Acceptance of different design exergames in elders.

For promoting the successful aging of elderly residents of Chang Gung Silver Village in Taiwan, five interactive exergames were developed to promote the well-being of the elderly. The exergames included both physical games and cognitive games, and were implemented using various computer-based technologies in the Chang Gung Silver Village. The exergames were trialed by 39 elderly residents (15 male, 24 female; mean age 79.5 ± 17.5 years) of Chang Gung Silver Village. Following the trials, the participants were requested to complete a Technology Acceptance Model 2 (TAM2) questionnaire. The results showed that the perceived playfulness and perceived usefulness of the exergames were significantly related to the users' usage behavior and intention to use for both the physical games and the cognitive games. However, a relationship between the output quality of the game and the usage behavior was apparent only in the case of the cognitive exergames. Finally, the impact of social influence on the intention to use and the usage behavior was more pronounced for the physical exergames. Overall, the results revealed that the acceptance of exergames by the elderly depends not so much on the awareness of fun in using the game, but the perceived usefulness of the related physical and cognitive abilities.

Residents had an increasing risk of norovirus gastroenteritis infection than health care workers during an outbreak in a nursing home.

OBJECTIVES: To study norovirus gastroenteritis infection among residents and health care workers (HCWs) during an outbreak in a nursing home by investigating the attack rate and positive diagnostic rate for norovirus by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). METHODS: All members in a Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-affiliated nursing home from November 17, 2006, to November 25, 2006, including 236 residents and 125 HCWs, whose available medical records were available were consecutively included in the retrospective analysis. Fecal specimens of symptomatic residents and HCWs were tested for norovirus by RT-PCR. In addition, routine stool analysis and a stool culture study were conducted to identify the bacterial and parasitic agents. The fecal specimens of asymptomatic residents and HCWs were tested only for norovirus by RT-PCR. RESULTS: The outbreak was controlled within 9 days during the outbreak period. There were 51 symptomatic cases, 41 residents and 10 HCWs, during the norovirus outbreak. The odds ratio (OR) of the attack rate in the residents was approximately 2.4 times higher than that in the HCWs (OR: 2.4; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.2-5.0; P = .015). Norovirus was detected in 59 (30.6%) of 193 residents and in 11 (10.5%) of 105 HCWs who provided stool specimens for the study by RT-PCR. The OR of the positive diagnostic rate for norovirus by RT-PCR in the residents was approximately 3.8 times higher than that in the HCWs (OR: 3.8; 95% CI: 1.9-7.5; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: During an outbreak of norovirus gastroenteritis in a nursing home, the infection can be easily transmitted from person to person and affects both residents and HCWs. In addition, residents had a higher risk of norovirus gastroenteritis infection than HCWs.