Europeans are living longer than ever in history, because of the economic growth and advances in hygiene and health care. Today, average life expectancy is over 80, and by 2020 around 25% of the population will be over 65. The increasing group of older people poses great challenges in terms of creating …

BACKGROUND: Due to the rapidly increasing number of older people worldwide, the prevalence of frailty among older adults is expected to escalate in coming decades. It is crucial to recognize early onset symptoms to initiate specific preventive care. Therefore, early detection of frailty with appropriate …

Emotional factors related to aging at home assistive technology are known to affect technology acceptance, effective use, and quality of life improvement. This paper is a survey on the affective dimension of robot-based systems conceived for helping elderly at home. The specificity of elders’ capabilities …

Robot-assisted therapy has been researched for more than a decade and has been dominated by the seal shaped robot Paro. It is however unclear unto what extent the development of Paro has been based upon requirements that are mentioned by care professionals. In this pilot study we interviewed two groups …

Robot assisted therapy has been applied in care for older adults who suffer from dementia for over ten years. Strong effects like improved interac-tion and signs of a higher sense of wellbeing have been reported. Still it is un-clear which features are needed and which robotic pets would are suitable …

In recent years video game consoles, such as the Nintendo Wii™ and the Microsoft Kinect™, have been introduced into residential facilities. This paper presents a review of current studies documenting the benefits and detriments the Wii could have on adults aged 60 years and over in residential facilities, …

BACKGROUND: Patients who underwent surgery for aortic coarctation (COA) have an increased risk of arterial hypertension. We aimed at evaluating (1) differences between hypertensive and non-hypertensive patients and (2) the value of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) to predict the development or …

In very old and/or frail older people living in long-term care facilities, physical inactivity negatively affects activities of daily living. The main reason to assess older adults' perceived fitness is to establish the relation with their beliefs about their ability to perform physical activity adjusted …

QUESTION: In adults who experience nocturnal leg cramps, does stretching of the calf and hamstring muscles each day just before sleep reduce the frequency and severity of the cramps? DESIGN: A randomised trial with concealed allocation and intention-to-treat analysis. PARTICIPANTS: Eighty adults aged …

This is the first meta-analysis focusing on elderly patients with mobility problems, physical disability and/or multi-morbidity. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of physical exercise therapy on mobility, physical functioning, physical activity and quality of life. A broad systematic literature …