[Relevance of personal contextual factors of the ICF for use in practical social medicine and rehabilitation]. / Bedeutung der personbezogenen Faktoren der ICF für die Nutzung in der praktischen Sozialmedizin und Rehabilitation.

Personal contextual factors play an essential part in the model of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). The WHO has not yet classified personal factors for global use although they impact on the functioning of persons positively or negatively. In 2010, the ICF working group of the German Society of Social Medicine and Prevention (DGSMP) presented a proposal for the classification of personal factors into 72 categories previously arranged in 6 chapters. Now a positioning paper has been added in order to stimulate a discussion about the fourth component of the ICF, to contribute towards a broader and common understanding about the nature of personal factors and to incite a dialogue among all those involved in health care as well as those people with or with-out health problems in order to gain a comprehensive perspective about a person's condition.

[Personal factors of the ICF]. / Personbezogene Faktoren der ICF.

PURPOSE: The presentation aims at illustrating the draft proposal of personal factors of the ICF for German-speaking regions which has been published in 2010 by the working group ICF of Faculty II "Social Medicine and Rehabilitation" of the German Society for Social Medicine and Prevention, DGSMP. For this reason, each personal factor is illustrated by two examples. Thus, the benefit is intended to be convincing. METHODS: Applying a qualitative approach, the working group ICF consisting of members of various professions and institutions including a patients' representative selected for each item one example the factor serving as a facilitator and a second the factor serving as a barrier. RESULTS: The components of the personal factors, as proposed, are presented, each factor is accompanied by two examples. CONCLUSION: The presentation demonstrates the various possibilities of applying personal factors and intends to prove that the selection of items chosen makes sense. The process of a comprehensive discussion about the possible format of the component of personal factors in the ICF should lead to a further optimization of the proposal and the preparation of a discussion at an international level.

[Resource management: ICF-oriented exercise programs for patients with diabetes mellitus type 2. Chronic illnesses and biopsychosocial status]. / Ressourcenmanagement: ICF-orientierte Bewegungsprogramme für Personen mit Diabetes mellitus Typ 2. Chronische Erkrankungen und biopsychosozialer Status.

Common health problems are increasing due to the combination of decreased physical activity demands in everyday life and demographic changes; thus, the importance of exercise therapy is increasing. The incidence and prevalence of today's predominant chronic diseases are directly related to physical activity. However, daily clinical routine does not stay abreast with these changes. The education of physicians, and thus their scope of action, is dominated by biomedical therapy concepts, predominantly drug therapy concepts. Differential and consolidated findings of modern exercise and sport science are astonishingly rare in the counselling and treatment portfolio of medical care. The present disease management program for persons with diabetes mellitus type 2 is a good example. Referring to this background, the authors address the new approach of "ICF-oriented exercise programs and biopsychosocial status." They present resource-related interventional strategies and health care concepts for chronic health disorders like the metabolic syndrome or diabetes mellitus type 2. The relevance and use of active health promotion and care - due to lifestyle- and age-related health problems of the population - will increase in importance and be more commonly recommended.

[Biofunctional age diagnosis in humans. Potentials and limits]. / Biofunktionale Alter(n)sdiagnostik des Menschen. Potenziale und Grenzen.

The demand and requirements for valid, practicable, and reliable procedures for age diagnosis are increasing worldwide. In contrast, few studies and only a small number of procedures exist. The authors review the theoretical and methodological requirements for the development of models for age diagnostics. They describe the fundamentals for further studies, based on an analysis of current gerontological research in this area. A following publication will report the valid systems measuring vitality and biofunctional age(ing) of human beings.

[Possibilities and limits of the diagnosis of aging in sports medicine]. / Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Altersdiagnostik in der Sportmedizin.

The author orders by the presented survey publication the diagnostic of ageing into the sport medical diagnostic, thereby referring on the promising for the field of sport in future. The term of the so-called age is related to the categories adaptation, vitality and biological age(-ing). By a biography the reader gets informed on the current level of diagnostic of ageing within the national and international framework. Out of that the author draws conclusions for optimizing sports medical diagnostic.

[Significance of the determination of biological aging for medicine]. / Zur Bedeutung der Bestimmung des biologischen Alters für die Medizin.

