05; 95% confidence interval: 1.76-2.39). Depressive symptoms were associated with disability burden

in both men and women, with modest differences by sex; men had an increased likelihood of experiencing severe disability at both moderate and high levels of depressive symptoms, whereas only high depressive symptoms were associated with severe disability in women.

Conclusions. Levels of depressive symptoms below the threshold for subsyndromal depression are associated with increased disability burden in older persons. Identifying and treating varying levels of depressive symptoms in older persons may ultimately help to reduce the burden of disability in this population.”
“Background. This study sought to determine whether the rates of basic activities of daily living

(ADL) disabilities and functional limitations declined, remained the Dorsomorphin same, or increased between 2000 and 2005 when (a) only community-dwelling Americans aged 65 and older were examined and (b) when institutionalized older adults were included.

Method. Using data from the American Community Survey and the National Nursing Home Survey, we calculated annual prevalence rates of basic ADL disabilities www.selleckchem.com/products/PD-0325901.html and functional limitations and fitted regression lines to examine trends over time.

Results. The rates of basic ADL disabilities among community-dwelling adults aged 65 and older increased 9% between 2000 and 2005. When institutionalized elders were included, basic ADL disability rates were stable among men but increased among women. Functional limitation rates did not selleck compound significantly change between 2000 and 2005.

Conclusion. These findings suggest an end of the decline in disability rates among

older Americans, which, if confirmed, could have important implications for health care.”
“Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are increasingly popular study designs in clinical research. A systematic review is a summary of the medical literature that uses explicit and reproducible methods for searching the literature and critical appraisal of individual studies; in contrast, a meta-analysis is a mathematical synthesis of the results of these individual studies. These study designs can be useful tools for summarizing the increasing amount of knowledge that is gained from scientific papers on a certain topic. In addition, combining individual studies in a meta-analysis increases statistical power, resulting in more precise effect estimates. Although the specific methodology of systematic reviews includes steps to minimize bias in all stages of the process, investigators should be aware of potential biases such as poor quality of included studies, heterogeneity between studies, and the presence of publication and outcome reporting bias. This paper explains how systematic reviews and meta-analyses should be performed and how to interpret and implement their results. In addition, we discuss when meta-analyses are useful and when they are not.