Paula Costa Castro

Convergent validity between SF-36 and WHOQOL-BREF in older adults

OBJECTIVE To compare the reliability and convergent validity of instruments assessing quality of life in Brazilian older adults. METHODS Cross-sectional study of 278 literate, community-dwelling older adults attending a municipal university for the elderly in Sao Carlos, SP, Southeastern Brazil between 2006 and 2008. The Brazilian versions of the SF-36 and WHOQOL-BREF instruments to assess quality of life were compared. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to estimate reliability and Pearson’s correlation for comparison between the two scales. RESULTS Most of participants were women (87.8%) with a mean age of 63.83±7.22 years. Both scales showed an acceptable internal consistency – WHOQOL-BREF Cronbach’s alpha was 0.832 and SF-36 was 0.868. There was a weak (r ≤ 0.6) correlation between the related fields in the two questionnaires. CONCLUSIONS The SF-36 and WHOQOL-BREF are reliable instruments for clinical and research uses in Brazilian older women. To select one, researchers should consider which aspects of quality of life they aim to capture because of weak convergent validity signs. This study’s results indicate that WHOQOL-BREF may be more relevant to evaluate changes in the quality of life of older women because it prioritizes responses to the aging process and avoids focusing on impairment.

Better than counting seconds: Identifying fallers among healthy elderly using fusion of accelerometer features and dual-task Timed Up and Go

Devices and sensors for identification of fallers can be used to implement actions to prevent falls and to allow the elderly to live an independent life while reducing the long-term care costs. In this study we aimed to investigate the accuracy of Timed Up and Go test, for fallers’ identification, using fusion of features extracted from accelerometer data. Single and dual tasks TUG (manual and cognitive) were performed by a final sample (94% power) of 36 community dwelling healthy older persons (18 fallers paired with 18 non-fallers) while they wear a single triaxial accelerometer at waist with sampling rate of 200Hz. The segmentation of the TUG different trials and its comparative analysis allows to better discriminate fallers from non-fallers, while conventional functional tests fail to do so. In addition, we show that the fusion of features improve the discrimination power, achieving AUC of 0.84 (Sensitivity = Specificity = 0.83, 95% CI 0.62-0.91), and demonstrating the clinical relevance of the study. We concluded that features extracted from segmented TUG trials acquired with dual tasks has potential to improve performance when identifying fallers via accelerometer sensors, which can improve TUG accuracy for clinical and epidemiological applications.

A Review of Senescent's Motivation in the Use of Tactile Devices

Abstract Researchers report that people older than 60 years old could benefit from easier access to information by using technologies. However, they have been marginalized from the digital inclusion process. The main reason is that the development of devices and interfaces does not consider particularities that allow its use by this range of senior users. Mobile devices with touch screens have the potential to solve these problems. It is because interactions based on touch are more intuitive, regardless of age. However, the use rate of tactile devices for the elderly is considered low compared to other age groups, because they tend to use their mobile phones for relatively limited purposes. The aim of this study is, through interviews and specific tasks encourage the use of technology by those who have not demonstrated the receptive to the devices, and verify the existence of motivations to use a schedule on a tactile device. The results provide insights for developing a schedule application, and evidence that even the senescent people, who often have hesitation about mobile devices, after the conclusion of a task supported by specialists became receptive to such technology.

Mobile Digital Storytelling in a Brazilian Care Home.

Digital stories are short personal films made up of a series of still images with voiceover, music and text. The technical barriers to creating such stories are falling with the use of mobile apps which make it easy to assemble story elements as audiophoto narratives on a smartphone or tablet. In this case study, we explored the potential of mobile digital storytelling in a care home context. It was used for four weeks as form of multimedia communication between formal and informal carers inside and outside the home, and a care home resident suffering from dementia. The home was located in Sao Carlos, Brazil as part of a larger international project called Time Matters (UK and Brazil), in which Time stands for ‘This is me’. Fifteen digital stories were made by participants in the trial, which is about one for every visit of the researchers to the care home. Stories focused mainly on the resident; capturing aspects of everyday life discussed in Visit conversations (4), documenting Social events (3) inside or outside the home, recording Therapy sessions (3) with the resident or Health reports (3) by professional carers, and forming Media albums (2) of the residents’ art or life. In general, the technology was most useful for facilitating richer conversations with the resident and other participants, and stimulating greater expressivity and creativity in the resident herself. The desire to document the resident’s current life and interests in the home for later reminiscence by their family, stands in contrast to conventional reminiscence therapy and related digital systems. These use media artefacts to stimulate reminiscence of residents’ past life outside the home.

