Aging clinical and experimental research
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Inappropriate prescribing in elderly patients is a widespread health problem. It is associated with increased drug-related problems and health expenditure. ⋯ Our findings support the need for measures to improve the quality of drug treatment in the elderly Pakistani population, especially among dependent patients with polypharmacy.
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Several measurements were taken for frailty classification in geriatric population. "Frailty index" is based on "deficits in health," but it is still not available in Italian version. Thus, the aim of the present work was to validate a version of "frailty index" for the Italian geriatric community. ⋯ IFi is a valid measure of frailty after the comprehensive geriatric assessment in an Italian cohort of non-institutionalized patients.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Blood transfusion strategy and risk of postoperative delirium in nursing homes residents with hip fracture. A post hoc analysis based on the TRIFE randomized controlled trial.
To investigate whether a liberal blood transfusion strategy [Hb levels ≥11.3 g/dL (7 mmol/L)] reduces the risk of postoperative delirium (POD) on day 10, among nursing home residents with hip fracture, compared to a restrictive transfusion strategy [Hb levels ≥9.7 g/dL (6 mmol/L)]. Furthermore, to investigate whether POD influences mortality within 90 days after hip surgery. ⋯ In nursing home residents undergoing surgery for hip fracture, maintaining hemoglobin level above 11.3 g/dL reduces the rate of POD on day 10 compared to a RB. Development of POD is associated with increased mortality.
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Falls are a significant cause of mortality in the elderly patients. Despite this, the literature on in-hospital mortality related to elderly falls remains sparse. Our study aims to determine the risk factors associated with in-hospital mortality in elderly patients admitted to a regional trauma center after sustaining a fall. ⋯ Ground-level falls in the elderly can be devastating and carry a significant mortality rate. Elderly patients with anemia were two times more likely to die in the hospital after sustaining a fall in our study population. Increased focus on anemia which is often underappreciated in elderly fall patients can be beneficial in improving outcomes and reducing in-hospital mortality.
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Low-trauma fractures (also called osteoporotic fragility fractures or fall-induced fractures) of older adults are a serious public health problem. However, very little population-based information is available on the nationwide numbers, incidences, and especially secular trends of elderly people's low-trauma fractures of the distal humerus. ⋯ The steep rise in the rate of low-trauma distal humeral fractures in 60-year-old or older Finnish women from 1970 till late 1990s has been followed by a clearly declining fracture rate. The exact reasons for this secular change are unknown, but a cohort effect toward improved functional ability among elderly women, as well as measures to prevent falls and alleviate fall severity, could partly explain the phenomenon.