Age and ageing
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despite a mortality rate of approximately 30% in acute stroke, little is known about the palliative care needs of this group of patients. ⋯ acute stroke patients have a high prevalence of palliative care needs. Acute stroke services should use the SPARC for needs assessment. Priority for assessment should be given to patients with a score of <15/20 on the Barthel Index, a tool already used in most stroke services.
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physical activity is promoted for older women as a means of maintaining health and avoiding falls and fractures. Findings relating physical activity of older women to risk of falls and fracture are contradictory. The association between level of physical activity and prevalent and incident hip and wrist fractures was examined in a large representative sample of postmenopausal British women. ⋯ no clear associations between graded physical activity and hip/wrist fractures were seen but estimates were imprecise. Physical activities are heterogeneous and individual fracture types and mechanisms differ. Very large prospective observational studies are required to disentangle the precise effects of different activity patterns on different fracture types.