Project description:BackgroundFoot problems are common in older adults and associated with poorer physical function, falls, frailty and reduced quality of life. Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA), a multidisciplinary process that is considered the gold standard of care for older adults, does not routinely include podiatry assessment and intervention in hospitalized older adults.AimsTo introduce foot assessment to inpatient CGA to determine prevalence of foot disease, foot disease risk factors and inappropriate footwear use, assess inter-rater reliability of foot assessments, determine current podiatry input and examine associations between patient characteristics and foot disease risks.MethodsProspective, observational cohort study of older adults on geriatric rehabilitation wards. Foot assessment completed using the Queensland Foot Disease Form (QFDF) in addition to routine CGA.ResultsFifty-two patients (median age [inter-quartile range] 86.4 [79.2-90.3] years, 54% female) were included. Six patients (12%) had foot disease and 13 (25%) had a 'high risk' or 'at risk' foot. Foot disease risk factor prevalence was peripheral arterial disease 9 (17%); neuropathy 10 (19%) and foot deformity 11 (22%). Forty-one patients (85%) wore inappropriate footwear. Inter-rater agreement was substantial on presence of foot disease and arterial disease, fair to moderate on foot deformity and fair on neuropathy and inappropriate footwear. Eight patients (15%) saw a podiatrist during admission: 5 with foot disease, 1 'at risk' and 2 'low risk' for foot disease. Patients with an at risk foot or foot disease had significantly longer median length of hospital stay (25 [13.7-32.1] vs 15.2 [8-22.1] days, p = 0.01) and higher median Malnutrition Screening Test scores (2 [0-3] vs 0 [0-2], p = 0.03) than the low-risk group. Patients with foot disease were most likely to see a podiatrist (p < 0.001).ConclusionFoot disease, foot disease risk factors and inappropriate footwear are common in hospitalized older adults, however podiatry assessment and intervention is mostly limited to patients with foot disease. Addition of routine podiatry assessment to the multidisciplinary CGA team should be considered. Examination for arterial disease and risk of malnutrition may be useful to identify at risk patients for podiatry review.
Project description:The Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) is a multidisciplinary diagnosis approach that considers several dimensions of fragility in older adults to develop an individualized plan to improve their overall health. Despite the evidence of its positive impact, CGA is still applied by a reduced number of professionals in geriatric care in many countries, mostly using a paper-based approach. In this context, we collaborate with clinicians to bring CGA to the attention of more healthcare professionals and to enable its easier application in clinical settings by proposing a mobile application, Geriatric Helper, to act as a pocket guide that is easy to update remotely with up-to-date information, and that acts as a tool for conducting CGA. This approach reduces the time spent on retrieving the scales documentation, the overhead of calculating the results, and works as a source of information for non-specialists. Geriatric Helper is a tool for the health professionals developed considering an iterative, User-Centred Design approach, with extensive contributions from a broad set of users including domain experts, resulting in a highly usable and accepted system. Geriatric Helper is currently being tested in Portuguese healthcare units allowing for any clinician to apply the otherwise experts-limited geriatric assessment.
Project description:Changing global demography is resulting in older people presenting to emergency departments (EDs) in greater numbers than ever before. They present with greater urgency and are more likely to be admitted to hospital or re-attend and utilize greater resources. They experience longer waits for care and are less likely to be satisfied with their experiences. Not only that, but older people suffer poorer health outcomes after ED attendance, with higher mortality rates and greater dependence in activities of daily living or rates of admission to nursing homes. Older people's assessment and management in the ED can be complex, time consuming, and require specialist skills. The interplay of multiple comorbidities and functional decline result in the complex state of frailty that can predispose to poor health outcomes and greater care needs. Older people with frailty may present to services in an atypical fashion requiring detailed, multidimensional, and increasingly multidisciplinary care to provide the correct diagnosis and management as well as appropriate placement for ongoing care or admission avoidance. Specific challenges such as delirium, functional decline, or carer strain need to be screened for and managed appropriately. Identifying patients with specific frailty syndromes can be critical to identifying those at highest risk of poor outcomes and most likely to benefit from further specialist interventions. Models of care are evolving that aim to deliver multidimensional assessment and management by multidisciplinary specialist care teams (comprehensive geriatric assessment). Increasingly, these models are demonstrating improved outcomes, including admission avoidance or reduced death and dependence. Delivering this in the ED is an evolving area of practice that adapts the principles of geriatric medicine for the urgent-care environment.
