The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences
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J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. · Oct 2013
Observational StudyThe sequential organ failure assessment score predicts 30-day mortality in a geriatric acute care setting.
Several tools to predict patients' survival have been proposed in medical wards, though they are often time consuming and difficult to apply. The Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) is a promising tool that has been validated in intensive care units but never in acute medical wards. The aim of this study was to assess whether the SOFA score predicts short-term (30 days) mortality in a population of elderly patients admitted to a geriatric ward. ⋯ The SOFA score, a user-friendly tool used in intensive care units to estimate prognosis, is able to predict 1-month mortality also in patients admitted to an acute geriatric setting.
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J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. · Oct 2013
Foot pain and mobility limitations in older adults: the Framingham Foot Study.
Foot pain is very common in the general population and has been shown to have a detrimental impact on health-related quality of life. This is of particular concern in older people as it may affect activities of daily living and exacerbate problems with balance and gait. The objective of this study is to evaluate the independent relationships between foot pain and mobility limitation in a population of community-dwelling older adults. ⋯ In our study of older adults from the Framingham Foot Study, foot pain was associated with an increased odds of having mobility limitation in both men and women. Clinicians should consider assessment of foot pain in general examinations of older adults who are at risk of mobility limitation.
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J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. · Oct 2013
Subsyndromal delirium and its determinants in elderly patients hospitalized for acute medical illness.
In older individuals, acute medical illnesses and admission to hospital are often associated with a deterioration of cognitive status, also in the absence of dementia and full-blown delirium. We evaluated the prevalence of subsyndromal delirium (SSD) and its correlates in a sample of elderly medical inpatients. ⋯ Our data suggest that SSD is common in hospitalized older medical inpatients, and low MMSE score might be useful for identification of participants at risk of SSD. Current inflammatory response and reduced O2 arterial saturation were the only independent determinants of cognitive performance in SSD patients.