"I'm Gonna Hang on to These As Long As I Can": Examining the Perspectives and Knowledge of Oral Health Issues of Older Adults Living Independently.

PURPOSE: Advantages of fluoridated water, dental insurance, and greater awareness of preventive oral healthcare allow many adults in today's aging cohort to maintain their teeth into their advanced years. The purpose of this study was to describe attitudes, expectations, knowledge, and intentions related to oral health issues from the experiences of older adults living independently in a largely rural south central state. METHODS: A qualitative analysis guided by behavioral constructs of the Reasoned Action Approach was utilized to conduct semi-structured interviews of a purposeful sample of adults age 65 years and older living independently. RESULTS: Participant data (N = 26) revealed 5 themes: difficulties accessing dental care; active coping; taking care of your mouth as part of overall health; interactions affecting oral health-related quality of life; and supporting roles. Overall, the intention to attain dental care was affected by the perceived need to prioritize many health issues over oral care. An overarching expectation to have affordable basic services available pervaded. CONCLUSION: The perceptions of participants reflect socioeconomic determinants that could be influenced through improved health literacy education focused on establishing a greater understanding of the oral systemic link especially as it relates to diabetes.

Assessment of physical fitness aspects and their relationship to firefighters' job abilities.

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationships between various fitness parameters and firefighting performance on an "Ability Test" (AT) that included a set of 6 simulated firefighting tasks. The relationships between each fitness parameter and each task of the AT were determined. Ninety firefighters participated in this study (age 33 ± 7 years). The AT completion time was associated with abdominal strength (r = -0.53, p < 0.01), relative power (r = -0.44, p < 0.01), upper-body muscular endurance (push-ups, r = -0.27, p < 0.05) (sit-ups, r = -0.41, p < 0.01), and upper-body strength (1 repetition maximum bench press, r = -0.41, p < 0.01). In addition, poor performance on the AT was associated with high resting heart rate (r = 0.36, p < 0.01), high body mass index (r = 0.34, p < 0.01), high body fat (BF)% (r = 0.57, p < 0.01), increasing age (r = 0.42, p < 0.01), and large waist size (r = 0.67, p < 0.01). Multiple regression analyses indicated that a significant (F[5, 53] = 14.02, p < 0.01) proportion (60%) of the variation observed in the AT was explained by the variation of the fitness parameters used in the model. This study demonstrated that fitness variables, such as abdominal strength, power (step test), push-ups, resting Hr, and BF%, contributed significantly to the predictive power of firefighters' AT performance. The findings of this study may be useful to fire department instructors and trainers in the design and implementation of training programs that are more specifically tailored to improving both individual firefighting skills and general fire suppression performance.