivided into true urbans, who had lived only in the city (n = 269), and true rurals, who had never lived in a city (n = 354)., Measurements: Information about workload, housing, spare time activities, medication, and illness during different decades of life was gathered using two questionnaires. The first questionnaire was sent to the home after agreement to participate, and the second was presented at the test session. The clinical measurements were standing balance, gait speed, and step length., Results: The urban subjects had significantly (P < .001) impaired balance compared with rural subjects. This difference increased with increasing age. The urban subjects walked faster than the rural subjects (P < .001), and the urban subjects used fewer steps than their rural counterparts (P < .001). Spare time activities had a significant influence on the above tests, but, except for gait velocity (P = .011), workload was of minor importance according to analysis of covariance., Conclusion: Background factors such as usual daily activities of living and lifestyle seem to be of importance when evaluating and comparing different populations with respect to their balance and gait performance.