OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the effects of fish oil supplementation on cognitive function in elderly person with MCI.
METHODS: This was a 12-month, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study using fish oil supplementation with concentrated docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Thirty six low-socioeconomic-status elderly subjects with MCI were randomly assigned to receive either concentrated DHA fish oil (n = 18) or placebo (n = 18) capsules. The changes of memory, psychomotor speed, executive function and attention, and visual-constructive skills were assessed using cognitive tests. Secondary outcomes were safety and tolerability of the DHA concentrate.
RESULTS: The fish oil group showed significant improvement in short-term and working memory (F = 9.890; ηp (2) = 0.254; p
AIMS: A community-based longitudinal study was performed to determine the incidence and to identify possible predictors of multimorbidity among multiethnic older adults population in Malaysia.
METHODS: Comprehensive interview-based questionnaires were administered among 729 participants aged 60 years and above. Data were analyzed from the baseline data of older adults participating in the Towards Useful Aging (TUA) study (2014-2016) who were not affected by multimorbidity (349 without any chronic diseases and 380 with one disease). Multimorbidity was considered present in an individual reporting two or more chronic diseases.
RESULTS: After 1½ years of follow-up, 18.8% of participants who were initially free of any diseases and 40.9% of those with one disease at baseline, developed multimorbidity. The incidence rates were 13.7 per 100 person-years and 34.2 per 100 person-years, respectively. Female gender, smoking, and irregular preparing of food (lifestyle) were predictors for incidence of multimorbidity, especially in those without any disease, while Body Mass Index (BMI) 22-27 kg/m2 and inadequate daily intake of iron were identified as predictors of multimorbidity among participants who already have one disease.
CONCLUSIONS: The incidence rates of multimorbidity among Malaysian older adults were between the ranges of 14-34 per 100 person-years at a 1½-year follow-up. Gender, smoking, BMI 22-27 kg/m2, inadequate daily intake of iron and lack of engagement in leisure or lifestyle physical activities were possible predictors in the development of multimorbidity. There is a need to formulate effective preventive management strategies to decelerate multimorbidity among older adults.
METHODS: Healthy participants aged ≥ 60 years with no neurological conditions were recruited from rural and urban locations in Malaysia. HGS and KPS were measured using hand grip and key pinch dynamometers. Basic demographic data, anthropometric measures, modified Barthel Index scores and results of the Functional Reach Test (FRT), Timed Up and Go (TUG) test and Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function Test (JTHFT) were recorded.
RESULTS: 362 subjects aged 60-93 years were recruited. The men were significantly stronger than the women in both HGS and KPS (p < 0.001). The hand strength of the study cohort was lower than that of elderly Western populations. Significant correlations were observed between hand strength, and residential area (p < 0.001), FRT (r = 0.236, p = 0.028), TUG (r = -0.227, p = 0.009) and JTHFT (r = -0.927, p < 0.001).
CONCLUSION: This study established reference ranges for the HGS and KPS of rural and urban elderly Malaysian subpopulations. These will aid the use of hand strength as a screening tool for frailty among elderly persons in Malaysia. Future studies are required to determine the modifiable factors for poor hand strength.
METHODS: A total of 755 older adults aged ≥60 years were recruited. Their cognitive performance was determined using the Clinical Dementia Rating. Fried's criteria was applied to identify physical frailty, and the Beck Depression Inventory assessed their mental states.
RESULTS: A total of 39.2% (n = 304) of the participants were classified as cognitive frail. In this cognitive frail subpopulation, 8.6% (n = 26) had clinical depressive symptoms, which were mostly somatic such as disturbance in sleep pattern, work difficulty, fatigue, and lack of appetite. Older adults with cognitive frailty also showed significantly higher depression levels as compared with the noncognitive frail participants (t (622.06) = -3.38; P = 0.001). There are significant associations between depression among older adults with cognitive frailty and multimorbidity (P = 0.009), polypharmacy (P = 0.009), vision problems (P = 0.046), and hearing problems (P = 0.047). The likelihood of older adults with cognitive frailty who experience impairments to their vision and hearing, polypharmacy, and multimorbidity to be depressed also increased by 2, 3, 5, and 7-fold.
CONCLUSIONS: The majority of the Malaysian community-dwelling older adults were in a good mental state. However, older adults with cognitive frailty are more susceptible to depression due to impairments to their hearing and vision, multimorbidity, and polypharmacy. As common clinical depressive symptoms among older adults with cognitive frailty are mostly somatic, it is crucial for health professionals to recognize these and not to disregard them as only physical illness. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2024; 24: 225-233.
