Search

Previous studies using the Baumtest (Tree-Drawing Test) reported that tree drawings by elderly people rarely show trees with crowns, in comparison to trees drawn by younger people. This difference may be an index of developmental changes resulting from aging. However, since these studies instructed participants to draw a single fruit-bearing tree, the kinds of trees that elderly people visualized may have been different from those visualized by younger people. In this study, 111 mentally healthy people over 65 years of age were divided into two groups: Group 1 (JV = 61, mean age = 72.7 years) was asked to draw a single tree and Group 2 (N= 50, mean age = 73.4 years) was asked to draw a single fruit-bearing tree. The results show that the frequency of trees with crowns drawn by Group 1 was lower than Group 2 (χ² (1) = 21.04, p < .01). This suggests that the decrease in trees with crowns drawn by elderly people resulted from differences in instructions, in addition to possible developmental changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate factors associated with activities of daily living in independently living elderly persons in a community., Subjects and Methods: The potential subjects were 4,472 individuals aged 65 years and older who voluntarily participated in a large cohort study, the Fujiwara-kyo study. We used self-administered questionnaires consisting of an activities of daily living (ADL) questionnaire with the Physical Fitness Test established by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (12 ADL items) to determine the index of higher-level physical independence, demographics, Geriatric Depression Scale, and so on. Mini-mental state examination, measurement of physical fitness, and blood tests were also carried out. A lower ADL level was defined as having a total score of the 12 ADL items (range, 12-36 points) that was below the first quartile of a total score for all the subjects. Factors associated with a low ADL level were examined by multiple logistic regression., Results: A total of 4,198 remained as subjects for analysis. The male, female and 5-year-old groups showed significant differences in the median score of 12 ADL items between any two groups. The highest odds ratio among factors associated with lower ADL level by multiple logistic regression with mutually adjusted independent variables was 4.49 (95%CI: 2.82-7.17) in the groups of "very sharp pain" or "strong pain" during the last month. Low physical ability, self-awareness of limb weakness, a BMI of over 25, low physical activity, cerebrovascular disorder, depression, low cognitive function, unable "to see normally", unable "to hear someone", "muscle, bone and joint pain" were independently associated with lower ADL level., Conclusion: Multiple factors are associated with lower ADL level assessed on the basis of the 12 ADL items.

Objective: More women in Japan continue to quit a job when they find out they are pregnant than in other industrialized countries. The purpose of this study was to clarify factors affecting the quitting rate among female workers who become aware they are pregnant., Methods: All pregnant women visiting or admitted to seven obstetrics medical institutions in Nara Prefecture between November and December 2004 for examination or delivery were surveyed. Of these women, 603 who were working when they discovered their pregnancy were subjects of the analysis. Quitting a job was treated as an event occurrence, and those working at the time of the survey were considered censored cases. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to determine the trend of the quitting rate associated with gestational weeks. The Cox proportional hazard model was used to examine the relationship between quitting a job and workplace factors such as number of staff at the workplace, types of employment, and availability of a legal maternity protection system, and individual factors such as age and thoughts (both subject's and husband's) on continuing work., Results: The quitting rate up to delivery was 63.1%, but this increased to 69.8% when limited to pregnancy with a first child. Significantly independent factors behind continuation of work after discovering pregnancy were the following: receiving time off for medical examinations (HR=0.59, 95% CI (0.41-0.83)), availability of a child care leave system (0.37 (0.22-0.63)), arranged support system after returning from maternity and child care leave (0.60 (0.42-0.87)), workplace ambience is supportive of working after marriage and childbirth (0.59 (0.43-0.81)), and the subject (0.63 (0.43-0.93)) or husband (0.50 (0.30-0.86)) considers it good to continue working during pregnancy. In contrast, a non-regular employee (1.93 (1.46-2.56)) and being young (1.74 (1.10-2.75)) were factors behind quitting a job., Conclusions: Key conditions that encourage work continuation after becoming aware of pregnancy include creative adjustments at the workplace, motivating women and their husbands to consider work intentions, and having an established legal maternity protection system in the workplace. Moreover, comprehensive implementation of a child care leave system that is not available to all non-regular employees is also desirable.

Previous studies using the Baumtest (Tree-Drawing Test) reported that tree drawings by elderly people rarely show trees with crowns, in comparison to trees drawn by younger people. This difference may be an index of developmental changes resulting from aging. However, since these studies instructed participants to draw a single fruit-bearing tree, the kinds of trees that elderly people visualized may have been different from those visualized by younger people. In this study, 111 mentally healthy people over 65 years of age were divided into two groups: Group 1 (N = 61, mean age = 72.7 years) was asked to draw a single tree and Group 2 (N = 50, mean age = 73.4 years) was asked to draw a single fruit-bearing tree. The results show that the frequency of trees with crowns drawn by Group 1 was lower than Group 2 (Chi2(1) = 21.04, p < .01). This suggests that the decrease in trees with crowns drawn by elderly people resulted from differences in instructions, in addition to possible developmental changes.