In the elaboration of methods of the determination of the biological age becomes evident that new approaches and models of thinking developed seem to require again to reason out the interdisciplinary position of gerontology. In the light of the results of clinical experimental examinations concerning the biological age which could be achieved by the traditional Leipzig gerontological school since Bürger's activities, the importance of biosocial norm values of age for multifarious theoretical and practical proceedings of medicine and their adjacent scientific fields is confirmed. Here the author sets out from the fact that it is possible nowadays to determine sufficiently and precisely the biological age of man by means of a multifactorial functional diagnostics. A phenotypical vitality measure, which takes into consideration the asynchronous biosocial dynamics of human ageing in the phase of development, maturity and involution, serves as criterion of the biological age. Thus there is the possibility to ascertain in all age-classes reference values ("normal values") for vitality and biological age which are obligatory according to sex. Here the gerontological research of the GDR may produce advances in international research. Furthermore the author elaborates the thoughts that in all phases of life the biological age represents a principal criterion of differentiation both in making the diagnosis by the physician and the judgment of the therapy ("revitalisation") and in the aptitude diagnostics for sports and regulation of training ("vitalisation"). From this aspect gerontology derives its specific importance as scientific theoretical link between medicine and sport sciences.

[Significance of determining biologic aging for gerontology]. / Zur Bedeutung der Bestimmung des biologischen Alterns für die Gerontologie.

Based upon historical findings in age research the authors state that new, actual hypotheses and models and the experimental examination of which incite re-thinking on the inter-disciplinary role or gerontology. The authors start from the fact that it seems to be possible today - GDR gerontology is capable to essentially support international research activities - to sufficiently precisely determine the biological age(ing) of human beings by the multi-factorial functional diagnostics. The degree of vitality is hereby applied as the criterion of biological age(ing) that considers the asynchronous bio-social dynamics of human ageing during the periods of development, maturity and regression. Gerontology is thereby now capable to define sex differently valid references values ("standard values") for vitality and biological age throughout all the ages. The authors elaborate the idea that the efforts of medical research activities are concentrating on the attempt to improve vitality which has been reduced by illness to an age-adequate level, while sport sciences are trying to increase vitality beyond this level during all the periods of life. From these aspects gerontology wins a new inter-disciplinary status as a scientific-theoretical and operational link between medicine and sport sciences. Both, gerontology and sports medicine in particular will have to make pioneers' works to spread these ideas.

[Sex differences in biologic aging. Results of an experimental study]. / Geschlechtsunterschiede des biologischen Alterns. Ergebnisse einer experimentellen Studie.

The authors report on first experimentally verified findings concerning the sex-specific ageing dynamism of man. The study is based on reference values of biological age which could be gathered by employing a clinical complex technique. This technique is conspicuous for its high precision; the reference-value quality of the model curves likewise satisfying all test theoretical criteria. The reference values of biological age characterize the dynamism of ageing within a randomized population group, i.e. 197 male and 168 female citizens aged between 18 and 75 years who were living in urban Leipzig and mainly employed in the working process. Remarkably enough, there hardly appear to be any differences between the two sexes as far as the rate of ageing is concerned. This causes the authors to emphasize the great importance of sex-differentiated morbidity for an increased mortality among men in the industrialized countries. A genetically predetermined higher rate of ageing among men and a resulting lower life expectancy exclusively contingent on it does not seem to exist. These experimentally obtained results correspond in tendency to epidemiological data.

[Giessen test of the aging dynamics of social behavior]. / Untersuchungen mit dem Giessen-Test zur Alternsdynamik sozialen Verhaltens.

The Giessen-test was applied during gerontological complex investigations to study the biological ages of predominantly professionally engaged Leipzig citizens. Four dimensions of this psycho-diagnostical procedure showed a clear age-characteristic confirming the tendencially known features of psycho-social ageing. The achieved results point again to the fact that the deficit-model of ageing processes is not justified in psycho-social relations, in particular. The experiences of this experimental series claim further that the Giessen Test should be applied with old-age people reserve only because of the methodical problems implied.

[Interpretation of a vitality model from the clinico-experimental viewpoint]. / Zur Interpretation eines Vitalitätsmodelles aus klinisch-experimenteller Sicht.

The vitality model conceived by Beier from a theoretical point of view is corroborated by clinical and experimental investigations of the authors. From a randomized study on the biological age of a statistically representative population group it can be concluded that the speed of ageing of this group is not linear in its course and hardly displays any differences between the sexes. Besides, distinct selection effects in advanced age suggest that the human population might consist of two sub-populations (the potentially long-lived and the potentially short-lived) who differ from one another with regard to the speed of ageing, morbidity and to the duration of life. Furthermore, similarities of the sex-specific change in vitality as occurs in the course of life, and the significance of this change for a possible reduction of male over-mortality are pointed out.

