Telemedicine Readiness Across Medical Conditions in a US National Representative Sample of Older Adults.

Telemedicine has provided older adults the ability to seek care remotely during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. However, it is unclear how diverse medical conditions play a role in telemedicine uptake. A total of 3379 participants (≥65 years) were interviewed in 2018 as part of the National Health and Aging Trends Study. We assessed telemedicine readiness across multiple medical conditions. Most chronic medical conditions and mood symptoms were significantly associated with telemedicine unreadiness, for physical or technical reasons or both, while cancer, hypertension, and arthritis were significantly associated with telemedicine readiness. Our findings suggest that multiple medical conditions play a substantial role in telemedicine uptake among older adults in the US. Therefore, comorbidities should be taken into consideration when promoting and adopting telemedicine technologies among older adults.

Cognitive Decline, Body Mass Index, and Waist Circumference in Community-Dwelling Elderly Participants.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the association of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and BMI and WC changes over time with cognitive decline in a nationally representative sample. METHODS: A total of 5239 participants (≥65 years) were followed for 3 years as part of the National Health and Aging Trends Study. Cox proportional hazard regression was applied to model the risk of cognitive decline. RESULTS: BMI, after adjusting for WC and main confounders, was associated with reduced risk of cognitive decline (hazard ratio [HR] 0.97 for each unit BMI increase, 0.95-0.99). After stratifying by gender and age, this effect remained significant among females and young elders ≤80 years. A BMI decrease and WC increase >10% over the study period were associated with increased risk of cognitive decline (HR 1.98, 1.16-3.38; HR 1.30, 1.04-1.62, respectively). CONCLUSION: In the elderly individuals, lean mass, as measured by BMI adjusted for WC, was associated with reduced risk of cognitive decline. Loss of lean mass and gain of fat mass, as measured by WC adjusted for BMI, were associated with elevated risk of cognitive decline.