Psychometric properties of the Fraboni scale of ageism (FSA) applied to long-term caregivers in nursing homes.

BACKGROUND: The aging society has resulted in enormous demand for long-term care services. However, ageism is a common phenomenon in long-term care facilities, which not only hinders the quality of care for the recipients but also negatively influences caregivers' well-being. In this paper, we first applied the Fraboni Scale of Ageism (FSA) to evaluate its reliability and construct validity among Chinese long-term caregivers in nursing homes. This study could contribute to assessing the prevalence of ageism in Chinese long-term caregivers, prompting facilities and the government to recognize the issue of ageism and explore necessary interventions to reduce ageism in long-term caregivers. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study. We recruited 392 long-term caregivers using a convenience sampling strategy in nursing homes from two cities in Chinese central and northern regions. Parameters included the demographic characteristics, Cronbach's alpha coefficients, and intraclass correlation coefficient. The construct validity was conducted by exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. RESULTS: The Cronbach's alpha of FSA (Chinese version) was 0.856 and ICC was 0.871. The factor analysis identified 3 principal factors, explaining 43.95% of the total variance. The 3-factor model was confirmed to fit by confirmatory factor analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The findings confirm that the FSA is easy to use and has good psychometric properties. This study will contribute to improving the condition of ageism, thereby improving the quality of care for the elderly and retention of professional talents in the LTC system.

Professional attractiveness among long-term care workers in nursing homes in China: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The population aging trend and the shortage of elderly care workers require the long-term care profession to become more attractive. However, the professional attractiveness among long-term care workers has yet to be extensively studied. This study aims to identify the factors that influence the attractiveness of the long-term care profession for nursing home (NH) care workers.. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in more than 50 NHs. Perception of professional attractiveness among long-term care workers and potential associated factors were measured using the Attractive Work Questionnaire (AWQ) and structural instruments including the Fraboni Scale of Ageism (FSA) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). A multiple linear regression method was employed to explore the influence of potential independent variables on professional attractiveness. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 99%. The results showed the score of professional attractiveness (185.37 ± 20.034), as well as the scores of each component (99.26 ± 11.258 for work condition, 30.13 ± 3.583 for work content, and 55.99 ± 7.074 for job satisfaction). Findings of multiple linear regression analysis indicated that age(ß = 0.129, p<.05), years of work(ß = 0.156, p<.05), 12-hour shifts(ß = 0.185, p<.05), and training times per year(ß = 0.148, p<.05) positively associated with long-term care workers perceived professional attractiveness. Whereas only ageism(ß=-0.267, p<.05) significantly and negatively influenced professional attractiveness. CONCLUSIONS: The perceived professional attractiveness of long-term care workers in NHs was acceptable. Age, years of work, shifts, training opportunities, and ageism contributed to the professional attractiveness of nursing home care workers in China. Target intervention measures should be taken to enhance the attractiveness of long-term care careers so as to avoid the shortage of long-term care workers.

Cognitive frailty and its association with disability among Chinese community-dwelling older adults: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: There are a variety of determinants that are key to functional disability of older adults. However, little is known regarding the relationship between cognitive frailty and disability among older people. The aims of this study were to examine the associations between cognitive frailty and its six components with instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) functioning in community-dwelling older adults. METHODS: A total of 313 community-dwelling older adults (aged ≥ 65 years) were recruited from eight community centers in central China. Cognitive frailty was operationalized using the Mini-Mental State Examination for the evaluation of cognitive status and the Fried criteria for the evaluation of physical frailty. The outcome was functional disability assessed by the IADL scale. The association between cognitive frailty, as well as its components, and IADL limitations was identified by conducting binary logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The prevalence of cognitive frailty was 8.9% in this study. The results showed that cognitive frailty (OR = 22.86) and frailty without cognitive impairment (OR = 8.15) were associated with IADL limitations. Subdimensions of cognitive frailty, exhaustion, weakness, low physical activity and cognitive impairment components were independently associated with IADL limitations. CONCLUSION: Cognitive frailty was associated with a higher prevalence of disability. Interventions for improving cognitive frailty should be developed to prevent IADL disability among community-dwelling older adults in China.

Single-cell characterization of deformation and dynamics of mesenchymal stem cells in microfluidic systems: A computational study.

Understanding the homing dynamics of individual mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in physiologically relevant microenvironments is crucial for improving the efficacy of MSC-based therapies for therapeutic and targeting purposes. This study investigates the passive homing behavior of individual MSCs in micropores that mimic interendothelial clefts through predictive computational simulations informed by previous microfluidic experiments. Initially, we quantified the size-dependent behavior of MSCs in micropores and elucidated the underlying mechanisms. Subsequently, we analyzed the shape deformation and traversal dynamics of each MSC. In addition, we conducted a systematic investigation to understand how the mechanical properties of MSCs impact their traversal process. We considered geometric and mechanical parameters, such as reduced cell volume, cell-to-nucleus diameter ratio, and cytoskeletal prestress states. Furthermore, we quantified the changes in the MSC traversal process and identified the quantitative limits in their response to variations in micropore length. Taken together, the computational results indicate the complex dynamic behavior of individual MSCs in the confined microflow. This finding offers an objective way to evaluate the homing ability of MSCs in an interendothelial-slit-like microenvironment.