Clinimetric properties of the "FIND-NEEDS" to screen geriatric conditions.

INTRODUCTION: Comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) is used to thoroughly assess and identify complex healthcare problems among older adults. However, administration of CGA is time-consuming and labor intensive. A simple screening tool with the mnemonic "FIND-NEEDS" was developed to quickly identify common geriatric conditions. The present study was to evaluate the clinimetric properties of the FIND-NEEDS. METHODS: First-visiting older adults aged 65 years and above (and who were able to communicate by themselves or with the help of a caregiver) were assessed (October to December, 2021) using the FIND-NEEDS and CGA at geriatric outpatient clinics of a tertiary, referred medical center. The FIND-NEEDS was examined for its criterion-related validity and compared with the CGA results. Two types of scoring (summed score and binary score) of FIND-NEEDS and CGA were analyzed using Spearman correlation, sensitivity and specificity, and area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). RESULTS: The mean age of the 114 outpatients was 78.3±7.6 years, and 79(69.3%) were female. The internal consistency was excellent when using all FIND-NEEDS items, and was acceptable when using domain scores. Exploratory factor analysis showed that most of the FIND-NEEDS domain scores had factor loadings higher than 0.3. Intercorrelations of binary scores between domains of FIND-NEEDS and CGA showed most domains were moderately correlated. The overall correlation of summed scores between FIND-NEEDS and CGA was high. The FIND-NEEDS summed score was moderately correlated with CGA score (r=0.494; p<0.001), and the binary score showed excellent correlation (r=0.944; p<0.001). When using the CGA score as the gold standard, the FIND-NEEDS showed excellent AUC (0.950), sensitivity (1.00), and specificity (0.90). DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrated that the FIND-NEEDS had acceptable clinimetric properties to screen for geriatric problems among older adults. Further in-depth assessment and care plan can then be conducted afterwards.

Technology-embedded health education on nutrition for middle-aged and older adults living in the community.

Mobile technology provides young adults important support for self-directed learning, but whether there is related support for older adults is not clear. This study aims to determine whether 1) nutrition education combined with mobile technology-supported teaching improves knowledge of and self-efficacy for a healthy diet; 2) if adults who reported reviewing the electronic course material or searching health information online, showed significantly greater progress in knowledge of and self-efficacy for a healthy diet than did those who did not adopt the electronic support. A total of 35 middle-aged and older adults were recruited from the community. Enrollees who were unable to read, who participated in the course fewer than five times, who did not take the post-test, or who did not return complete questionnaires at the pre-test were excluded. Overall, 21 participants were finally analyzed, and 14 participated in the qualitative investigation. The study interventions included three traditional nutrition lectures and three touch-screen tablet computer lessons to access the Internet and nutrition applications. Structured and semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data and record participants' Internet use conditions at home. Participants' nutrition knowledge significantly improved (meanpost-pre = 1.19, p = 0.001) and their self-efficacy about a healthy diet showed marginal improvement (meanpost-pre = 0.22, p = 0.07). Nutrition knowledge was positively correlated with their intensity of surfing the Internet (r = 0.46, p < 0.05), or reviewing the electronic course material (r = 0.48, p < 0.05) but not correlated with reviewing paper course material (r = 0.19, p = 0.09). Qualitative results showed that participants reported feeling freshness, joyfulness, and great achievement because of the combined course material. Technology-supported learning combined with traditional health education might provide great opportunities for positive behavioral change, even in older adults without any previous Internet experience.

The Role of Leisure Activities in the Relationship Between Marital Transition in Later Midlife and Psychological Well-Being Trajectories.

This study examined the levels and rates of changes in psychological well-being for middle-aged adults of different statuses or marital transitions. The moderating effects of different leisure activities were also tested. Longitudinal data on 1,270 persons aged 50 to 65 years at baseline from the Taiwan longitudinal study on aging were analyzed. Adults who were stably unmarried or unpartnered reported worse mental health at baseline, but their psychological well-being improved over time. The trajectory of depressive symptoms fluctuated markedly in adults who became widowed during our observation period. Engagement in physical, cognitive, or social activities was significantly associated with participants' psychological well-being. Participation in religious activities was significantly associated with life satisfaction and decreased depressive symptoms for those undergoing bereavement. Findings from this study suggest that social and physical activities, among the four selected leisure activities, have the greatest association between decreasing depressive symptoms and increasing life satisfaction, respectively. Religious activities, in particular, may improve psychological well-being in bereaved middle-aged and older adults.

