Aging, research on aging, and national policy. A conversation with Robert Butler. Interview by Gary R. VandenBos and Joan Buchanan

Effects of environment on psychological well-being of elderly persons

This study reports an investigation of the psychological well-being of 90 elderly persons living in independent, retirement, and nursing homes. In previous studies elderly persons have not been matched on high levels of social and physical functioning across these living environments. Analyses indicated significantly that elderly persons living in their own homes or retirement homes reported greater well-being than their matched cohorts in nursing homes.

Infants at risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): differential prediction for three siblings of SIDS infants

The outcome for three siblings of SIDS (SSIDS) infants was predicted, using as a risk model the sleep and respiratory characteristics of a SIDS victim studied extensively during the neonatal period. The SIDS infant had shown unstable state organization and deviant respiration patterns, including a deficit of brief apneic pauses. Like the SIDS infant, the SSIDS infants and a group of 16 normal infants were observed in the home for 7-hr periods when they were 2, 3, 4, and 5 weeks old. Two of the infants showed normal sleep and respiratory characteristics, and they were predicted to develop without respiratory dysfunction. In contrast, the third infant showed a pattern of deviancies similar to the SIDS infant; and at 4 months, she had prolonged apneic episodes, requiring resuscitation on two occasions. The findings are consistent with the notion of subtle central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction in SIDS risk infants from the time of birth.

Geriatric neurosurgery

The "elderly," aged 65 and over, represent a rapidly growing proportion of the American population. Their percentage among the neurosurgical admissions at Henry Ford Hospital increased from 14.4% in 1978 to 22.4% in 1984. Occlusive cerebrovascular disease was the most frequent pathology seen, representing 40% of the population studied. Spinal degenerative myeloradiculopathy represented 14%, tumors 7%, trauma 5.4%, and intracranial hematomas represented 4% of the population. Vascular anomalies represented 3.3% of the patient group, with almost the same number of patients presenting with intracranial hemorrhage. The percentage of patients who were surgically treated was 58%. Mortality was 6.5%, with only 2.5% of the patients requiring special-care-facility placement following release from the hospital. An older group, aged 85 and over, represented 4% of our geriatric population. In the age 85+ group, occlusive cerebrovascular disease was the leading pathology (18% of the population), followed by subdural hematomas (15%), spinal degenerative myeloradiculopathy (11.6%), trigeminal neuralgias (7%), hydrocephalus (4%), vascular anomalies (4%), and tumors (4%). Patients in the age 85+ group were surgically treated in 41% of the cases, with a mortality of less than 10%. In the past, older age (greater than 65 years) was believed to be a contraindication to surgery, however, the increased life expectancy, number, and health of this population made reconsideration of this arbitrary age limit essential. We feel that age alone is not a barrier to proper neurosurgical treatment when other risk factors are adequately managed.