Search Results (384)

As digital innovations rapidly penetrate aging populations, live-streaming e-commerce acts as a profound external disruption to the informal healthcare subsystem, fundamentally reshaping Health Shared Decision-Making in Elderly Households (HSDM-EH). This study investigates how the nested interplay of affective strategies and algorithmic mechanisms reconfigures this traditional socio-technical balance. Employing a directed content analysis, we conducted methodological triangulation with two complementary data sources: in-depth interviews and behavioral observations from a maximum-variation sample of 40 Chinese families. Our findings reveal a three-stage structural evolution: the de-bounding of the informal healthcare subsystem through the decentering of institutional and familial authority; the synergistic control of affect and algorithms that scales deprofessionalized trust; and the subsequent escalation of systemic friction, marking a failure of organizational resilience. Ultimately, we propose a Socio-Technical Nested Agency Model, demonstrating that algorithmic interventions effect a soft transfer of health authority away from familial oversight to commercial platforms. This socio-technical reconfiguration generates unintended policy feedback that undermines grassroots health initiatives, highlighting the urgent need for cross-sectoral regulatory frameworks to mitigate algorithmic risks and enhance the digital health inclusivity of aging populations. Full article

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major pathogen responsible for severe lower respiratory tract infections in infants, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals. Because the RSV F protein mediates viral entry and 15-lipoxygenase (15-LOX) amplifies virus-induced inflammatory responses, dual targeting of these proteins may provide both antiviral and anti-inflammatory benefits. In this study, we combined computational prediction with experimental validation to identify natural dual-target inhibitors from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database (TCMSP). A total of 13,131 natural compounds were screened by drug-likeness evaluation, molecular docking, ADME assessment, and molecular dynamics simulations, yielding 31 potential dual-target candidates with favorable drug-like properties. Among them, rhoeadine (MOL001473) maintained stable binding conformations with both targets throughout 100 ns simulations. In BEAS-2B cells, rhoeadine exhibited significant anti-RSV activity (EC50 = 1.82 µM), low cytotoxicity (IC50 = 34.50 µM), and a selectivity index (SI) of 18.97. Time-of-addition experiments suggested that rhoeadine primarily acts at the early stage of viral infection. Additionally, ELISA results indicated that rhoeadine significantly inhibited RSV-induced secretion of CCL5 and IL-6, highlighting its anti-inflammatory potential. In summary, this study identified rhoeadine as a promising natural compound with antiviral and anti-inflammatory activities against RSV. Computational analyses suggested its potential association with RSV F protein and 15-LOX, although direct target-level validation is still required. Full article

The issues of income inequality and poverty are intrinsically linked and represent persistent global governance challenges. China faced significant hurdles, including absolute rural poverty and a widening urban–rural development gap. The “Targeted Poverty Alleviation” policy (TPA), implemented from 2014 onward, employed comprehensive measures, including household registration, industrial support, and skills training. By the end of 2020, this policy successfully eradicated absolute rural poverty under the prevailing standard, contributing a Chinese solution to global poverty reduction. Beyond addressing absolute deprivation, whether this policy has impacted relative rural poverty and urban–rural inequality remains a subject of debate in existing literature. Utilizing microdata from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) from 2014 to 2020, this study employs the Kakwani measure to measure relative deprivation levels, thereby identifying income disparities both within rural areas and between urban and rural regions. Combining empirical tools, including a Difference-in-Differences (DID) framework, Propensity Score Matching (PSM), and Entropy Balancing method, the analysis finds that the Targeted Poverty Alleviation policy significantly curbs income inequality both within rural areas and across the urban–rural divide. Further investigation reveals that this effect operates through three primary mechanisms: promoting diversified rural livelihoods, improving incomes for impoverished households, and bridging knowledge and information gaps. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the inequality-reducing effect of the policy is more pronounced in non-major grain-producing regions, low-income provinces, and among vulnerable groups such as the elderly, low-income individuals, and women. This study addresses the lack of detailed micro-level measurement, deepens the explanatory analysis of mechanisms and heterogeneity, and provides a basis for formulating differentiated policies in line with the vision of common prosperity. Full article