[Use of the labyrinth test in gerontologic functional diagnosis]. / Zur Anwendung des Labyrinthtestes in der gerontologischen Funktionsdiagnostik.

The authors inform on the basic application possibilities of the labyrinth-test in gerontological functional diagnoses. They are able to refer to experiences gained from their investigations with 365 subjects from 18 to 75 years of age (197 female, 168 male ones). They recommend this psychological procedure as a practicable and economical method to assess age-dynamics of over-lapping sub-aspects of intelligence (orientational capacity, transitional ability, problem-solutional attitude, memory performance).

[Evaluation of social activity in aging using the Leningrad Assessment Scale]. / Zur Beurteilung der sozialen Aktivität im Alternsgang mit der Leningrader Erfassungsskala.

Some results are presented on social activities of a group of subjects living in the City of Leipzig, selected at random from its population. There are some interesting sex differences as well as a revealing age characteristic/concerning/their social engagement. The authors describe a psycho-social measurement procedure (Leningrad Assessment Scale) which has shown to be useful-as well from its practicability as its test-theoretical capacities-to register reliable data on social activities in professional and family's every-day-life as in leisure-time areas.

[Problems in the definition of biologic aging--methodologic and method positions]. / Zu Definitionsfragen des biologischen Alters--methodologische und methodische Positionen.

The author presents the actual cognitive-theoretical and methodological positions for the assessment of the biological age, reviewing the most essential contents and usual definitions of this term. She points, furthermore, to the methodical and interpretational conclusions (selection and evaluation of age-indicators) resulting from the actual theoretical level of knowledge for corresponding diagnostical procedures.

Chronological and biological age.

Resuming the thread of previous studies, this paper reports a new method of assessing biological age with the inclusion of physical, psychical, and social parameters. The suitability of the method was tested on a total of three hundred and sixty-five subjects. The results obtained allowed a reference curve to be plotted which can be considered a basis for an assessment of biological age.

[Methods for the determination of psycho-social performance within the scope of a model for objectivizing biological age]. / Methoden der psycho-sozialen Leistungsfähigkeitsmessungen im Rahmen eines Modells zur Objektivierung des biologischen Alters.

With the help of experimental findings of a randomized study concerning the dynamics of ageing of a reference population (365 persons of either sex between 18 and 73 years) the authors adopt a principal attitude to methodical questions in objectifying the biological ageing. It is above all demonstrated, if and in how far the psycho-sociometric methods used in a gerontological complex method developed for this purpose meet certain methodical requirements (objectifity, reliability, validity) and are effective from the practical and clinical point of view. On principle it is referred to the necessity of a sex-different interpretation of findings concerning the dynamics of ageing and to the possibilities and borderlines, to attract them for a total assessment of the performance. The clinical model demonstrated for objectifying the biological ageing of man opens a wide field of theoretical and practical possibilities to gain recognitions on dynamics and influencibility of human ageing.

[The use of Ergocomb in symptoms of cerebrovascular insufficiency]. / Zum Einsatz von Ergocomb bei Symptomen der zerebrovaskulären Insuffizienz.

Using a test design of subjective, clinical and psychometric parameters, Ergocomb was tested, in a double-blind trial, on fifty-five patients with cerebrovascular insufficiency. The test results, which are in agreement with those reported in the literature, show a substantial improvement of various subjective and objective criteria. Therefore, Ergocomb, in the form of swallowable tablets, is considered suitable for application to patients with senile cerebral insufficiency, the recommended dosage being 3 x 1 mg.

[Possibilities of determining biological age using complex study methods]. / Möglichkeiten der Bestimmung des biologischen Alters mit Hilfe von komplexen Untersuchungsmethoden.

Issuing from the definition of the biological age as a complex functional condition size (functional age) a test battery of clinico-functional, psychological and psychosocial methods is presented with the help of which it is possible to objectify the biological age of man using certain mathematical methods of evaluation. Economic and temporary use, practicability for all age groups, possibility of standardization of the results of measuring as well as methodical criteria of quality (objectify and reliability, slight susceptibility to disturbances) recommend the method as an ambulatorily usable complex screening method which may be helpful for the gerontological practice (aptitude diagnostics adequate to disposition, problems of annuity computation, preventive and therapeutic questions) as well promises scientific abundance.

[Asynchronous aging and biological aging]. / Asynchrones Altern und biologisches Alter.

The author deals with problems arising from the attempt to determine the biological age of man, as a result of asynchronous ageing. Selected findings, including the author's are presented to prove that differentiation and a critical approach are required in collecting and interpreting what is known as ageing data which serve to find the biological age by way of cross-sectional studies.