The objectives were to determine whether women always fare more poorly in terms of physical function and disability across countries that vary widely in terms of their level of development, epidemiologic context and level of gender equality. Sex differences in self-reported and objective measures of disability and physical function were compared among older adults aged 55–85 in the United States of America, Taiwan, Korea, Mexico, China, Indonesia and among the Tsimane of Bolivia using population-based studies collected between 2001 and 2011. Data were analysed using logistic and ordinary least-squares regression. Confidence intervals were examined to see whether the effect of being female differed significantly between countries. In all countries, women had consistently worse physical functioning (both self-reported and objectively measured). Women also tended to report more difficulty with activities of daily living (ADL), although differences were not always significant. In general, sex differences across measures were less pronounced in China. In Korea, women had significantly lower grip strength, but sex differences in ADL difficulty were non-significant or even reversed. Education and marital status helped explain sex differences. Overall, there was striking similarity in the magnitude and direction of sex differences across countries despite considerable differences in context, although modest variations in the effect of sex were observed.

In situations where care-receivers cannot respond to questions about their functional status, caregiver proxies are often substituted. Yet studies addressing caregiver-care-receiver agreement remain limited in scope, focusing primarily on cognitive functioning and caregiver relationship. This study broadens the range of research in this area by examining caregiver and care-receiver reports of individual IADL and AADL items by gender of care-receiver. As well, the degree to which the care-receiver's age and mental and physical health status influence agreement are investigated. Data for this study come from a sample of 388 Manitoba older adults aged 65 and over. Results (using Cohen's kappa) suggest less agreement on the presence of disability for men than for women, particularly among those aged 75–84. Differences by health status were also revealed. The implications of the findings for assessments of functioning are considered.

Background: The effects of depression and cognitive impairment on hip fracture rehabilitation outcomes are not well established. We aimed to evaluate the associations of depressive symptoms and cognitive impairment (individually and combined) with ambulatory, living activities and quality of life outcomes in hip fracture rehabilitation patients.

Methods: A cohort of 146 patients were assessed on depressive symptoms (Geriatric Depression Scale, GDS ≥ 5), cognitive impairment (Mini-mental State Examination, MMSE ≤ 23), and other variables at baseline, and on ambulatory status, Modified Barthel Index (MBI), and SF-12 PCS and MCS quality of life on follow ups at discharge, 6 months and 12 months post fracture.

Results: In these patients (mean age 70.8 years, SD 10.8), 7.5% had depressive symptoms alone, 28.8% had cognitive impairment alone, 50% had both, and 13.7% had neither (reference). Ambulatory status showed improvement over time in all mood and cognition groups ((β = 0.008, P = 0.0001). Patients who had cognitive impairment alone (β = −0.060, P = 0.001) and patients who had combined cognitive impairment with depressive symptoms β = −0.62, P = 0.0003), showed significantly less improvement in ambulatory status than reference patients. In the latter group, the relative differences in ambulatory scores from the reference group were disproportionately greater over time (β = −0.003, SE = 0.001, P = 0.021). Patients with combined depressive symptoms and cognitive impairment also showed a significantly lower MBI score, (β = −10.92, SE = 4.01, P = 0.007) and SF-12 MCS (β = −8.35, SE = 2.37, P = 0.0006). Mood and cognition status did not significantly predict mortality during the follow-up.

Conclusion: Depression and cognitive impairment comorbidity is common in hip fracture rehabilitation patients and significantly predicts poor functional and quality of life outcomes.

The associations between socio-economic position (SEP) and physical functioning have frequently been investigated but little is known about which measures of SEP are the best to use for older people. This study examined how different SEP indicators related to the physical functioning of men aged 50 or more years in England and Greece. The data derived from Wave 1 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Self-reported physical functioning limitations and mobility difficulties were combined and categorised into ‘no disability’, ‘mild disability’ and ‘severe disability’. The SEP indicators studied were: wealth, educational level and occupational class. The findings indicate that respondents with less wealth, fewer educational qualifications and lower occupational class were more likely to experience mild or severe physical disability than those of high SEP. When all three measures of SEP were adjusted for each other, in both samples wealth maintained a strong association with mild and severe disability, while education was associated with severe disability but only among English men. Occupational class was not strongly associated with physical disability in either case. Hence, among English and Greek older men, wealth was a more important predictor of physical functioning difficulties than either occupational class or education.

Three exploratory studies evaluated group mindfulness training (which aims to facilitate non-judgmental attention to present moment experience through the practice of meditation) in patients waiting for cognitive behaviour therapy for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). The approaches used were based on Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy. The first group showed that such training is acceptable to patients and that it results in significantly improved subjective measures of anxiety, and improvements in subjective levels of fatigue that approached significance, when compared to waiting list controls. A second uncontrolled study replicated the findings of the first study and also demonstrated an improvement in quality of life as measured by the Fatigue Impact Scale (FIS). More wide-ranging effects were demonstrated in the final study in which significant improvements in subjective levels of fatigue, anxiety, depression, quality of life and physical functioning were observed following the training programme. These effects were sustained for 3 months. Overall, the findings of the three exploratory studies indicate that MBSR/MBCT has potential for the treatment of patients with CFS.