Background: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is an established risk factor for gastric cancer. However, treatment efficacy and the underlying mechanisms in elderly patients with H. pylori infection remain incompletely characterised. This study aimed to compare the eradication efficacy and safety of four amoxicillin-containing regimens for H. pylori infection in elderly patients. Methods: Elderly patients (age ≥ 60 years) with Helicobacter pylori infection treated at five hospitals in Beijing between January 2018 and June 2025 were enrolled. Participants were stratified into four groups according to the prescribed regimen: vonoprazan–amoxicillin (VA) dual therapy, rabeprazole–amoxicillin (RA) dual therapy, rabeprazole–Jinghua Weikang (a Chinese herbal medicine, granules)–amoxicillin–furazolidone (RJAF) quadruple therapy, and rabeprazole–bismuth–amoxicillin–furazolidone (RBAF) quadruple therapy. The primary endpoint was the eradication rate for each regimen. Secondary outcomes included the incidence of adverse events (AEs) and data on comorbidities. In addition, serological testing for H. pylori virulence-associated antibodies (CagA, VacA, UreA, and UreB) was performed in 32 patients at baseline, prior to treatment initiation. Results: A total of 312 patients were screened. The eradication rates with VA, RA, RJAF, and RBAF were 96.3%, 94.0%, 86.8%, and 86.6%, respectively (χ² = 6.92, p = 0.075). The incidence of AEs was 13.8%, 15.5%, 17.9%, and 19.1% in the VA, RA, RJAF, and RBAF groups, respectively (p = 0.391). Conclusions: In elderly patients with Helicobacter pylori infection, dual therapy demonstrates non-inferior efficacy compared with triple therapy and conventional quadruple therapy. More complex regimens do not confer additional clinical benefit. Among the two dual-therapy regimens, VA dual therapy shows superior overall performance and is therefore recommended as the first-line treatment of choice. Full article

This study examines the impact of family multidimensional poverty on cognitive function among older adults in China using the 2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS). Filling a critical gap in the existing literature, we construct a multidimensional poverty index (MPI) based on the Alkire-Foster methodology to evaluate cognitive decline within the context of China’s post-poverty-eradication landscape. Utilizing quantile regression analysis, our findings demonstrate that multidimensional poverty exerts a significant, negative effect on cognitive function, which is more pronounced among individuals at lower cognitive quantiles, consistent with the cumulative disadvantage theory. Furthermore, we identify substantial urban–rural and regional disparities, revealing unique socio-economic inequalities. By linking multidimensional poverty to elderly cognitive health through psychosocial pathways, this study provides empirical evidence that reducing multidimensional deprivation among older adults is integral to achieving both SDG1 and SDG3 in China’s post-eradication context, demonstrating that income-based metrics alone are insufficient to capture the full burden of poverty on elderly cognitive health. Full article

Background/Objectives: Oral and mental health represent significant public health challenges for the global elderly population. This study aims to explore the association between tooth loss and depression and anxiety symptoms in Chinese elderly individuals, and to assess whether dietary diversity plays a mediating role in this relationship. Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 8413 participants of the 2018 CLHLS. Depression and anxiety symptoms were evaluated with CES-D-10 and GAD-7, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess the effect of tooth loss on depression and anxiety symptoms, with adjustment for potential confounding factors. A mediation analysis, based on the PROCESS macro version 4.1, was conducted to further determine whether dietary diversity showed a potential indirect association in this relationship. Results: The prevalences of depression and anxiety symptoms were 14.1% and 12.1%. Compared to older adults with 0–8 tooth loss, those with 9–19 tooth loss had higher odds of both depression and anxiety, with odds ratios of 1.388 (95% CI: 1.109–1.614, p = 0.002) and 1.248 (95% CI: 1.031–1.512, p = 0.023), respectively. Those with 20–27 tooth loss exhibited the highest odds of depression, but no statistically significant increase in anxiety. Complete tooth loss was not significantly associated with either depression or anxiety in the fully adjusted models. Subgroup analysis showed that the association between tooth loss and depression/anxiety symptoms was statistically significant among males, rural residents, those living with family, those with chronic disease, and those without dentures. Mediation analysis suggested that dietary diversity showed a significant indirect association between tooth loss and depression symptoms (β = −0.192, SE = 0.027, 95% CI: −0.245, −0.139, p < 0.001), while no significant mediating effect was observed for anxiety symptoms. Conclusions: Moderate-to-severe tooth loss correlates with a higher risk of depression and anxiety symptoms in Chinese elderly, with dietary diversity partially mediating the tooth loss and depression association. This finding highlights the need for integrated strategies that combine oral health care, nutritional support, and mental health interventions in the early and middle stages of oral function impairment to protect the mental health of the elderly and improve their quality of life. Full article

