فصلنامه سالمند
پیاپی 1 (پاییز 1385)

In the first of 20th century average years of old has not been 50 years, but today it is more than 75 years. The purpose of this study is evaluation of elderly health status in Kashan including psychological health, cognitive health, balance and gait status, nutrition health and risk of bed sore. Practical goal of the study is assessment of health needs in elderly and prevention of the common disease of elderly in society.Methods & Materials: The population of this descriptive analytical research were Kashanian with age of 55 and more. The sampling method had used in this research was simple incidental method. For gathering the information, the questionnaire was referred to the elderly and they filled the supposed questionnaires. the two-common disease are musculoskeletal and cardiovascular (41.7%). Base on finding 63.8% of Kashan elderly are at the risk of nutrition deficiency and 5.8% have nutrition deficiency. The geriatric depression scale used for evaluation of depression. There is 34.2% elderly with severe depression. Five percent of them have severe cognitive disorders, other 47.5% have mild one and 17.5% with cognitive health. The activity of daily living is in 81. 7% of population without any dependence and in 13.3% with dependence and in 5% with complete dependence. The risk of bed sore is in 3.3% of population very high. the high frequency of Kashan elderly problems shows that this society needs rehabilitation and treatment. The education priorities in this population are " Prevention of musculoskeletal and cardiovascular disease.

Given the increasing trend of old population even in the developing countries, mental disorders of elderly are public health problems in these countries. Access to valid and reliable screening instruments is needed for conducting community surveys and clinical trials. The main objective of this study is to provide the Iranian version of the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ) in old people.Methods & Materials: The GHQ-28 Persian version was developed by translation and back translation. 204, subjects 59 years or older, who were chosen randomly from residents of Ekbatan, district of Tehran, the capital city of Iran, completed the GHQ-28 Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) was used to establish a gold standard diagnosis of major depressive disorders. GHQ-28 was found to be an internally consistent measure. Alpha, split-half coefficients and test-retest reliability were 0/94, 0/86 and 0/6 respectively. Four factors were extracted by using factor analysis and the principle component analysis (varimax rotation): "depression, anxiety, somatic symptoms, social function". Using Receiver Operating Curve (ROC) analysis, the ptimum cutoff score for GHQ-28 is 19/20, yielding a sensitivity of 0/83 and a specificity of 0/76. GH0-28 was derived from a long form. The long and short forms of GHQ have excellent properties as screening instruments for mental disorders in older dwellers in Iran, particularly in urban areas, as presented in our finding.

The education promotion of elderly health is an Important preference of health that should be planned for it. Several problems of elderly are supposed to be due to life style so the community education of healthy life style should be considered. The appropriate approach to achieve those objectives is to use of female health volunteers for transformation of this education to families.Methods & Materials: To determine the level of knowledge of health voluntaries about healthy life style for prevention of problems in elderly period, in Shiraz. Method & Materials: In a cross-sectional study, 320 health voluntaries were selected by randomized method. The sample size was calculated with the results. A pilot study on one hundred with use of a questionnaire contain of 5 demographic questions and 32 questions about life style including nutrition, prevention of disease, oral health's and health advices. They filled the questionarie's and the data were entered in EPI 2002 software and were analyzed by descriptive tests. The mean age all of 320 health were 33.7 years, with standard deviation of 8.6 years. The knowledge level of them in health advices were 15% weak, 66.9% medium and 18.2% well. In oral health 21.6% well, 61.3% medium & 7.2% well. In prevention of disease 37% weak, 62.2% medium and 9% well, in nutrition 24.6% weak, 69.3% medium and 5.9% well. Overall the level of knowledge of health volunteers about life style were 20.9% weak, 65.5% medium and 13.8% well. In the aim achieving to their approaches program of health, volunteers was started by Ministry of Health in 1990. This program was performed by the aim of health promotion in these group with participation of themselves. Till now they have trained in the recognition of health problems and healthy approach to them.So, the volunteers transfer their knowledge to community specially to under their coverage. At present the health problems are not only due to infection disease but also problems and deaths are now consider regarding to unhealthy life styles, so elder people as an important population subgroup should receive healthy life style education and so to their families. This study reveals that volunteer's knowledge level about health life style in satisfaction (85.4% of them were abbot weak to moderate level). The worst result in their knowledge is about nutritional information (only 5.9% were in good level), and the best result were over health advices regarding to matters of exercise appropriate way of sleeping, sitting and prevention of osteoporosis (18.2% were in good level). This by attention to importance of matter of elderly age, education of health volunteers and employees and by tum the different subgroup of community should be programmed.

