Age and ageing
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Multicenter Study
Influence of life-style choices on locomotor disability, arthritis and cardiovascular disease in older women: prospective cohort study.
many chronic conditions have their roots in modifiable health-related behaviours. ⋯ never smokers and regular exercisers had substantially reduced odds of 7-year disability onset. Low PAFs suggest changes in health-related behaviours in older women would result in only modest reductions in common chronic conditions.
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Delirium is one of the foremost unmet medical needs in healthcare. It affects one in eight hospitalised patients and is associated with multiple adverse outcomes including increased length of stay, new institutionalisation, and considerable patient distress. Recent studies also show that delirium strongly predicts future new-onset dementia, as well as accelerating existing dementia. The importance of delirium is now increasingly being recognised, with a growing research base, new professional international organisations, increased interest from policymakers, and greater prominence of delirium in educational and audit programmes. Nevertheless, the field faces several complex research and clinical challenges. In this article we focus on selected areas of recent progress and/or uncertainty in delirium research and practice. (i) ⋯ studies are difficult given the heterogeneity of delirium and currently expert and comprehensive clinical care remains the main recommendation. Future studies may address the role of drugs for specific elements of delirium. In summary, though facing many challenges, the field continues to make progress, with several promising lines of enquiry and an expanding base of interest among researchers, clinicians and policymakers.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study Observational Study
The Identification of Seniors at Risk (ISAR) score to predict clinical outcomes and health service costs in older people discharged from UK acute medical units.
tools are required to identify high-risk older people in acute emergency settings so that appropriate services can be directed towards them. ⋯ adverse outcomes are common in older people discharged from acute medical units in the UK; the poor predictive ability of the ISAR in older people discharged from acute medical units makes it unsuitable as a sole tool in clinical decision-making.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study Observational Study
The predictive properties of frailty-rating scales in the acute medical unit.
older people are at an increased risk of adverse outcomes following attendance at acute hospitals. Screening tools may help identify those most at risk. The objective of this study was to compare the predictive properties of five frailty-rating scales. ⋯ frailty-rating scales alone are of limited use in risk stratifying older people being discharged from acute medical units.
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Comparative Study Observational Study
Diagnostic accuracy of three different methods of temperature measurement in acutely ill geriatric patients.
we examined the diagnostic accuracy of different methods of body temperature measurement to diagnose infection in geriatric patients presenting to the emergency department (ED). ⋯ diagnostic accuracy for the identification of infection was comparable among tympanal and rectal thermometry and lower for temporal artery thermometry. Different cut-off points should be used to identify infection using tympanal (37.3°C) or rectal (37.9°C) thermometry. In general, temperature measurement is an insensitive method to identify geriatric patients with infection. Registration number clinicaltrials.com: KSMC-tempger-1.