As the global aging population increases, the early detection and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have become important in public health. To solve the problems of subjectivity and low timeliness of traditional assessment methods, this paper proposes a multimodal dementia prevention system that combines physiological sensing, a gamification interface, and a classification model. The system includes an interactive joystick to measure pulse and blood pressure. A Chinese music game app increases the participation of the elderly and reduces their sense of rejection through gamification interaction. After the physiological data were standardized by Z-score, they were input into three small sample classifiers (Gaussian Naïve Bayes, Fisher Linear Discriminant Analysis, and Logistic Regression) for the binary classification of AD. The system performance was evaluated using the Leave-One-Out cross-validation method. Experimental results show that Logistic Regression performed best in situations with extremely small samples and class imbalance, with an F1-score of 0.700, which was higher than the other two. Dynamic features and model fusion technologies need to be integrated to further enhance the clinical application potential of the system in the early prediction of dementia. Full article

The present study examines the behavioural trajectories and spatial utilisation of elderly caregivers within intergenerational families, set against the backdrop of China’s accelerating ageing population and the widespread prevalence of dual-income households. Existing studies predominantly rely on static data, which makes it difficult to capture the dynamic relationship between behaviour and space. The present study employs lagged sequence analysis in combination with non-participatory observation and video recording techniques to conduct a 14-day behavioural tracking and sequence analysis of two typical dual-income families in Beijing (totaling 2137 behavioural events), thereby establishing a research framework of “behavioural observation, sequence analysis, and design translation.” The identification of three typical behavioural sequence patterns was achieved through the implementation of behavioural coding, spatio-temporal trajectory modelling, and sequence correlation testing. The identified sequence patterns are as follows: a simple “cooking–eating” sequence, a complex “child-centred” sequence, and a cyclical “housework–rest–communication” sequence. These patterns exposed fundamental contradictions with prevailing spatial functions. The study proposes synergistic spatial and furniture design strategies to support elderly caregivers’ behavioural flow, alleviate caregiving burdens, and foster intergenerational integration. This research not only validates the methodological value of lag sequence analysis in behaviour-driven design but also provides theoretical and empirical foundations for sustainable residential environments that promote intergenerational cohesion and reduce caregiving stress. Full article

Against the backdrop of global aging, whether the diverse content of elderly care policies can be systematically analyzed and interpreted through a unified theoretical framework remains an open question in gerontology. This study analyzes 2508 elderly care policy documents issued in China from 2000 to 2025 to assess the alignment degree between elderly care policies and the Integrated Theory of Social Gerontology, utilizing Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling and a text content alignment degree model constructed based on a normalized co-occurrence algorithm. The findings reveal that all 11 topics extracted from Chinese elderly care policies correspond to the six dimensions of the Integrated Theory of Social Gerontology, with an overall alignment coefficient of 0.689, indicating moderate alignment. This threshold is defined based on domain-specific benchmarks: alignment coefficients ≥0.75 are classified as ‘high alignment’, 0.5–0.74 as ‘moderate alignment’, and <0.5 as ‘low alignment’, consistent with quantitative standards for policy-theory alignment research in gerontology. Four dimensions (public support systems, individual physical/psychological health, economic security, family-cultural traditions) show high alignment, while two (social stratification, historical context) exhibit low alignment, reflecting significant policy coverage asymmetries. Methodologically, this study develops a replicable policy theory alignment model, filling gaps in integrated gerontology policy analytical tools. Empirically, it provides the first large-scale longitudinal analysis of Chinese elderly care policies, illuminating policy design’s theoretical foundations and gaps in structural/historical dimension coverage. Full article