Suicide Reporting on Front Pages of Major Newspapers in Taiwan Violating Reporting Recommendations Between 2001 and 2012.

Media reporting can lead to the acceptance of incorrect ideas and information by the general public, which in turn can impact behavior. A number of studies have found that suicide reporting in the media can lead to an increase in the suicide rate or copycat suicides. Therefore, the aims of this study are to (a) investigate front-page reporting of suicide in four major newspapers in Taiwan; (b) investigate violation of recommendations for reporting suicide by the four major newspapers in Taiwan; and (c) investigate the impact of important events and government policy on front-page reporting of suicide (i.e., the effect of the Apple Daily newspaper entering the market, and the start of media monitoring). We carried out content analysis of reports of suicide on the front pages of the four newspapers with the highest rates of readership in Taiwan (China Times, Liberty Times, Apple Daily, and United Daily News) between 2001 and 2012. We used the chi-squared test, chi-squared test for trend, and analysis of variance to analyze trends in violation of reporting recommendations and potential associated factors. We found that (a) suicide was most commonly reported as a front-page headline and as a whole-page spread by the four major newspapers in Taiwan, with many reports including photographs; (b) reporting of suicide by the four major newspapers in Taiwan frequently violated World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations for suicide reporting in the media; (c) following the entry of the Apple Daily newspaper into the Taiwanese market, reporting approaches to suicide by the other three major newspapers changed to more sensational photos and texts; and (d) monitoring of suicide reporting by the Taiwan Suicide Prevention Center appears to have been only partially effective. In summary, reporting of suicide by the four major newspapers in Taiwan could be further improved. Effective regulation of suicide reporting by newspapers could reduce the impact of this reporting on readers. In addition, regular assessment of observance of the WHO recommendations for suicide reporting by newspapers is an important part of suicide prevention.

Effects of parenting role and parent-child interaction on infant motor development in Taiwan Birth Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have rarely focused on healthy infants' motor development, and nationwide birth cohort studies in Taiwan are limited. It has been shown that parent-child interactions significantly influence infant motor development and the effect of mother-infant attachment on infant development is stronger than father-infant attachment. However, it is not well understood that whether the mother-infant or father-infant interaction has the confounding effect on infant motor development. AIMS: To understand healthy infant motor development in Taiwan; and to investigate the effects of parenting roles and parent-child interactions on infant motor development. METHODS: Data were derived from the 1st through the 2nd waves of the Taiwan Birth Cohort Study-Pilot Database. Infants were classified into two categories (complete or incomplete development) according to their developmental milestones. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) and random effects models were used to clarify the possible long-term effects. RESULTS: The rate of infants who completed development in 6 months was 30.50%; however the rate was increased in 18 month-old children (80.01%). A mother's perceived infant care competence was the most important factor for infant motor development. "Whether or not the infant was the only baby in the family" and "parent-child interaction" had slightly significant effect on infant motor development. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the mother's perceived competence must be strengthened and parent-infant interactions should be emphasized on a daily basis.

Influence of stressors and possible pathways of onset of seventh graders' suicidal ideation in urban and rural areas in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people in Taiwan. However, few studies have investigated children's suicidal ideation, and longitudinal studies are particularly rare. The purposes of this study were: (1) to describe the proportion of students with suicidal ideation in one month and incidence of suicidal ideation in the 7th graders (the first year of junior high school) living in urban and rural areas; (2) to realize the influence of perceived stressors on the onset of 7th graders' suicidal ideation; and (3) to explore possible pathways through which trigger factors and perceived stressors lead to suicidal ideation. METHODS: A total of 1,589 students were followed from grade 4 to grade 7. Logistic regression was then used to investigate the influence of perceived stressors on the onset of suicidal ideation in grade 7. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze possible pathways through which trigger factors led to increased pressure from certain stressors which in turn resulted in suicidal ideation. RESULTS: The proportion of students with suicidal ideation in one month was 2 to 3 times higher in both areas compared to that in elementary school. However, the incidence in the rural area showed a large increase from 10.2% and 9.5% in grades 5 and 6 to 15.5% in grade 7. Urban-rural difference was observed. Important stressors and pathways of suicidal ideation differ between urban and rural areas. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the influential stressors in urban and rural areas might be different. Thus, interventions focused on coping skills for regional specific stressors and trigger factors could be beneficial in the transition time.