Search

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) in cognitively impaired elderly residents of long‐term care facilities in East Asia and to explore the factors associated with these patterns. Methods: This was a cross‐sectional survey of BPSD in cognitively impaired elderly residents of long‐term care facilities in Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, and Thailand. The Mini‐Mental State Examination, Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), and Neuropsychiatric Inventory, Nursing Home version (NPI‐NH), were used to assess cognitive status, dementia severity, and BPSD, respectively. NPI‐NH subscale severity scores were multiplied by frequency scores to obtain the subscale scores and aggregated into two groups based on score (clinically insignificant = 1– 3; clinically significant ≥4). Results: Data from 662 people were analyzed. Median age, median Mini‐Mental State Examination scores, and median CDR scores differed significantly among the seven study sites. The prevalence of BPSD varied from 64% in Taiwan to 100% in dementia care units in Japan, and the median total NPI‐NH scores ranged from 2 in Taiwan to 14 in dementia care units in Japan. After stratification of the sample by dementia severity and clinical significance of NPI‐NH scores, differences in the prevalence of clinically significant BPSD were mostly observed among facilities dedicated to dementia patients in the CDR 1 group. In the CDR 3 group, the prevalence of some clinically significant BPSD, such as apathy, was high even among study sites with low median total NPI‐NH scores. Conclusions: Our findings may suggest referral and selection biases in the study sites. Future prospective studies are needed to address the impact of environmental and care factors on the occurrence of BPSD in Asian countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To estimate proportions of married couples aged 30 to 59 years who face simultaneous demands from elderly parents and children in China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, and the effects on couples’ life and marital satisfaction. Method: Using data from the 2006 East Asian Social Survey, proportions of sandwiched couples were estimated using three definitions: co-residence, co-residence or nearby residence, and co-residence or frequent provision of financial/physical assistance. Logistic regression models were used to assess the effects on life and marital satisfaction. Results: Three-generational co-residence is more common in Taiwan and Japan (24.3% and 21.4%), whereas co-residence or provision for both generations is higher in Taiwan and Korea (53.7% and 44.5%). The strain of being sandwiched is associated with lower life and marital satisfaction only among women. Discussion: Intergenerational transfers of care play a major role in elderly support in East Asia but take a toll on the well-being of married women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's rise entails a potentially threatening increase in its political and military power. Adherents of 'democratic peace theory', however, see cause for optimism: the economic development accompanying China's ascendance might have a pacifying effect on Chinese foreign relations. Unfortunately, in China's case this hope is probably unfounded. Some of China's most prickly foreign policies, including its unwillingness to accept postwar Japan as a 'normal' nation and its insistence that Taiwan must eventually unify with China regardless of the wishes of Taiwan's inhabitants, are already 'democratic' in the sense that most of China's people endorse them. Chinese public opinion has become a powerful influence on foreign-policymaking, and one that sometimes pushes Beijing toward conflict even when China's leaders would prefer conciliation. Democratisation in China would not immediately remove the sources of tension between the Chinese and the other Asia-Pacific democracies, and China's neighbours must understand that on some issues the Chinese government must meet compelling domestic expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]