This study documented findings on the relation between cognitive functioning (perceptual speed, memory, fluency, and knowledge) and cardiovascular and metabolic disease in a sample of very old adults (ages 70 and older), both cross-sectionally (n=516) and longitudinally (n=206) in a 4-year follow-up. After age, SES, sex, and dementia status were controlled for, 4 diagnoses were negatively associated with cognition: congestive heart failure, stroke, coronary heart disease, and diabetes mellitus, with a joint effect of 0.47 standard deviations. The impact of disease status was largest on perceptual speed and fluency, memory was impacted only by diabetes, and knowledge was not related to any somatic diagnosis. There was no differential decline in participants diagnosed with 1 of these 4 diseases and those who were not. The only cardiovascular risk factor associated with cognitive performance was alcohol consumption.

Twenty-nine full-time permanent night nurses, 94 part-time permanent night nurses, and 44 nurses working in a weekly rotating two-shift system but doing some night work from time to time answered questionnaires on morningness, rigidity of sleeping habits, aspects and erects of night work, subjective health, etc. For one month they also carefully registered their sleeping times. The full-time nurses displayed a tendency to be evening people and were more vigorous and less rigid in their sleeping habits than the rotating nurses. The latter mentioned more subjective health complaints. The most striking difference between the permanent night nurses and the rotating nurses was found in their evaluation of aspects and effects of shift work. The permanent night nurses always gave a more favourable evaluation. There was not much difference between the sleep of the three groups, except that the permanent nights nurses slept on average less than the rotating nurses. The differences found can be ex~lained bv the fact that the Dermanent nieht nurses freely chose night work and organized their family life acco;dingly, while-for the rotatini nurses night work, although relatively rare, always meant a disturbance of personal and family functioning.

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An analysis of reports of 660 two-car collisions from the records of an insurance company showed that car drivers of 60 years old and older are more apt to be considered liable in an accident than younger drivers. A comparison of accidents for which older drivers (60 yrs. and over) are responsible with accidents for which younger drivers (30–39 yrs.) are responsible showed that the former have problems of perception and decision making and that the latter have problems with speed.