Project description:BACKGROUND:Comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) involves the multidimensional assessment and management of an older person. It is well described in hospital and home-based settings. A novel approach could be to perform CGA within primary healthcare, the initial community located healthcare setting for patients, improving accessibility to a co-located multidisciplinary team. AIM:To appraise the evidence on CGA implemented within the primary care practice. METHODS:The review followed PRISMA recommendations. Eligible studies reported CGA on persons aged???65 in a primary care practice. Studies focusing on a single condition were excluded. Searches were run in five databases; reference lists and publications were screened. Two researchers independently screened for eligibility and assessed study quality. All study outcomes were reviewed. RESULTS:The authors screened 9003 titles, 145 abstracts and 97 full texts. Four studies were included. Limited study bias was observed. Studies were heterogeneous in design and reported outcomes. CGAs were led by a geriatrician (n?=?3) or nurse practitioner (n?=?1), with varied length and extent of follow-up (12-48 months). Post-intervention hospital admission rates showed mixed results, with improved adherence to medication modifications. No improvement in survival or functional outcomes was observed. Interventions were widely accepted and potentially cost-effective. DISCUSSION:The four studies demonstrated that CGA was acceptable and provided variable outcome benefit. Further research is needed to identify the most effective strategy for implementing CGA in primary care. Particular questions include identification of patients suitable for CGA within primary care CGA, a consensus list of outcome measures, and the role of different healthcare professionals in delivering CGA.
Project description:BackgroundHyponatremia presents with symptoms considered age-associated in the elderly. We assess the change in Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) parameters after hyponatremia improvement in hospitalized geriatric patients.MethodsWe took 100 hyponatremic and same number of eunatremic geriatric patients (> 60 years) who were comorbidity, presenting-complaints, and age-matched. Four CGA parameters were utilized, the new Hindi Mental State Examination (HMSE), Barthel's index of activities of daily living (ADL), Timed up and go Test (TUG), and handgrip strength by hand dynamometer (HG). We analyzed these at admission and discharge, and their relationship with change in sodium levels.ResultsAverage age was 68.1 ± 5.8 years, with males constituting 75%. The CGA parameters demonstrated worse values amongst the hyponatremia than the normonatremia group. Severe hyponatremia group showed worse CGA scores in comparison with moderate and mild. With improvement in sodium level, the improvements in ADL, TUG, and HMSE scores were greater in the hyponatremia group (8.8 ± 10.1, 2.2 ± 2.5, and 1.7 ± 2.3 respectively) in comparison to the normonatremia reference group (4.7 ± 9.0, 1 ± 2.0, and 0.7 ± 1.3 respectively, P < 0.05).ConclusionOur study is the first utilizing HMSE to assess change in cognitive ability with improvement in serum sodium levels in the Indian elderly. Hyponatremic patients show worse baseline CGA parameters, and hyponatremia severity correlates with worse motor and cognitive function. Improvement in the serum sodium level improves the CGA parameters. Correction of hyponatremia in the geriatric age group significantly impacts life quality.
Project description:ObjectiveCognitive frailty (CF) refers to the co-occurrence of physical frailty (PF) and cognitive impairment in persons without dementia. We aimed to explore the prevalence and associated factors of CF in China.MethodData were obtained from the China Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment Study. A total of 5,708 community-dwelling older adults without dementia were included. CF was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination for the evaluation of cognitive status and the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment-Frailty Index for the evaluation of PF. Participants with both cognitive impairment and PF were classified as having CF. Sociodemographic and clinical history was also collected. Logistic analysis was used to explore the association between the associated factors and CF.ResultsThe overall crude prevalence of CF was 3.3% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 3.0-4.0], and the standard prevalence of CF was 2.7% (95% CI = 2.0-3.0). The prevalence of CF was significantly higher in women than men and higher in residents of rural areas than urban areas. Moreover, the prevalence of CF was found to increase with age. Multiple factor analysis showed that depression (OR = 2.462, 95% CI = 1.066-5.687) and hearing impairment (OR = 2.713, 95% CI = 1.114-6.608) were independent associated factors of CF in elderly individuals with PF.ConclusionOur results provide the first empirical evidence of CF in China. We have identified several associated factors with CF which should be considered while assessing older adults. More studies in Chinese population with CF are demanded to confirm with our findings.
