Objectives. Evidence on cognitive performance among older adults in Kazakhstan and Central Asia remains limited. This study aimed to establish normative values for neuropsychological tests among adults living in urban and rural areas of Kazakhstan, stratified by age and educational attainment. Methods. This cross-sectional study included 1,648 adults aged 50–75 years randomly selected from urban and rural communities in Central and East Kazakhstan between 2012 and 2016. Four standardized neuropsychological tests assessed verbal memory and learning, verbal fluency, attention, and concentration. Normative values were calculated separately by urban-rural residence, age group, and educational level. Results. Cognitive performance generally declined with increasing age and was higher among participants with greater educational attainment. Urban residents demonstrated higher mean scores than rural residents on immediate word recall (18.98 vs. 16.49), animal naming (18.17 vs. 16.37), and delayed word recall (6.32 vs. 5.71), whereas rural residents scored higher on letter cancellation (22.06 vs. 19.76; all p < 0.001). Age-, education-, and residence-specific percentile norms were established for all four cognitive tests. Discussion. This study provides some of the first population-based normative data for multiple cognitive domains among urban and rural adults in Kazakhstan. These reference values may support the interpretation of cognitive assessments in comparable Central Asian populations, although further validation and studies involving older age groups are needed.
Frailty is influenced by physical, health, and psychosocial vulnerabilities, yet evidence from rural older populations remains limited. This study examined the associations of sociodemographic, health, and psychosocial factors with multidimensional and physical frailty among community-dwelling older adults in a rural area of northern Chile. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 120 older adults registered at a local Family Health Centre. Multidimensional frailty was assessed using the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI) and physical frailty using the Fried phenotype. Hierarchical logistic regression models examined sociodemographic and health characteristics, followed by loneliness, social network score, and depressive symptoms. Firth penalised regression was used as a sensitivity analysis. Multidimensional frailty was identified in 73.3
This study was to verify the quality of life and caregiver burden of older people with dementia during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (COVID-19) pandemic, and the clinical and sociodemographic factors associated with them. This cross-sectional study was conducted remotely and included Brazilian older people with a mild to moderate stage of dementia and their family caregivers. The caregivers reported older people’s clinical and sociodemographic characteristics. Caregiver characteristics were also collected. The sample comprised 37 pairs of older adults and caregivers, involving older adults with a mean age of 77.5 years old and caregivers who were mostly women (86.5
Retirement decision-making is a complex process influenced by cognitive, social, and emotional factors. Although retirement decision-making has been widely examined, there is a lack of specific instruments designed to assess older workers’ intentions. This study aimed to construct and validate the Retirement Decision Inventory (RDI), designed to assess four dimensions: early retirement, full retirement, bridge employment (transitional work post-retirement), and late retirement. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) on a Brazilian sample (n = 764) reduced an initial 20-item pool to 13 items. A subsequent confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on an independent Portuguese sample (n = 607) confirmed the four-factor structure, showing acceptable fit (e.g., CFI = .969, RMSEA = .097). Internal consistency was satisfactory (α ranging from .76 to .87). Multigroup CFA supported the configural and metric equivalence of the model across cultures. Mean comparison analyses revealed cross-cultural differences: Portuguese participants reported stronger tendencies toward full retirement, whereas Brazilian participants showed greater inclination toward continued labor market participation. The RDI is a reliable and structurally valid instrument with satisfactory psychometric properties for cross-cultural assessment of retirement intentions. It offers a valuable tool for retirement planning initiatives and can inform organizational and public policies aimed at promoting active aging and retaining older workers.
Aging provides a chronicle of experiences and an opportunity to elaborate on the meaning of life and its course. In Blood’s Inner Rhyme (2025), Krog walks the readers through the realities of aging and sheds light on the emotional realm of it, showcasing the interplay between human relations, solitude, and the cumulative impact of the past in the care home. I examine these issues in the context of dementia, approaching the memories that impacted on Krog’s ability to navigate Serfontein’s characterization in later life. My analysis also includes an overview of their lives as a way of constructing meaning out of the patterns that we individuals perceive with the passage of time. Additionally, I seek to prove that humanities-based inquiries are instrumental in exploring the complexities of aging, identity and personal realization that emerge in the care home, thus reflecting on the whimsical nature of memory. To this end, I utilize the theoretical frameworks of life writing, aging studies and medical humanities.
