The purpose of this Position Stand is to provide an overview of issues critical to understanding the importance of exercise and physical activity in older adult populations. The Position Stand is divided into three sections: Section 1 briefly reviews the structural and functional changes that characterize normal human aging, Section 2 considers the extent to which exercise and physical activity can influence the aging process, and Section 3 summarizes the benefits of both long-term exercise and physical activity and shorter-duration exercise programs on health and functional capacity. Although no amount of physical activity can stop the biological aging process, there is evidence that regular exercise can minimize the physiological effects of an otherwise sedentary lifestyle and increase active life expectancy by limiting the development and progression of chronic disease and disabling conditions. There is also emerging evidence for significant psychological and cognitive benefits accruing from regular exercise participation by older adults. Ideally, exercise prescription for older adults should include aerobic exercise, muscle strengthening exercises, and flexibility exercises. The evidence reviewed in this Position Stand is generally consistent with prior American College of Sports Medicine statements on the types and amounts of physical activity recommended for older adults as well as the recently published 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. All older adults should engage in regular physical activity and avoid an inactive lifestyle.

Exercise and physical activity for older adults

http://lib.ajaums.ac.ir/booklist/archives%20of%20neurology_24%20Jan-2_17.pdf

The cardiovascular health study: Design and rationale

SUMMARYACSM Position Stand on Exercise and Physical Activity for Older Adults. Med. Sci. Sports. Exerc., Vol. 30. No. 6, pp. 992-1008, 1998. By the year 2030, the number of individuals 65 yr and over will reach 70 million in the United States alone; persons 85 yr and older will be the fastest gr

ACSM Position Stand: Exercise and Physical Activity for Older Adults

The purpose of this book is to provide nurses with the best available research, thereby enabling better decisions that result in improved health care and safety practices and lead to better outcomes. Nurses often are the ones who find errors and prevent pa tient harm. In their focus on patient safety, nurses identify critical issues and research for evidence-based practice. This book is a great resource for practicing nurses, nurse educators, re searchers, leaders, and students. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality strongly promotes that safety and quality of health care is dependent on the availability of the best research possible and the ability to deliver results of research into the hands of practitioners, policy makers, and consumers. This text is a culmination of subject expert knowledge, practice, and research from 89 contributors who represent a broad range of nurses and senior researchers across the nation. The topics covered in this text provide excellent background for any clinician, nurse educator, or nurse leader. The topics include • evidence-based practice, • patient-centered care, • working environment for nurses, • care models, and • patient acuity. The chapters provide an easy-tounderstand guide and include a background section and analysis of the literature based on the topic presented. Practice implications are identified at the end of each chapter and guide efforts for improving quality and patient care. Research implications for each topic outline target areas for improvement and can be used by clinicians to inform and guide practice. There are also questions and issues to develop or expand thesis topics and research papers, which faculty members may find useful. A section on critical opportunities contains current topics, including wrong site surgery, communication hand offs by nurses, medication administration safety, medication reconciliation, and personal safety for nurses. These topics are very well presented with numerous research citations and examples from all areas of nursing— from patient entry to the facility to discharge and home care. The authors use exhibits, tables, guides, templates, models, and representations within each chapter and conclude with a list of references including web sites for further independent review and citation. The volumes are written in a manner that allows for quick access, and they are

Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses

Association between Staphylococcus aureus strains carrying gene for Panton-Valentine leukocidin and highly lethal necrotising pneumonia in young immunocompetent patients

Seventy-six healthy adults underwent magnetic resonance imaging (1.5 T) to investigate the effects of age on regional cerebral volumes and on the frequency and severity of cortical atrophy, lateral ventricular enlargement, and subcortical hyperintensity. Increasing age was associated with (1) decreasing volumes of the cerebral hemispheres (0.23% per year), the frontal lobes (0.55% per year), the temporal lobes (0.28% per year), and the amygdalahippocampal complex (0.30% per year); (2) increasing volumes of the third ventricle (2.8% per year) and the lateral ventricles (3.2% per year); and (3) increasing odds of cortical atrophy (8.9% per year), lateral ventricular enlargement (7.7% per year), and subcortical hyperintensity in the deep white matter (6.3% per year) and the pons (8.1% per year). Many elderly subjects did not exhibit cortical atrophy or lateral ventricular enlargement, however, indicating that such changes are not inevitable consequences of advancing age. These data should provide a useful clinical context within which to interpret changes in regional brain size associated with “abnormal” aging.

