Geriatrics & gerontology international
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Geriatr Gerontol Int · Jul 2015
Multicenter StudyOlder adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain are at increased risk of recurrent falls and the brief pain inventory could help identify those most at risk.
Chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) and falls are common among community-dwelling older adults. The study aims were: (i) to investigate the relationship between CMP and any falls (≥1), single falls and recurrent falls (≥2) in community-dwelling older adults; and (ii) to determine the discriminative validity of the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) to differentiate between non-fallers and (a) any and (b) recurrent fallers. ⋯ Older adults with multisite CMP are at greatest risk of recurrent falls. In clinical settings, the BPI could prove useful to discriminate between recurrent and non-fallers.
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Geriatr Gerontol Int · Jul 2015
Prognostic factors associated with adverse outcome among critically ill elderly patients admitted to the intensive care unit.
Despite concerns over the appropriateness and quality of care provided in the intensive care unit (ICU) at the end of life, the number of elderly patients who receive critical care is increasing. Despite this, many physicians have doubts as to whether elderly patients are good candidates for ICU care because of the apparently poor outcome during and after critical care in this population. The objective of the present study was to describe the clinical characteristics and outcome of a geriatric population admitted to the ICU. ⋯ Advanced age, critical illness, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and needs for mechanical ventilation and/or vasopressor therapy are independent risk factors associated with adverse outcome in elderly patients admitted to ICU. Alternatives for ICU admission should be considered in geriatric patients with severe critical illnesses.
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Geriatr Gerontol Int · Jul 2015
Estimating the effect of incident delirium on short-term outcomes in aged hip fracture patients through propensity score analysis.
We aimed to evaluate the factors contributing to delirium after hip fracture and assess the effect of incident delirium on short-term clinical outcomes. ⋯ Patients who are older, with worse physical status, worse cognitive function and depression are more likely to develop delirium after hip fracture. Incident delirium has negative independent effects on short-term outcomes in elderly patients after hip fracture.
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Geriatr Gerontol Int · Jul 2015
Hypotension, bedridden, leukocytosis, thrombocytopenia and elevated serum creatinine predict mortality in geriatric patients with fever.
The geriatric population (aged ≥65 years) accounts for 12-24% of all emergency department (ED) visits. Of them, 10% have a fever, 70-90% will be admitted and 7-10% of will die within a month. Therefore, mortality prediction and appropriate disposition after ED treatment are of great concern for geriatric patients with fever. We tried to identify independent mortality predictors of geriatric patients with fever, and combine these predictors to predict their mortality. ⋯ The 30-day mortality increased with the number of independent mortality predictors. With at least four predictors, 100% of the patients died within 30 days. With none of the predictors, just 1.8% died. These findings might help physicians make decisions about geriatric patients with fever.