Data from the 1986/87 Health and Activity Limitation Survey (HALS) were used to examine the relationship between reported disabilities and institutionalization. Odds ratios obtained through logistic regression analyses were utilized to estimate the strength and direction of the associations between the various disabilities, age, gender, and institutionalization. An analysis of types and combinations of disabilities which are most strongly associated with institutionalization indicate that persons with disabilities regarding agility, mental functioning or speech have higher odds of institutionalization. The analyses of the relationship between number of disabilities and institutionalization suggest an exponential relationship, a greater rate of institutionalization with age and a higher rate for women than for men.

This investigation measured the physical fitness and anthropometrie parameters of a sample of 100 Saskatchewan women and men, aged 65 to 75 years. Subjects were grouped by age (65–69 years and 70–75 years) and these data were compared to the results from the Canada Fitness Survey (CFS) for women and men aged 65 to 69 years. In general, the Saskatchewan women in this study demonstrated an age-associated decline in the fitness and anthropometric variables measured. The Saskatchewan men, aged 65–69 years were significantly poorer in four variables (weight, sum of trunk skinfolds, Body Mass Index (BMI) and Maximal Oxygen Uptake (V02 MAX)) compared to the age-matched men tested in the CFS. However, the Saskatchewan men, aged 70–75 were not significantly different from the younger CFS subjects for these variables. Within limitations of the cross-sectional design, the results of this study indicate that Saskatchewan men in their early retirement years may require particular attention and further study with respect to their physical activity behaviour and fitness.

This study explored admission factors which predicted the successful return to the community of patients entering a Geriatric Assessment and Rehabilitation Program (GARP). A stepwise logistic regression technique was used to determine predictive factors from a consecutive sample of 100 medical or surgical geriatric patients admitted for a four to six week rehabilitation program. The significant independent predictors of discharge which could be determined at the time of admission were ability to safely medicate, admission from the community, GDS score and the number of supports. The ability to safely medicate may be an important but under-utilized predictor.

Young and old observers performed a feature search task in which a single target was embedded in five distractors. Target-distractor similarity was varied quantitatively (along the feature dimension of orientation) and display duration ranged from approximately 50–400 ms. Identification accuracy was worse on target-absent trials, particularly when distractor similarity was high and display duration brief. An age X duration interaction on accuracy was found to reflect generalized age deficits in sensitivity and duration-dependent age differences in bias. Results suggest that an age deficit in the rate of information extraction produces in the elderly a greater dependence on partial information gained from distractors. Additionally, the additive effects of age and similarity have implications for visual search tasks where display size is varied.

Age (18–81 years), sex, and personality (Extraversion, Neuroticism, Openness to Experience) variables were used as predictors of four dimensions of reminiscence behaviour. Contrary to theoretical assumptions, age did not predict reminiscence frequency. Neither were there age differences in terms of emotional tone or philosophical content of reminiscence. Memory remoteness, however, was predicted by age. Personality traits, in contrast, were significant predictors for all four reminiscence dimensions. Finally, sex predicted reminiscence frequency. The results are discussed from a lifespan perspective.

Studies on informal caregiving in institutional settings are rare. The impact on their burden of 197 caregivers' perceptions of their elderly dependents' autonomy was investigated. The results of previous research on caregivers' burden in non-institutional contexts were used to provide an empirical starting point for the research. The results of regression analysis show that help for bathing and concurrent demands have an impact on objective burden, but caregivers' perceptions of their elderly dependents and the social support they receive affect subjective burden.

This study compared the attitudes of adult children toward the sexuality of their older parents with their parent's own attitudes toward sexuality. A 56-item questionnaire was given to 41 family pairs consisting of a parent over age 65 and his or her son or daughter. Questions were based upon previous studies and involved six point Likért ratings. In general, attitudes toward sexuality were positive among parents and their adult children. However, adult children had significantly more positive attitudes than their parents. This difference was primarily due to more positive attitudes toward physical aspects of sexual behaviours. Overall, the disapproval and negative attitudes of adult children reported in previous research were not found in this study. Adult children had positive attitudes, much more positive attitudes than their parents, possibly due to a cohort effect

Few studies of the risks of institutionalization of the elderly have had fully specified models using multivariate analysis, and several studies have examined highly selected populations, making their generalizability uncertain. We set out to examine the risks of institutionalization in elderly people in Nova Scotia. A case-control study, executed as part of the Canadian Study of Health and Aging examined 108 incident institutional cases and 533 community-dwelling elderly controls, using a standardized assessment interview conducted by trained interviewers. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that advancing age, presence of dementia, functional impairment, poor self-rated health, recent hospital admission, and absence of a caregiver were important risks for entry into long term care. Institutions providing long-term care for the elderly need to be able to look after populations with a high prevalence of dementia and functional impairment.

Robert Brown's work constitutes an excellent synthesis of the foreseeable evolution of income-security plans, as regards seniors and the problems relative to these plans in an aging-of-the-population context. However, it contains nothing new on the measures that the State should institute to diminish the effects of an aging population. Brown believes that retirement plans implemented by employers as well as personal retirement-savings plans should be the preferred forms of retirement savings encouraged by the government. Within this framework, the fiscal reform of 1990, which significantly increases the allowable deductions for a registered-retirement savings plan, comprises a step in the right direction. Unlike the author, I believe that public retirement plans like the Quebec Pension Plan (Q.P.P.) and the Canada Pension Plan (C.P.P.) should constitute the cornerstone of any policy on income security upon retirement. Consequently, in a an-aging-of-the-population context, it seems important to rapidly increase the level of contribution to these plans, in order to better capitalize them and to stabilize the long-term level of contribution. We should also study the possibility of integrating the old age income-security pension into these plans, so that the level of compensation for revenue from work guaranteed by the public plan is stabilized at a rate of 70 per cent for low-income earners and 40 per cent for middle-income earners, as is the case in the American social security plan.