Quantitative cerebral anatomy of the aging human brain: A cross‐sectional study using magnetic resonance imaging

Previous findings suggest that some who report insomnia sleep well, whereas some noncomplaining individuals sleep rather poorly. This study was conducted to determine if mood, anxiety, and sleep-related beliefs might relate to perceived sleep disturbance. Thirty-two women and 32 men (aged 40-79 years) with primary insomnia and an aged-matched sample of 61 normal sleepers (31 women, 30 men) completed 6 nocturnal sleep recordings, as well as the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Trait portion of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-2), and the Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes About Sleep Questionnaire. Sleep and interview data were used to subdivide the majority of the sample (n = 108) into objective normal sleepers and subjective insomnia sufferers who seemingly slept well and subjective normal sleepers and objective insomnia sufferers who slept poorly. The 2 subjective subgroups showed the most marked differences on most of the psychometric measures. The findings suggest that the psychological factors scrutinized in this study may mediate sleep satisfaction and/or predict objective sleep difficulties.

Insomnia and the eye of the beholder: are there clinical markers of objective sleep disturbances among adults with and without insomnia complaints?

Bacterial pneumonia during the Hong Kong influenza epidemic of 1968-1969.

Bacteriological, serological, and clinical findings in 128 patients with pneumonia admitted to the medical service of Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta, during the 1968-1969 Hong Kong influenza epidemic were compared with the findings in patients with pneumonia admitted during a one-year period beginning July 1, 1967. During the influenza epidemic a threefold increase in the incidence of staphylococcal pneumonia occurred, which accounted for 25.9% of the bacteriologically proved cases. A high correlation between pneumonia, especially staphylococcal pneumonia, and influenza infection was documented. Comparison of preexisting disease in patients with pneumonia during the two time periods failed to reveal any major differences, which suggests similar host susceptibility during epidemic and nonepidemic periods. With no change in the case fatality rate, the excess influenza and pneumonia mortality during the Hong Kong epidemic was primarily due to the increased incidence of bacterial pneumonia.

Bacterial Pneumonia During the Hong Kong Influenza Epidemic of 1968-1969: Experience in a City-County Hospital

Adult patients admitted to the medical service of a city-county hospital for treatment of presumptive acute pneumonia were followed up in a prospective study of pneumonia etiology from July 1, 1967, to June 30, 1968. Laboratory specimens were tested for bacterial, mycoplasmal, and viral agents, and results, supported by serologic data, were evaluated. Of 292 cases of pneumonia, 167 (57%) could be attributed to specific bacterial pathogens. The pneumococcus was the most frequent etiologic agent (62%), gram-negative bacilli the second most frequent (20%), andStaphylococcus aureusthe third (10%). Viral infections other than influenza appeared to be unrelated to adult pneumonias. Four fifths of the patients had one or more associated diseases. Overall mortality was 24%. An age of 40 years and over and gram-negative bacillus or staphylococcal etiology were identified as mortality risk factors.

Robert J. Sullivan

Papers

Quantitative cerebral anatomy of the aging human brain: A cross‐sectional study using magnetic resonance imaging

Insomnia and the eye of the beholder: are there clinical markers of objective sleep disturbances among adults with and without insomnia complaints?

Bacterial pneumonia during the Hong Kong influenza epidemic of 1968-1969.

Bacterial Pneumonia During the Hong Kong Influenza Epidemic of 1968-1969: Experience in a City-County Hospital

Adult pneumonia in a general hospital. Etiology and host risk factors.