Effects of family structure on risk of institutionalisation of disabled older people in Japan.

AIM: To examine the relationship between family structure and the risk of institutionalisation of disabled older people. METHODS: The participants were 286 disabled older people aged 65 or older who were eligible to receive formal care services under the long-term care insurance system in a town in western Japan. Family structure was categorised as living alone, living only with a spouse, living with a son, living with a daughter and living other relatives. The risks of institutionalisation were estimated by logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: Participants living with a daughter had a significantly low odds ratio (OR) for institutionalisation (OR: 0.35, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.13-0.93) and those living alone had a significantly high OR (OR: 2.31, 95% CI: 1.02-5.20), when compared to participants living with a son (regarded as the reference). The ORs of participants living only with a spouse and living with other relatives were 1.50 (95% CI: 0.59-3.79) and 0.66 (95% CI: 0.15-2.82), respectively. CONCLUSION: Living with a daughter could reduce the risk of institutionalisation for disabled older people.

Measurement of high-molecular-weight adiponectin is not useful in assessing coronary stenosis.

BACKGROUND: In many studies, high-molecular-weight (HMW) adiponectin has been considered the active form of adiponectin. However, whether HMW adiponectin is a good surrogate marker for coronary artery disease still needs to be elucidated. METHODS: We conducted a hospital-based cross-sectional study to examine the relationship between total, HMW or non-HMW adiponectin concentrations and coronary stenosis in 83 male patients and 138 male controls. RESULTS: Patients with coronary stenosis had significantly lower total adiponectin concentrations compared with controls. Non-HMW adiponectin concentrations in cases were significantly lower than the controls. However, there were no significant differences between cases and controls in HMW adiponectin concentrations. From the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, the area under the curve (AUC) for total and non-HMW adiponectin was significantly larger than that for HMW adiponectin concentrations. Of the three models, that for non-HMW adiponectin showed the largest AUC (total adiponectin 0.74, HMW adiponectin 0.54, and non-HMW adiponectin 0.79). CONCLUSIONS: Despite associations between total adiponectin levels and coronary stenosis, our data go against any apparent association between HMW adiponectin concentrations and coronary stenosis.