Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
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In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a pandemic. High morbidity and mortality rates of COVID-19 have been observed among older adults and widely reported in both mainstream and social media. The objective of this study was to analyze tweets related to COVID-19 and older adults, and to identify ageist content. ⋯ Most tweets related to COVID-19 and older adults contained personal opinions, personal accounts, and jokes. Almost one-quarter of analyzed tweets had ageist or potentially offensive content toward older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:1661-1665, 2020.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Geriatric Screening, Triage Urgency, and 30-Day Mortality in Older Emergency Department Patients.
Urgency triage in the emergency department (ED) is important for early identification of potentially lethal conditions and extensive resource utilization. However, in older patients, urgency triage systems could be improved by taking geriatric vulnerability into account. We investigated the association of geriatric vulnerability screening in addition to triage urgency levels with 30-day mortality in older ED patients. ⋯ Combining triage urgency with geriatric screening has the potential to improve triage, which may help clinicians to deliver early appropriate care to older ED patients. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:1755-1762, 2020.
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The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been documented in a large share of nursing homes throughout the United States, leading to high rates of mortality for residents. To understand how to prevent and mitigate future outbreaks, it is imperative that we understand which nursing homes are more likely to experience COVID-19 cases. Our aim was to examine the characteristics of nursing homes with documented COVID-19 cases in the 30 states reporting the individual facilities affected. ⋯ COVID-19 cases in nursing homes are related to facility location and size and not traditional quality metrics such as star rating and prior infection control citations. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:1653-1656, 2020.