Landscape quality significantly impacts residents’ well-being through visual perception, particularly among the elderly who exhibit heightened sensitivity to environmental stimuli. Therefore, this study investigates how landscape configurations influence emotional and physiological responses in older adults under controlled visual conditions. This study selected representative outdoor activity sites in northern Chinese cities and designed five landscape scenarios by adjusting the green coverage ratio (GCR) and landscape composition. Participants (mean age 64.8) reported feelings of pleasure, relaxation, and fatigue while viewing screen-based landscape images, with simultaneous recording of attention-to-interest area (AOIA), pupil diameter range (PD), and electroencephalogram (EEG) data. Research findings reveal a non-linear relationship between the GCR and emotional and physiological responses among elderly populations: when the GCR increased from 18.4% to 38.1%, participants reported significantly heightened feelings of pleasure and relaxation, alongside marked reductions in fatigue-related physiological indicators. However, when the GCR further rose to 48.5%, both reported subjective measures and physiological indicators deteriorated among elderly participants. Under equivalent green coverage conditions, water features within natural settings enhance visual focus on natural elements more effectively than purely green landscapes. Women demonstrated greater sensitivity to changes in the GCR. Correlation analysis further indicated that visual attention among the elderly positively correlated with positive emotions and negatively correlated with fatigue-related physiological responses. This research provides valuable guidance for green space design. Full article

Background: Cognitive disorders are a class of neurological diseases characterized by declines in cognitive function, imposing a heavy physical and mental burden on middle-aged and elderly individuals. Since the underlying mechanisms of cognitive disorders are not yet fully understood, and different types of cognitive disorders may involve distinct mechanisms, the development of drugs with multi-target therapeutic and preventive effects is of great significance. Currently approved drugs for Alzheimer’s disease, such as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and NMDA receptor antagonists, show limited efficacy and poor prognosis, highlighting the urgent need for safe and effective alternative treatments. Methods: Plant-derived polysaccharides (PDPs) possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, and immunomodulatory activities, and polysaccharides derived from traditional Chinese medicine, in particular, show great potential for treating cognitive disorders. In recent years, interventions with plant polysaccharides that modulate the gut microbiota to affect the “gut–brain axis” and improve cognitive function have become an emerging research focus. Clinical evidence has also increasingly supported the beneficial effects of polysaccharides on cognitive disorders. Therefore, this study focuses on plant polysaccharides in the intervention of cognitive disorder-related diseases, including both in vivo and in vitro experiments, and summarizes existing findings according to different mechanisms of action. Results and Conclusions: Relevant clinical reports are incorporated to provide a theoretical basis and strong support for the development of polysaccharide-based interventions and new drug development for cognitive disorders. Full article

Elderly patients often experience multimorbidity and long-term polypharmacy, making medication safety a critical challenge in disease management. In China, the concurrent use of Western medicines and proprietary Chinese medicines (PCMs) further complicates this issue, as potential drug interactions are often implicit, increasing risks for physiologically vulnerable older adults. Although large language model-based medical question-answering systems have been widely adopted, they remain prone to unsafe outputs in medication-related contexts. Existing retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) frameworks typically rely on static retrieval strategies, limiting their ability to appropriately allocate retrieval and verification efforts across different question types. This paper proposes FusionGraphRAG, an adaptive RAG framework for geriatric disease management. The framework employs query classification-based routing to distinguish questions by complexity and medication relevance; integrates dual-granularity knowledge alignment to connect fine-grained medical entities with higher-level contextual knowledge across diseases, medications, and lifestyle guidance; and incorporates explicit contradiction detection for high-risk medication scenarios. Experiments on the GeriatricHealthQA dataset (derived from the Huatuo corpus) indicate that FusionGraphRAG achieves a Safety Recall of 71.7%. Comparative analysis demonstrates that the framework improves retrieval accuracy and risk interception capabilities compared to existing graph-enhanced baselines, particularly in identifying implicit pharmacological conflicts. The results indicate that the framework supports more reliable geriatric medical question answering while providing enhanced safety verification for medication-related reasoning. Full article

