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Older Australian Women (older + australian_woman)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Medical Sciences100%

Selected Abstracts

Older Australian women's use of dentists: A longitudinal analysis over 6 years

AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL ON AGEING, Issue 1 2010
David W Sibbritt
Aim:, To identify factors associated with dentist consultation by older Australian women. Methods:, Participants from the older cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health which originally involved 12 432 older women. Results:, The percentage of women who consulted a dentist in the years 1999, 2002 and 2005 were 35%, 36% and 37%, respectively. Women were more likely to consult with a dentist if they lived in urban areas (RR = 1.26; 95% CI: 1.21, 1.32), were non-smokers (RR = 1.38; 95% CI: 1.21, 157), did not have diabetes (RR = 1.16; 95% CI: 1.08, 1.25), had better physical health (RR = 1.02 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.02). Women were less likely to consult with a dentist if they found it difficult to live on their income (RR = 0.90; 95% CI: 085, 0.95). Conclusion:, Access to dentists, cost of consultations and poor health appear to be significant factors influencing visits to a dentist by older Australian women. [source]

Assessment of the abbreviated Duke Social Support Index in a cohort of older Australian women

AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL ON AGEING, Issue 2 2004
Jennifer R Powers
Objectives: To assess the acceptability, reliability and validity of the 11-item Duke Social Support Index (DSSI) in community-dwelling older Australian women, and to describe its relationship with the women's sociodemographic and health characteristics. Methods: Women aged 70,75 years were randomly selected from the national Medicare database, with over-sampling of rural and remote areas. The mailed survey included items about social support, Medical Outcomes Study Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), health service use, recent life events and sociodemographics. Results: All DSSI items were completed by 94% of the 12 939 participants. Internal reliability was reasonable for 10 of the 11 DSSI items and its factors, social interaction (four items) and satisfaction with social support (six items; Cronbach's alpha of 0.8, 0.6, 0.8). The factor structure was consistent for subgroups of women: urban/non-urban; English speaking/non-English speaking background; married/widowed. Summed scores were highly correlated with factor scores and showed good construct validity. Higher social support was associated with better physical and mental health, being Australian born, more educated and better able to manage on income. Conclusion: Ten of the 11 DSSI items provided an acceptable, brief and valid measure of social support for use in mailed surveys to community-dwelling older women. [source]

Regional variation in the survival and health of older Australian women: a prospective cohort study

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 2 2009
Dimitrios Vagenas
Abstract Objective: Older people may act as sensitive indicators of the effectiveness of health systems. Our objective is to distinguish between the effects of socio-economic and behavioural factors and use of health services on urban-rural differences in mortality and health of elderly women. Methods: Baseline and longitudinal analysis of data from a prospective cohort study. Participants were a community-based random sample of women (n=12778) aged 70-75 years when recruited in 1996 to the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Measures used were: urban or rural residence in Australian States and Territories, socio-demographic characteristics, health related behaviour, survival up to 1 October 2006, physical and mental health scores and use of medical services. Results: Mortality was higher in rural than in urban women (hazard ratio, HR 1.14; 95% CI, 1.03,-1.26) but there were no differences between States and Territories. There were no consistent baseline or longitudinal differences between women for physical or mental health, with or without adjustment for socio-demographic and behavioural factors. Rural women had fewer visits to general practitioners (odds ratio, OR=0.54; 95% CI, 0.48-0.61) and medical specialists (OR=0.60; 95% CI, 0.55-0.65). Conclusions: Differences in use of health services are a more plausible explanation for higher mortality in rural than urban areas than differences in other factors. Implications: Older people may be the ,grey canaries' of the health system and may thus provide an ,early warning system' to policy makers and governments. [source]