AIM: This study aims to determine the use of one of three physical performance tests (2-minute step, 2-minute walk, and 1-minute sit to stand) to effectively estimate cardiorespiratory fitness among older adults with CF.
METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, community-dwelling individuals aged 60 years old and above in Klang Valley were screened for CF. The participants performed three physical performance tests (2-minute walk, 2-minute step, and 1-minute sit to stand) followed by treadmill-based maximal exercise testing on another day.
RESULTS: A total of 32 older adults with cognitive frailty (mean age; SD: 67.1;4.7 years) participated in this study. Nearly half of them had hypertension (43.5 %), hypercholesterolemia (43.5 %), and multimorbidity (47.8 %). Among the endurance tests performed, only the 2-minute walk test independently predicted VO2 max by sex-specific with men (R2 = 0.58, p = 0.03) and women (R2 = 0.34, p = 0.01). The 2-minute walk test had good agreement with VO2 max (ICC = 0.77, 95 % CI: -3.1-2.4).
CONCLUSION: The 2-minute walk test is a valid tool for estimating cardiorespiratory fitness among older adults with CF. However, it should be further tested across a larger population.
METHODS: This prospective cohort study utilized stratified simple random sampling to recruit 1614 participants from the Malaysian Elders Longitudinal Research aged above 55 years within the Klang Valley region from 2013 to 2015. Individual items for the frailty tools, alongside baseline physical and cognitive measures were extracted from the initial survey. Mortality data up to 31 December 2020 were obtained through data linkage from the death registry data obtained from the Malaysian National Registration Department.
RESULTS: Data were available for over 1609 participants, age (68.92 ± 7.52) years and 57 % women, during recruitment. Mortality data revealed 13.4 % had died as of 31 December 2020. Five to 25 % of our study population fulfilled the criteria for frailty using all four frailty tools. This study found an increased risk of mortality with frailty following adjustments for potential factors of falls, total number of illnesses and cognitive impairment, alongside moderate to strong correlation and agreement between frailty tools.
CONCLUSION: Frailty was associated with increased mortality. All four frailty assessment tools can be used to assess frailty within the Malaysian older adult population. The four available tools, however, may not be interchangeable.
METHOD: In this study, a proteomic study focused on Malaysian Chinese and Malay prospects was conducted. Differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in AD patients and normal controls for Chinese and Malays were identified. Functional enrichment analysis was conducted to further interpret the biological functions and pathways of the DEPs. In addition, a survey investigating behavioural practices among Chinese and Malay participants was conducted to support the results from the proteomic analysis.
RESULT: The variation of dysregulated proteins identified in Chinese and Malay samples suggested the disparities of pathways involved in this pathological condition for each respective ethnicity. Functional enrichment analysis supported this assumption in understanding the protein-protein interactions of the identified protein signatures and indicate that differentially expressed proteins identified from the Chinese group were significantly enriched with the functional terms related to Aβ/tau protein-related processes, oxidative stress and inflammation whereas neuroinflammation was associated with the Malay group. Besides that, a significant difference in sweet drinks/food intake habits between these two groups implies a relationship between sugar levels and the dysregulation of protein APOA4 in the Malay group. Additional meta-analysis further supported the dysregulation of proteins TF, AHSG, A1BG, APOA4 and C4A among AD groups.
CONCLUSION: These findings serve as a preliminary understanding in the molecular and demographic studies of AD in a multi-ethnic population.
METHODS: Further to informed consent from 39 healthy subjects and 39 probable AD patients, 8.5 mL of peripheral blood was collected and serum was extracted. The differential levels of 12 serum cytokines extracted from peripheral blood samples were measured using Procarta Multiplex Cytokine and enzyme-linked immunoassay kits. Concentrations of cytokines were measured at 615 nm using a fluorometer.
RESULTS: Except for tumor necrosis factor-α, all classical pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin [IL]-1β, IL-6, IL-12 and interferon-γ) were found to be significantly upregulated (P 53.65 ρg/mL and <9.315 ρg/mL, respectively).
CONCLUSIONS: Both the non-classical pro-inflammatory CXCL-10 and anti-inflammatory IL-13 cytokines showed promising potential as blood-based cytokine biomarkers for AD. This is the first study of non-classical cytokine profiles of Malaysian AD patients. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 839-846.