Background: China’s rapidly aging population demonstrates the importance of conducting an accurate resting metabolic rate (RMR, kcal/day) assessment to mitigate geriatric nutritional imbalances—amid concurrent undernutrition (e.g., ~1/3 with protein insufficiency) and overnutrition (e.g., high obesity and type 2 diabetes rates). While RMR prediction equations exist for other populations, none are specific to Chinese older adults. This study aimed to develop and validate population-specific RMR prediction equations for community-dwelling Chinese older adults. Methods: A total of 189 healthy participants (Aged 69.5 ± 6.3, range: 60–94 years; BMI: 24.0 ± 3.1 kg/m²) were recruited from the Shanghai, China, community. RMR was measured via indirect calorimetry, and body composition via dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Results: Two novel prediction equations were derived: Cai1 (fat-free mass [FFM] + age): RMR = 1393.019 − (11.112 × age) + (11.963 × FFM); R² = 0.572, and Cai2 (sex + age + weight [WT]): RMR = 1537.513 + (91.038 × sex) − (11.515 × age) + (5.436 × WT); R² = 0.528. Both novel prediction equations achieved 82.5% adequacy (predicted RMR within 90–110% of measured values), minimal systematic bias (%) (−0.72% and −1.08%) and strong positive correlations with measured RMR (r = 0.792 and 0.773, both p < 0.001). Bland–Altman analysis confirmed no systematic bias. In contrast, 11 widely used published prediction equations (e.g., Harris–Benedict, Mifflin–St. Jeor) exhibited significant overestimation (systematic bias +8.39% to +38.03%). Conclusions: The novel population-specific RMR equations outperform published ones, providing a clinically reliable tool for individualized energy prescription in nutritional interventions to support healthy aging in Chinese older adults. Full article

Background: Diabetes is associated with sub-optimal vascular function. Current evidence suggested purified anthocyanins (ACNs) could improve cardio-metabolic health, but the dose–response effects on arterial stiffness have not been verified. Objectives: To assess the dose-responsiveness of purified ACNs on vascular stiffness and cardiovascular risk among Chinese middle-aged and elderly patients with either prediabetes or early diabetes. Methods: This was a secondary analysis based on a 12-week double-blind, randomized and placebo-controlled trial. Eligible participants were randomly assigned to placebo, 160, 320 and 640 mg/d ACNs groups (n = 46/group). Information on dietary intakes and lifestyle habits and blood samples were collected at baseline and at week 12. Arterial stiffness and vascular function were measured by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), ankle-brachial index (ABI) and four-limb blood pressures. Composite cardiovascular indices were estimated based on lipids and anthropometric data. Results: Total 184 eligible participants were recruited and 19 withdrew during the intervention. Baseline characteristics were generally comparable among groups. No significant effects or dose–response relationships were observed by ACNs supplementation on arterial stiffness and cardiovascular risk factors. Conclusions: The 12-week randomized controlled trial among Chinese middle-aged and elderly adults with dysglycemia showed multiple dosages of anthocyanins had no significant impacts on arterial stiffness and cardiovascular risk. Full article

Amidst the accelerating trend of population aging, addressing regional disparities in basic elderly care services (BECS for short) and identifying the key obstacles to their development have become crucial prerequisites for development. Taking urgent transformation measures is indispensable for enhancing the quality of fundamental senior care provisions and advancing the attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs for short) by 2030. However, the extant literature does not have a sufficient understanding of the evolution of differences, spatial correlations, and sources of obstacles. Therefore, this paper takes the period from 2021 to 2023 as the investigation period and comprehensively applies the entropy weight method, Dagum Gini coefficient, kernel density estimation, Moran Index, and obstacle degree model to conduct a systematic analysis of BECS in China. Quantitative results obtained from the research demonstrate that the level of BECS in China follows the pattern of eastern > western > central > northeastern regions. The overall difference slightly increases, and the differences within and between regions vary. The kernel density estimation results are highly consistent with the current landscape of the level of BECS in China, and the spatial correlation and aggregation characteristics are obvious. It was also found that the main obstacles in the quasi-measurement layer (including the indicator layer) were concentrated in the dimension of welfare subsidies. Based on this, a policy combination proposal is put forward in terms of strengthening the construction of a multi-subject supply network, promoting the cross-regional coordinated development of human, financial, and material factors, and enhancing the government’s governance capacity, with the aim of increasing Chinese contributions to improving the level of BECS and achieving the United Nations 2030 Sustainability Goals on schedule. Full article