Bmc Med
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Review Meta Analysis
Association of behaviour change techniques with effectiveness of dietary interventions among adults of retirement age: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.
There is a need for development of more effective interventions to achieve healthy eating, enhance healthy ageing, and to reduce the risk of age-related diseases. The aim of this study was to identify the behaviour change techniques (BCTs) used in complex dietary behaviour change interventions and to explore the association between BCTs utilised and intervention effectiveness. ⋯ Overall, this study has identified BCTs associated with effectiveness suggesting that these might be active ingredients of dietary interventions which will be effective in increasing F and V intake in older adults. For interventions targeting those in the peri-retirement age group, 'barrier identification/problem solving' and 'plan for social support/social change' may be particularly useful in increasing the effectiveness of dietary interventions.
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Older adults are at an increased risk of death, but not all people of the same age have the same risk. Many methods identify frail people (that is, those at increased risk) but these often require time-consuming interactions with health care providers. We evaluated whether standard laboratory tests on their own, or added to a clinical frailty index (FI), could improve identification of older adults at increased risk of death. ⋯ An FI based on routine laboratory data can identify older adults at increased risk of death. Additional evaluation of this approach in clinical settings is warranted.
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Older patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) face the decision of whether to undergo dialysis. Currently available data on this issue are limited because they were generated by small, short-term studies with statistical drawbacks. Further research is urgently needed to provide objective information for dialysis decision making in older patients with advanced CKD. ⋯ In older patients, dialysis may be associated with increased mortality risk and healthcare cost compared with conservative care. For patients who are ≥70 years old with advanced CKD, decision making about whether to undergo dialysis should be weighted by consideration of risks and benefits.
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Voluntary medical male circumcision has been conclusively demonstrated to reduce the lifetime risk of male acquisition of HIV. The strategy has been adopted as a component of a comprehensive strategy towards achieving an AIDS-free generation. ⋯ We discuss here how simplifications in the procedure, addressing a lack of healthcare infrastructure and mobilizing resources, and engaging communities of both men and women have permitted Rwanda to move forward with more optimism in its scale-up tactics. Examples from Rwanda are used to highlight how these barriers can and should be addressed.
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The prevalence of multimorbidity (the presence of two or more long-term conditions) is rising internationally. Multimorbidity affects patients by increasing their burden of symptoms, but is also likely to increase the self-care demands, or treatment burden, that they experience. Treatment burden refers to the effort expended in operationalising treatments, navigating healthcare systems and managing relations with healthcare providers. This is an important problem for people with chronic illness such as stroke. Polypharmacy is an important marker of both multimorbidity and burden of treatment. In this study, we examined the prevalence of multimorbidity and polypharmacy in a large, nationally representative population of primary care patients with and without stroke, adjusting for age, sex and deprivation. ⋯ Multimorbidity and polypharmacy were strikingly more common in those with a diagnosis of stroke compared with those without. This has important implications for clinical guidelines and the design of health services.