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Objectives. To review the prevalence of loneliness (during/after COVID-19) in older people. Design. Scoping review using Medline and PsycInfo for worldwide prevalence estimates (white published literature search) and Google for prevalence data inside the Euregio Meuse-Rhine (grey literature). Setting. Worldwide prevalence estimates and a focus on the Euregio Meuse-Rhine. Participants. Papers published between 2016 and 2022 and a mean age of minimum of 65 years. Measurements. Prevalence estimates for older people. Results. The white literature search yielded 37 articles. Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, loneliness estimates were the highest in Nigeria (46%) and the lowest in Australia (5%) (mean prevalence was 25.6%). Loneliness was reported to be higher in specific populations, for example, people living in specific communities such as senior housing communities or with impairments, than in the general population, with a mean prevalence estimate of 47.8%. During COVID-19, the prevalence of loneliness was higher than that before the pandemic: we observed a mean prevalence of 39.4%, in comparison to 25.6 before COVID-19. The grey literature search showed that, compared to Belgium and the Netherlands (13.5% and 36.5%, respectively), loneliness estimates were the lowest in Germany, with a mean prevalence of 7.7%. Conclusion. Large international differences in the prevalence of loneliness were observed between countries and populations studied. Several hypotheses could explain such differences, including sociocultural or historical-political characteristics. Without surprise, the pandemic and associated measures were linked to a higher level of loneliness. Furthermore, recommendations for addressing loneliness, including interventions, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Techniques for late spontaneous recovery from stuttering clustered into six strategies. • The strategies reflect components of established treatments and naïve explanations. • Causal attributions of recovery clustered into three implicit theories about recovery. • Knowledge about strategies and implicit theories may help to improve treatment. (1) To survey the employed techniques and the reasons/occasions which adults who had recovered from stuttering after age 11 without previous treatment reported as causal to overcome stuttering, (2) to investigate whether the techniques and causal attributions can be reduced to coherent (inherently consistent) dimensions, and (3) whether these dimensions reflect common therapy components. 124 recovered persons from 8 countries responded by SurveyMonkey or paper-and-pencil to rating scale questions about 49 possible techniques and 15 causal attributions. A Principal Component Analysis of 110 questionnaires identified 6 components (dimensions) for self-assisted techniques (Speech Restructuring; Relaxed/Monitored Speech; Elocution; Stage Performance; Sought Speech Demands; Reassurance; 63.7% variance explained), and 3 components of perceived causal attributions of recovery (Life Change, Attitude Change, Social Support; 58.0% variance explained). Two components for self-assisted techniques (Speech Restructuring; Elocution) reflect treatment methods. Another component (Relaxed/Monitored Speech) consists mainly of items that reflect a common, non-professional understanding of effective management of stuttering. The components of the various perceived reasons for recovery reflect differing implicit theories of causes for recovery from stuttering. These theories are considered susceptible to various biases. This identification of components of reported techniques and of causal attributions is novel compared to previous studies who just list techniques and attributions. The identified dimensions of self-assisted techniques and causal attributions to reduce stuttering as extracted from self-reports of a large, international sample of recovered formerly stuttering adults may guide the application of behavioral stuttering therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To more accurately quantify the potential impact of the neighbourhood environment on adults' physical activity (PA), it is important to compare environment-PA associations between periods of the day or week when adults are more versus less likely to be in their neighbourhood and utilise its PA resources. We examined whether, among adults from 10 countries, associations between objectively-assessed neighbourhood environment attributes and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) varied by time of the day and day of the week. The secondary aim was to examine whether such associations varied by employment status, gender and city. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 6,712 adults from 14 cities across 10 countries with ≥1 day of valid accelerometer-assessed MVPA and complete information on socio-demographic and objectively-assessed environmental characteristics within 0.5 and 1 km street-network buffers around the home. Accelerometer measures (MVPA min/h) were created for six time periods from early morning until late evening/night, for weekdays and weekend days separately. Associations were estimated using generalized additive mixed models. Results: Time of the day, day of week, gender and employment status were significant moderators of environment-MVPA associations. Land use mix was positively associated with MVPA in women who were employed and in men irrespective of their employment status. The positive associations between MVPA and net residential density, intersection density and land use mix were stronger in the mornings of weekdays and the afternoon/evening periods of both weekdays and weekend days. Associations between number of parks and MVPA were stronger in the mornings and afternoon/evenings irrespective of day of the week. Public transport density showed consistent positive associations with MVPA during weekends, while stronger effects on weekdays were observed in the morning and early evenings. Conclusions: This study suggests that space and time constraints in adults' daily activities are important factors that determine the impact of neighbourhood attributes on PA. Consideration of time-specific associations is important to better characterise the magnitude of the effects of the neighbourhood environment on PA. Future research will need to examine the contribution of built environment characteristics of areas surrounding other types of daily life centres (e.g., workplaces) to explaining adults' PA at specific times of the day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Active transportation has the potential to contribute considerably to overall physical activity levels in adults and is likely to be influenced by neighborhood-related built environment characteristics. Previous studies that examined the associations between built environment attributes and active transportation, focused mainly on transport-related walking and were conducted within single countries, limiting environmental variability. We investigated the direction and shape of relationships of perceived neighborhood attributes with transport-related cycling and walking in three countries; and examined whether these associations differed by country and gender. Methods: Data from the USA (Baltimore and Seattle), Australia (Adelaide) and Belgium (Ghent) were pooled. In total, 6,014 adults (20-65 years, 55.7% women) were recruited in high-/low-walkable and high-/low-income neighborhoods. All participants completed the Neighborhood Environmental Walkability Scale and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Generalized additive mixed models were used to estimate the strength and shape of the associations. Results: Proximity to destinations, good walking and cycling facilities, perceiving difficulties in parking near local shopping areas, and perceived aesthetics were included in a 'cyclability' index. This index was linearly positively related to transport-related cycling and no gender- or country-differences were observed. The 'walkability' index consisted of perceived residential density, land use mix access, proximity of destinations and aesthetics. A nonlinear positive relationship with transport-related walking was found. This association was stronger in women than in men, and country-specific associations were identified: the strongest association was observed in Seattle, the weakest in Adelaide. In Ghent, the association weakened at higher levels of walkability. Conclusions: For cycling, consistent correlates were found in the three countries, but associations were less straightforward for transport-related walking. Moreover, the identified neighborhood environmental correlates were different for walking compared to cycling. In order to further clarify the shape of these associations and reach more specific international guidelines for developing walkable and bikeable neighborhoods, future studies should include even more countries to maximize environmental variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]