New meaning for the emotional state of the elderly, from a leisure standpoint

Continuing developments in science and technology that affect many dimensions of human life, especially those related to longevity, require responses from social policies and programmes to enable quality-of-life improvements in every sector, including leisure. To contribute to research in this area, this qualitative study sought to identify the perceptions of and meanings attached to participation in (active outdoor) leisure by a group of elderly citizens of Araras, São Paulo State, Brazil. Data were collected via questionnaires administered to a mixed-gender sample of 100 persons, aged between 60 and 80 years, after they had participated in an outdoor adventure/leisure programme. The data were subjected to thematic content analysis. The study revealed that the participants identified positive emotional effects as a result of their participation, relating to their sense of belonging to a group, to their increased quality of life and to their ability to remain physically active.

Use of Medicines Among a Brazilian Elderly Sample: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: The use of multiple medicines is very frequent among the elderly, allowing them to perceive more often adverse side effects from drugs and present undesirable drug interactions.Methods: This article presents a cross-sectional survey about the use of medicines among 300 elderly Brazilians, equally divided into institutionalized and community-dwelling groups.Results: The average daily intake of medicines is 3.2 among institutionalized elderly, a higher (p < 0.001) number when compared with community-dwelling elderly, who takes an average of 1.8 medicines daily. The most commonly used medications are antihypertensives (58.0%), diuretics (23.0%), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (22.7%), supplements (21.7%), antidiabetics (16.3%), and antiulcerants (14.0%). Antiulcerants, diuretics, supplements, and central nervous system drugs are more frequently used by institutionalized than by community-dwelling elderly.Conclusion: In this Brazilian elderly sample, the most widely used medicines were antihypertensives, diuretics, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and institutionalized used more medications than community-dwelling elderly. Copyright (C) 2011, Taiwan Society of Geriatric Emergency & Critical Care Medicine. Published by Elsevier Taiwan LLC. All rights reserved.

A saúde bucal do idoso brasileiro: revisão sistemática sobre o quadro epidemiológico e acesso aos serviços de saúde bucal

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Incidence of self-reported hearing loss and associated risk factors among the elderly in São Paulo, Brazil: the SABE survey

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Children's labour as a risky pathways to resilience: children's growth in contexts of poor resources

Nesse artigo, analisamos a questão do trabalho infantil como um fenômeno complexo, englobando fatores de risco por um lado e possíveis resultados positivos por outro. Baseados na teoria da resiliência e a partir de uma revisão de literatura, centrada em pesquisas que analisam a própria experiência de crianças sobre o trabalho desenvolvido, mostramos que quando inseridos em ecologias socialmente e fisicamente pobres em recursos, crianças associam sua experiência de trabalho como um caminho para assegurar recursos próprios para superação de adversidades. A compreensão de aspectos subjetivos da experiência de crianças trabalhadores nos permite considerar o trabalho como uma construção culturalmente embasada. Apesar da exploração de crianças não se configurar como o melhor para elas, há evidências de que elas usam quaisquer oportunidades disponíveis, incluindo o trabalho, para navegar em busca de recursos que necessitam e negociam por uma identidade associada à resiliência. Implicações para políticas públicas e intervenções também são discutidas.

Nonpreference of the lace bug Leptopharsa heveae Drake & Poor (Heteroptera: Tingidae) for rubber tree clones

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Avaliação da alimentação de idosos de município paulista: aplicação do Índice de Alimentação Saudável

OBJETIVO: avaliar a qualidade da dieta da população idosa do município de Avaré (SP) através do Índice de Alimentação Saudável (IAS) MÉTODOS: trata-se de um estudo de corte transversal de base populacional realizado por meio de entrevista domiciliar. A amostra constou de 73 indivíduos, sorteados aleatoriamente dos idosos integrados ao Sistema Público de Saúde do Município. O consumo alimentar foi medido por meio de 3 Recordatórios de 24 horas. Para avaliação, foi aplicado o IAS adaptado para a população brasileira. Parte-se do princípio que o presente estudo constitui o primeiro no Brasil a aplicar o IAS utilizando 3 inquéritos do tipo recordatório de 24 horas em população idosa. Optou-se por esta metodologia, pois como descrito na literatura, um único dia não representa a ingestão habitual de um indivíduo devido à elevada variabilidade intrapessoal do consumo. RESULTADOS: Foram encontrados 32,9% de idosos com uma dieta de má qualidade; 60,3% necessitando de melhorias e 6,8% com uma dieta de boa qualidade. CONCLUSÃO: Pode-se concluir que os idosos estudados precisam de melhorias na alimentação, o que ressalta a importância de política de incentivo voltado à alimentação saudável na terceira idade.

Physical activity and postural control in the elderly: Coupling between visual information and body sway

Background: Aging is characterized by a decline in the postural control performance, which is based on a coherent and stable coupling between sensory information and motor action. Therefore, changes in postural control in elderlies can be related to changes in this coupling. In addition, it has been observed that physical activity seems to improve postural control performance in elderlies. These improvements can be due to changes in the coupling between sensory information and motor action related to postural control. Objective: the purpose of this study was to verify the coupling between visual information and body sway in active and sedentary elderlies. Methods: Sixteen sedentary elderlies ( SE), 16 active elderlies ( AE) and 16 young adults ( YA) were asked to stand upright inside a moving room in two experimental conditions: ( 1) discrete movement and ( 2) continuous movement of the room. Results: In the continuous condition, the results showed that the coupling between the movement of the room and body sway was stronger and more stable for SE and AE compared to YA. In the discrete condition, SE showed larger body displacement compared to AE and YA. Conclusions: SE have more difficulty to discriminate and to integrate sensory information than AE and YA indicating that physical activity may improve sensory integration. Copyright (C) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Study of the elderly females' voice by phonetography

This study was carried out to investigate the voice characteristics of 40 healthy females with no voice disorders, ranging in age from 60 to 84 years ((X) over bar = 68.2 +/- 5.74 years). Measurements over all the entire phonational range were obtained by phonetography. The subjects were asked to sustain the vowel /a/ in modal register for a minimum of 5 seconds in the highest and lowest intensities after hearing the semitones C, E, G, and A, over all phonational ranges. The results indicated expansion of the low and reduction of high ends of the pitch range, decrease of the pitch numbers of the vocal range, restriction of the lowest and highest limits of the intensity, and reduction of either the maximum phonational range and the phonetogram area. The phonetography technique has shown efficacy to investigate the voice characteristics of elderly females.

Arterial-hypertension in the elderly

The authors review the epidemiology, the etiological factors, the effect of the treatment in the evolution of the cardiovascular disease in arterial hypertension in elderly, and the use of angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors such as a treatment option.