This study with a co relational design has conducted to determine relationship between caregiving strain and self-efficacy in family caregiver of patient with Alzheimer. Accessible sample of the study consisted of 81 family caregivers that all of them were member of Iranian Alzheimer Association. Data was gathered by demographic, self-efficacy and care giving strain questioners. Findings showed the most of the subjects were female (%60), spouse of care giving recipient (56%), married (64%), reside in same household (55%), 49% under high school education, 45% of them havent taken formal courses about the care of the patients, 53% of them were satisfied about providing of care, 36% reported bad health status. The most important caring needs consisted education for better care providing. the Mean of self-efficacy was 66/96 (29-106) and strain 39/43 (17-65). There were not any relations between strain and self-efficacy with demographic variables. There was positive significant Pearson correlation (r=0/539, p=O/ 01) between self-efficacy and strain. Findings indicated that self-efficacy and care giving strain are subjective and individualized concepts. Care giving to elderly patients is a stressful event but moderate co-relationship shows that caregivers apprise the stress of care giving as a constructive and controllable manner.

Aging is natural course of life which accompanied by changes of metabolism. The exchanges susceptible elderly to malnutrition in researched was do in this back ground about 3-13% of aged population involved to malnutrition that this rate increased to 30-60% in initialized elderly. In this study, we assessed the effects of medical care staff's education on nutritional situation of elderly livid in KAHRIZAK charity Foundation in TEHRAN during 4 months.Methods & Material: 192 elderlies which lived in KCF and equal or older than 65 satisfied in including to this study randomly. (50 males and 142 females) although for inclusion they had not involved to an staged liver and renal disease and had not history of surgery during one months before initiated of study. We checked HB, HCT, LDL, HDL, FBS, CRP, ALB, although assessed MNA, MMSE, ADL, Norton sore before and after educational intervention. Educational workshop operated for medical and nursing staffs of KCF during 3 days. Clinical and Para clinical assessments did 4 months, again, after that, and collected data entered to EXEL and analyzed by SPSS soft wares. Before educational intervention 35.9% of elderly had very sever or severe malnutrition that after intervention decreased to 18.3% mean of ALB, HB, HCT, LDL, F.B.S increased after intervention and significant (p<0/05). Nutritional situation correlated to age, mouth and swallowing disorders, poly pharmacy, cognitive condition, ADL score in eating and Norton scores significant. Base of this findings is concluded medical and nursing staffs nursing homes has significant effects on decrease of moderate and severe malnutrition in elderly. Education in this instated have to continues and not cross over like this study for significant Paraclinical improvements of nutritional indicators.

As the elderly census rising in the world, most of the developed and developing countries are engaged with implementation of many different geriatric programs in their governing agendas. As such increament includes Iran as well, Therefore providing many social, educational and economical programs which all must focus upon the elderlies well living style are considered crucial. Preserving the speech and language capablities are significant in elderlies communication with their environmental world. As they enable in more precise communication, get able to resolve their specific needs and even bring at ease many of their specific problems. Speech and language pathologists are assumed to be familiar with the anatomical, neuroanatomical and functional changes which normally occurring during eldarly periods. Evaluations of such decline in respect to proper diagnosis of any speech and language disorder, provides a proper planning in rehabilitational remedies in any possible geriatric speech and language disorders.

substance abuse' specially opiates and prescribed drugs are spreading among the older adults. Most of the time it begins as an attempt to medicate chronic pains, medical conditions and loneliness. In other instances, it simply is the continuation of a problem that begun in young adulthood. But scholars and specialists in both fields of Addiction and Gerontology, rather neglected this fast growing problem, to the extent that we almost have no data on the epidemiology, prevention and treatment modalities among the substance abusing old adults in Iran. This paper reflects the necessity of designing age specific programs to identify and treat this group. Besides, some of the most effictive methods of treatment in other countries are reviewed.

Several factors have incentive role for study of aging which includes increasing of the average and maximum of human life span, the increase in percentage of elderly in the societies and proportion of the national expenditure utilized by them. The Recent views of aging indicating that aging is extremely a complex multifactorial process despite of earlier views about definite cause aging like gene or decline of a key factor(1). This brief review tries to inspect aging at the molecular, cellular, and systemic levels; and consider interaction between genetic and environmental factors. Evolutionary theories argue that aging results from a decline in the force of natural selection. On the other hand, molecular theories emphasis on the genetically regulation of aging and argue that aging results from changing in genes. There are cellular theories that telomere theory is most famous. Stress induced aging is in this group too. free radical theory is next known way for cellular damages. Finally, we see systemic theories that contain two main groups, neuroendocrine and immunologic theories.