%0 Journal Article %J Journal of Affective Disorders %D 2021 %T Do depressive symptoms link chronic diseases to cognition among older adults? Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study in the United States. %A Lu, Wentian %A Pai, Manacy %A Shaun Scholes %A Xue, Baowen %K Chronic condition %K cognitive aging %K depression %K Psychological condition %X

BACKGROUND: Few studies have assessed psychological pathways that connect the association between non-psychotropic chronic disease and cognition. We assessed the extent to which the association between the two was mediated by depressive symptoms in older adults.

METHODS: Data came from waves 10-13 (2010-2016) of the Health and Retirement Study in the United States (7,651 men and 10,248 women). Multilevel path analysis, allowing for random intercepts and slopes, was employed to estimate the extent to which depressive symptoms mediated the total effect of a chronic disease on cognition.

RESULTS: We found that the presence of stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart problems, and comorbidity, in both men and women, and lung disease in women, was associated with lower levels of cognition. The total effects of chronic diseases on cognition were partially mediated through depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms mediated approximately 19%-39% and 23%-54% of the total effects of chronic diseases on cognition in men and women, respectively.

LIMITATIONS: We relied on self-reported diagnoses of diseases and depressive symptoms. Our use of a multilevel path analysis with random slopes precluded the inclusion of binary/categorical dependent variables, and the estimation of standardized beta values.

CONCLUSIONS: To understand the cognitive challenges that chronically ill older adults face, practitioners and policymakers should consider not just the direct symptoms related to chronic diseases, but also the often overlooked psychological conditions faced by older adults.

%B Journal of Affective Disorders %V 294 %P 357-365 %G eng %R 10.1016/j.jad.2021.07.012 %0 Journal Article %J Scientific Reports %D 2018 %T Lifestyle index for mortality prediction using multiple ageing cohorts in the USA, UK and Europe. %A Liao, Jing %A Muniz-Terrera, Graciela %A Shaun Scholes %A Hao, Yuantao %A Chen, Yu-Ming %K Cross-National %K Functional status %K Mortality %X Current mortality prediction indexes are mainly based on functional morbidity and comorbidity, with limited information for risk prevention. This study aimed to develop and validate a modifiable lifestyle-based mortality predication index for older adults. Data from 51,688 participants (56% women) aged ≥50 years in 2002 Health and Retirement Study, 2002 English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and 2004 Survey of Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe were used to estimate coefficients of the index with cohort-stratified Cox regression. Models were validated across studies and compared to the Lee index (having comorbid and morbidity predictors). Over an average of 11-year follow-up, 10,240 participants died. The lifestyle index includes smoking, drinking, exercising, sleep quality, BMI, sex and age; showing adequate model performance in internal validation (C-statistic 0.79; D-statistic 1.94; calibration slope 1.13) and in all combinations of internal-external cross-validation. It outperformed Lee index (e.g. differences in C-statistic = 0.01, D-statistic = 0.17, P < 0.001) consistently across health status. The lifestyle index stratified participants into varying mortality risk groups, with those in the top quintile having 13.5% excess absolute mortality risk over 10 years than those in the bottom 50th centile. Our lifestyle index with easy-assessable behavioural factors and improved generalizability may maximize its usability for personalized risk management. %B Scientific Reports %V 8 %P 6644 %G eng %N 1 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29703919?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1038/s41598-018-24778-1 %0 Journal Article %J Longit Life Course Stud %D 2011 %T A comparison of response rates in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and the Health and Retirement Study. %A Hayley Cheshire %A Mary Beth Ofstedal %A Shaun Scholes %A Mathis Schroeder %X

Survey response rates are an important measure of the quality of a survey; this is true for both longitudinal and cross-sectional surveys. However, the concept of a response rate in the context of a panel survey is more complex than is the case for a cross-sectional survey. There are typically many different response rates that can be calculated for a panel survey, each of which may be relevant for a specific purpose. The main objective of our paper is to document and compare response rates for two long-term panel studies of ageing, the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) in the United States. To guide our selection and calculation of response rates for the two studies, we use a framework that was developed by Peter Lynn (2005) and present several different types of longitudinal response rates for the two surveys. We discuss similarities and differences in the study designs and protocols and how some of the differences affect comparisons of response rates across the two studies.

%B Longit Life Course Stud %I 2 %V 2 %P 127-144 %8 2011 May 01 %G eng %N 2 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24432049?dopt=Abstract %4 Sample Design/response rates/ELSA_ %$ 62700 %R 10.14301/llcs.v2i2.118