Effects of a Health Education program on cognition, mood and functional capacity

Objective: Assess the effect of a Health Education (HE) program on cognition, mood and functional capacity of participants in a University of The Third Age (U3A). Method: Controlled clinical trial. The HE Program consisted of 10 sessions with group dynamics, including orientations on disease prevention and cognitive stimulation exercises, lasting four months. Intervention Group (IG) n=13; and Control Group (CG) n=15. All were assessed at the start and end of the study, using Addenbrook´s Cognitive Examination-Revised (ACE-R), Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventory (BDI/BAI) and Functional Independence Measure (FIM). Results: Significant improvements were observed for the IG when comparing the total ACE-R score (p=0.001) and memory domain (p=0.011) before and after the intervention. For the CG, improvement was found in the memory domain only (p=0.027). Conclusion: a HE intervention program benefits the improvement in cognitive performance, particularly the memory of adults and active elderly who participated in a U3A.Objetivo: Avaliar o efeito de um programa de Educacao em Saude (ES) na cognicao, humor e capacidade funcional de participantes de uma Universidade Aberta da Terceira Idade (UATI). Metodo: Ensaio clinico controlado. O programa de ES consistiu de 10 sessoes com dinâmicas de grupo, incluindo orientacoes sobre prevencao de doencas e exercicios de estimulacao cognitiva, durante quatro meses. Grupo Intervencao (IG) n=13; e Grupo Controle (CG) n=15. Todos foram avaliados no inicio e no final do estudo, utilizando-se o Addenbrook´s Cognitive Examination-Revised (ACE-R), o Inventario de Depressao e Ansiedade Beck (BDI/BAI) e a Medida de Independencia Funcional (FIM). Resultados: observou-se melhora significativa no IG ao comparar o escore do ACE-R (p=0,001) e do dominio memoria (p=0,011) antes e apos a intervencao. No CG, houve melhora apenas no dominio memoria (p=0,027). Conclusao: um programa de ES beneficia a melhoria do desempenho cognitivo, particularmente a memoria de participantes ativos de uma UATI.

Designing for Parental Control: Enriching Usability and Accessibility in the Context of Smart Toys

Designing usable parental control interfaces remains as a challenge in the field. This chapter reviewed traditional Human-Computer Interaction methods, with examples focused on Parental Control interfaces in the context of Smart Toys, aiming practitioners from security and privacy area. We reviewed stages of the User Centered Design (UCD) with greater attention to the evaluation stage. Thus, we detailed activities of evaluation such as: User Testing, Usability Inspection, Accessibility Inspection and Automated Accessibility Testing Tools. Also, we suggested directions for the development of new methods of UCD focused on the context of Smart Toys. Finally, we discussed future trends in the context of Smart Toys: designing for elderly healthcare and interfaces of family control.

Personalizing health-related ICT interface and application: older adults and elderly caregivers preferences

Despite potential for preventing social isolation and loneliness, providing health care access and other benefits, older persons tend to be less receptive to digital devices. Elderly people frequently appoint complex interface and perceived usefulness as cause for not using health-related ICT. There is little information about preferences and interests of this specific population for tailored and customized technology, but according to the current literature; older users and caregivers both think that accessible and interactive design is the main aspiration. Besides that, they consider important some functionalities, especially for social interactions purposes. This study was conducted to address the interest, preferences and problems with an application for personalizing the tablet; with health older adults and social networking of dependent elderly individuals and to propose a new design for it. After using a skin app prototype, the 35 volunteers from 3 groups (independent older adults, informal and for- mal caregivers) were interviewed in order to suggest changes and help us to propose a new design for an Android skin. The main findings were analyzed according to interface and functionalities preferences in order to develop the concept to a new application. The prototype is called ANNI, available at Google Play Store.

Validade convergente entre o SF-36 e o WHOQOL-BREF em idosos

OBJECTIVE To compare the reliability and convergent validity of instruments assessing quality of life in Brazilian older adults. METHODS Cross-sectional study of 278 literate, community-dwelling older adults attending a municipal university for the elderly in Sao Carlos, SP, Southeastern Brazil between 2006 and 2008. The Brazilian versions of the SF-36 and WHOQOL-BREF instruments to assess quality of life were compared. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to estimate reliability and Pearson’s correlation for comparison between the two scales. RESULTS Most of participants were women (87.8%) with a mean age of 63.83±7.22 years. Both scales showed an acceptable internal consistency – WHOQOL-BREF Cronbach’s alpha was 0.832 and SF-36 was 0.868. There was a weak (r ≤ 0.6) correlation between the related fields in the two questionnaires. CONCLUSIONS The SF-36 and WHOQOL-BREF are reliable instruments for clinical and research uses in Brazilian older women. To select one, researchers should consider which aspects of quality of life they aim to capture because of weak convergent validity signs. This study’s results indicate that WHOQOL-BREF may be more relevant to evaluate changes in the quality of life of older women because it prioritizes responses to the aging process and avoids focusing on impairment.

Validez convergente entre el SF-36 y el WHOQOL-BREF en ancianos

OBJECTIVE To compare the reliability and convergent validity of instruments assessing quality of life in Brazilian older adults. METHODS Cross-sectional study of 278 literate, community-dwelling older adults attending a municipal university for the elderly in Sao Carlos, SP, Southeastern Brazil between 2006 and 2008. The Brazilian versions of the SF-36 and WHOQOL-BREF instruments to assess quality of life were compared. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to estimate reliability and Pearson’s correlation for comparison between the two scales. RESULTS Most of participants were women (87.8%) with a mean age of 63.83±7.22 years. Both scales showed an acceptable internal consistency – WHOQOL-BREF Cronbach’s alpha was 0.832 and SF-36 was 0.868. There was a weak (r ≤ 0.6) correlation between the related fields in the two questionnaires. CONCLUSIONS The SF-36 and WHOQOL-BREF are reliable instruments for clinical and research uses in Brazilian older women. To select one, researchers should consider which aspects of quality of life they aim to capture because of weak convergent validity signs. This study’s results indicate that WHOQOL-BREF may be more relevant to evaluate changes in the quality of life of older women because it prioritizes responses to the aging process and avoids focusing on impairment.