Age and ageing
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frailty, a multi-dimensional geriatric syndrome, confers a high risk for falls, disability, hospitalisation and mortality. The prevalence and correlates of frailty in the UK are unknown. ⋯ frailty is not uncommon even among community-dwelling young-old men and women in the UK. There are social inequalities in frailty which appear to be mediated by co-morbidity.
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frailty is a concept used to describe older people at high risk of adverse outcomes, including falls, functional decline, hospital or nursing home admission and death. The associations between frailty and use of specific health and community services have not been investigated. ⋯ frailty is strongly associated with use of health and community services in community-dwelling older men. The high level of use of medical services suggests that doctors and nurses could play a key role in implementation of preventive interventions.
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Comparative Study
The experiences of older adults in the community dying from cancer and non-cancer causes: a national survey of bereaved relatives.
there is limited understanding of symptoms and care in the last few months of life for adults dying from causes other than cancer. ⋯ there are important differences in the reported experiences of older adults dying from cancer and non-cancer causes in the last months of life, independent of age.
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the safety of older pedestrians at urban intersections is a matter of gerontological concern. Many older pedestrians report inability to complete crossings in the time given by pedestrian lights. Standard times for pedestrian lights in Dublin pelican crossings are specified in the Traffic Management Guidelines (TMG). The Technology Research for Independent Living Centre is building a database of gait assessments of Irish community-dwelling older people using GAITRite. ⋯ as currently defined in the TMG, maximum pedestrian crossing times at pelican crossings may represent a hazard for very old people. This should be addressed within the Irish authorities' plan to improve safety and equality for older people.