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Aim: The aim of the present study was to show the status of objective geriatric functions and subjective quality of life in Ladakh, India, compared with Japanese controls., Methods: We analyzed data of 117 people aged 60 years or older in Domkhar, and age- and sex-specific Japanese controls. Variables measured included blood pressure, hemoglobin, timed up & go test, basic activities of daily living, Geriatric Depression Scale and the Visual Analog Scale for subjective quality of life., Results: People in Domkhar were more likely to have difficulties in basic activities of daily living compared with Japanese controls. However, they were significantly more likely to maintain social roles. The Visual Analog Scale scores in subjective friendship, economic satisfaction and happiness were higher in Domkhar compared with Japanese controls. Living alone (OR 9.92, 95% CI 2.13-46.26), high Geriatric Depression Scale score (6 or more; OR 8.45, 95% CI 1.65-43.35) and timed up & go test (17 s or more; OR 21.00, 95% CI 1.69-260.87) were significantly associated with a low score of subjective happiness (less than 50). Residence in Domkhar (OR 0.17, 95% CI 0.04-0.77) was a significant factor for low prevalence of a low score of subjective happiness by multivariate logistic regression analysis., Conclusions: Subjective quality of life among older adults in Domkhar was higher than Japanese controls despite a higher rate of difficulty in basic activities of daily living. We have to consider prevention, treatment, and care of not only diseases and disabilities, but also loneliness for the older adults. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 480-486., (© 2016 Japan Geriatrics Society.)

Aim: Religious social networks are well known for their capacity to improve individual health, yet the effects of friendship networks within the Buddhist context remain largely unknown. The present study aimed to compare health status and social support in community-dwelling older adults according to their level of Buddhist social network (BSN) involvement, and to examine the association between BSN involvement and functional health among older adults., Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out among 427 Buddhist community-dwelling older adults aged ≥60 years in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand. Data were collected from home-based personal interviews using a structured questionnaire. Health status was defined according to the measures of basic and advanced activities of daily living (ADL), the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale and subjective quality of life. Perceived social support was assessed across the four dimensions of tangible, belonging, emotional and information support. Multiple logistic regression was used for analysis., Results: Older adults with BSN involvement reported better functional, mental and social health status, and perceived greater social support than those without BSN involvement. In addition, BSN involvement was positively associated with independence in basic and advanced ADL. After adjusting for age, sex, education, income, morbidity and depressive symptoms, BSN showed a strong association with advanced ADL and a weak association with basic ADL., Conclusion: The results show that involvement in BSN could contribute positively to functional health, particularly with regard to advanced ADL. Addressing the need for involvement in these networks by older adults might help delay functional decline and save on healthcare costs., (© 2014 Japan Geriatrics Society.)

Background: Missing data are inevitable in almost all medical studies. Imputation methods using the probabilistic model are common, but they cannot impute individual data and require special software. In contrast, the ipsative imputation method, which substitutes the missing items by the mean of the remaining items within the individual, is easy and does not need any special software, but it can provide individual scores. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the validity of the ipsative imputation method using data involving the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale., Methods: Participants were community-dwelling elderly individuals (n = 1178). A structural equation model was constructed. The model fit indexes were calculated to assess the validity of the imputation method when it is used for individuals who were missing 20% of data or less and 40% of data or less, depending on whether we assumed that their correlation coefficients were the same as the dataset with no missing items. Finally, we compared path coefficients of the dataset imputed by ipsative imputation with those by multiple imputation., Results: When compared with the assumption that the datasets differed, all of the model fit indexes were better under the assumption that the dataset without missing data is the same as that that was missing 20% of data or less. However, by the same assumption, the model fit indexes were worse in the dataset that was missing 40% of data or less. The path coefficients of the dataset imputed by ipsative imputation and by multiple imputation were compatible with each other if the proportion of missing items was 20% or less., Conclusion: Ipsative imputation appears to be a valid imputation method and can be used to impute data in studies using the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale, if the percentage of its missing items is 20% or less., (© 2014 The Authors. Psychogeriatrics © 2014 Japanese Psychogeriatric Society.)

We investigated the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) with regard to its factors and, reproducibility, as well as its relationship to activities of daily living, social factors, medical conditions, and quality of life for community-dwelling elderly people in Japan. The study population consisted of 736 community-dwelling elderly participants aged 65 or older. Exploratory factor analysis of the data and correlation coefficients between factors and activities of daily living, quality of life, social factors, and medical conditions were calculated for two consecutive years. The reproducibility of the results was also evaluated. As the result, GDS-15 had three reproducible factors specified as follows: factor I, "energy loss and pessimistic outlook"; factor II, "positive mental status (reversed)"; and factor III, "empty feeling." Comparing our findings with a review of research in this area, positive items (excluding "feel full of energy") seem to compose an universal factor. Factor I correlated best with quality of life, factor II with activities of daily living, and factor III with subjective cognitive function. These results suggest the GDS-15 can be used to assess the functional ability and quality of life, as well as depressive mood in older adults., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Aim: To investigate which category in the "Kihon Checklist" developed by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare can predict functional decline for community-dwelling elderly people at a 2-year follow up., Method: We compared comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) between "specified elderly individuals" at high risk of requiring long-term care insurance (LTCI) and "uncertified elderly people" (neither certified under LTCI nor "specified"), and also compared CGA between the risk group and non-risk group, in subcategories of the "Kihon Checklist", such as physical strength, nutrition/oral function, overall low score on questions 1-20, houseboundness, cognitive function, and depression risk. The study population consisted of 527 elderly participants aged 75 years and older in a cross-sectional study, and 382 in a longitudinal study. CGA was assessed for basic and higher functional activities of daily living (ADL), depressive symptoms, and quality of life (QOL). The Student's t-test was used in the cross-sectional study and ANOVA with repeated measures was used in the longitudinal analysis., Results: In the cross-sectional study, the risk group had lower functions in all CGA items than the non-risk group in all subcategories of the "Kihon Checklist." In the longitudinal study, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence scores and its three subscales declined in the risk group both in physical and cognitive subcategories compared with the non-risk group, whereas only one or two subscales of Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence declined in "specified" and the other two subcategories of the Kihon Checklist, Conclusion: In both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, the assessment of physical strength and cognitive function was more useful to detect frail elderly., (© 2012 Japan Geriatrics Society.)