Arch Intern Med
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To achieve the goal of validity, the randomized clinical trial has emerged as the scientific "gold standard" for evaluating therapies in clinical medicine. Regardless of how well randomized clinical trials are designed, however, problems often occur during the conduct of the trials that give rise to methodologic challenges in the analysis of results. ⋯ We studied the current analytic strategies that are used to deal with these problems and how the use of these analytic strategies can change the focus of the research so that the trial no longer answers the relevant question. To ensure that the right question is answered, new methods of design and analysis are required that balance the goals of validity and clinical pertinence.
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Recent studies indicate continuing controversy over the appropriateness of intensive care in various clinical settings, particularly for very young and very old patients. We studied decisions regarding cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the associated clinical course in an acute geriatric unit serving the frail elderly. Despite multiple acute and chronic conditions, advanced age, and functional impairment, patients overwhelmingly preferred CPR. ⋯ The findings indicate that patients and their families considered appropriate clinical criteria including severity of illness when making their decisions about CPR. Nevertheless, the majority chose to be resuscitated in the event of an arrest. Further studies are needed to explore medical decision making by elderly inpatients and their surrogates and to describe the associated clinical course.
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Two hundred forty-eight elderly outpatients completed a survey designed to assess knowledge about the procedural aspects and efficacy of in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation. We found that older people overestimate the percentage survival to actual hospital discharge following in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation by nearly 300%. ⋯ Inaccurate beliefs about cardiopulmonary resuscitation efficacy can adversely impact on decision making about resuscitation by older patients. Educational efforts for the elderly may lead to more informed decision making and thereby more appropriate use of this technology.
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We evaluated the occurrence and persistence of delirium in 325 elderly patients admitted to a teaching hospital from either a defined community or a long-term care facility. Of the study participants, 34 (10.5%) had Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition--defined delirium at initial evaluation; of the remaining patients, 91 (31.3%) developed new-onset delirium. An additional 110 patients also experienced individual symptoms of delirium without meeting full criteria. ⋯ Delirium was not associated with an increased risk of mortality, but it was associated with a prolonged hospital stay and an increased risk of institutional placement among community-dwelling elderly. Only five patients (4%) experienced resolution of all new symptoms of delirium before hospital discharge, and only 20.8% and 17.7%, respectively, had resolution of all new symptoms by 3 and 6 months after hospital discharge. These data suggest that delirium is a common disorder that may be substantially less transient than currently believed and that incomplete manifestations of the syndrome may be frequent.