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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Nancy A. Hodgson1, Vicki A. Freedman1, and Doug Granger2. (1) Madlyn and Leonard Abramson Center for Jewish Life, Polisher Research Institute, 1425 Horsham Road, North Wales, PA 19454, 215-371-1896, nhodgson@pgc.org, (2) Penn State University, Department of Behavioral Endocrinology, State College, PA 16803
A growing area in population aging research is the examination of stress, health, and mortality. Our study focuses on an important indicator of physiologic stress—salivary cortisol—in the frail older population in response to an external challenge. The study involved a unique, naturally occurring experimental design in which nursing home residents were randomly assigned to be moved to a newly built facility. Eighty-eight participants (mean age 88 years; 81% female) were approached on-awakening and thereafter 3-4, 6-7 and 9-10 hours from awakening. Measures included: cognitive functioning, salivary-free cortisol, mood, physiological status (blood pressure, pulse, height/weight) and administrative records (MDS, medications). Measures were obtained one week before moving, and one week and four weeks after moving for the experimental group and at matched intervals for the control group. In baseline analysis, basal cortisol levels were significantly higher among older subjects (p=. 05), with lower mental status (p=.04), and greater BMI (p=.03). Mean cortisol values demonstrated patterns similar to those described in populations under chronic stress. Individual patterns revealed three profiles: a monotonic decreasing pattern consistent with healthy elders, a u-shaped pattern, and an erratic pattern. Significantly lower mental status (p=.001) lower depression (p=.008) and anxiety (p=.03) symptoms existed in the erratic pattern group. These findings are among the first to examine links between diurnal neuroendocrine function, cognition and mood in this population. Further analysis is needed to establish whether diurnal cortisol rhythms predict a nursing home resident’s clinical course and is the next step of our analysis.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Frail Elderly, Nursing Homes
Related Web page: www.pgc.org/PRI/PRI.html
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.