Project description:BackgroundOlder people with multi-morbidity are increasingly challenging for today's healthcare, and novel, cost-effective healthcare solutions are needed. The aim of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) at an ambulatory geriatric unit for people ≥75 years with multi-morbidity.MethodThe primary outcome was the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) comparing costs and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) of a CGA strategy with usual care in a Swedish setting. Outcomes were estimated over a lifelong time horizon using decision-analytic modelling based on data from the randomized AGe-FIT trial. The analysis employed a public health care sector perspective. Costs and QALYs were discounted by 3% per annum and are reported in 2016 euros.ResultsCompared with usual care CGA was associated with a per patient mean incremental cost of approximately 25,000 EUR and a gain of 0.54 QALYs resulting in an ICER of 46,000 EUR. The incremental costs were primarily caused by intervention costs and costs associated with increased survival, whereas the gain in QALYs was primarily a consequence of the fact that patients in the CGA group lived longer.ConclusionCGA in an ambulatory setting for older people with multi-morbidity results in a cost per QALY of 46,000 EUR compared with usual care, a figure generally considered reasonable in a Swedish healthcare context. A rather simple reorganisation of care for older people with multi-morbidity may therefore cost effectively contribute to meet the needs of this complex patient population.Trial registrationThe trial was retrospectively registered in clinicaltrial.gov, NCT01446757 . September, 2011.
Project description:BackgroundCancer is common in older patients, who raise specific treatment challenges due to aging-related, organ-specific physiologic changes and the presence in most cases of comorbidities capable of affecting treatment tolerance and outcomes. Identifying comorbid conditions and physiologic changes due to aging allows oncologists to better assess the risk/benefit ratio and to adjust the treatment accordingly. Conducting a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) is one approach developed for this purpose. We reviewed the evidence on the usefulness of CGA for assessing health problems and predicting cancer treatment outcomes, functional decline, morbidity, and mortality in older patients with solid malignancies.MethodsWe searched Medline for articles published in English between January 1, 2000 and April 14, 2014, and reporting prospective observational or interventional studies of CGA feasibility or effectiveness in patients aged ≥65 years with solid malignancies. We identified studies with at least 100 patients, a multivariate analysis, and assessments of at least five of the following CGA domains: nutrition, cognition, mood, functional status, mobility and falls, polypharmacy, comorbidities, and social environment.ResultsAll types of CGA identified a large number of unrecognized health problems capable of interfering with cancer treatment. CGA results influenced 21%-49% of treatment decisions. All CGA domains were associated with chemotoxicity or survival in at least one study. The abnormalities that most often predicted mortality and chemotoxicity were functional impairment, malnutrition, and comorbidities.ConclusionThe CGA uncovers numerous health problems in elderly patients with cancer and can affect treatment decisions. Functional impairment, malnutrition, and comorbidities are independently associated with chemotoxicity and/or survival. Only three randomized published studies evaluated the effectiveness of CGA-linked interventions. Further research into the effectiveness of the CGA in improving patient outcomes is needed.
Project description:ObjectivesImproving the oral health of the elderly is crucial to improving their general health and quality of life. To reach this goal, it is necessary to start with a comprehensive oral health assessment and a detailed treatment plan. The aim of this study was, therefore, to develop a comprehensive Oral Health Assessment Tool for the geriatric population.Material and methodsFollowing a panel of experts' consultation, a clinical form and a self-assessment questionnaire were developed, encompassing eight domains: dental caries, periodontal diseases, partial and complete edentulism, oral soft tissue lesions, occlusion, xerostomia, temporomandibular joints, and oral or oral prostheses hygiene. Subsequently, a pilot study was conducted to appraise the clinical form and questionnaire involving 84 residents of an Iranian nursing home. After securing ethics approval, both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the self-assessment questions' validity and reliability were assessed, and specificity and sensitivity were calculated.ResultsThe mean age of the participants was 69.8 (±4.1) years, and 86% had less than 12 years of education. The questions regarding the number of remaining teeth and the number of decayed teeth had the highest sensitivity (97% and 88%), respectively. Questions regarding the presence of periodontitis and gingivitis had the highest specificity (both 100%).ConclusionsA Comprehensive Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Tool has been developed and its validity and reliability evaluated in a pilot study. It should now be further evaluated in larger studies.
Project description:Geriatric syndromes are rarely detected in family medicine. Within the AGE program (active geriatric evaluation), a brief assessment tool (BAT) designed for family physicians (FP) was developed and its diagnostic performance estimated by comparison to a comprehensive geriatric assessment.This prospective diagnostic study was conducted in four primary care sites in Switzerland. Participants were aged at least 70 years and attending a routine appointment with their physician, without previous documented geriatric assessment. Participants were assessed by their family physicians using the BAT, and by a geriatriciant who performed a comprehensive geriatric assessment within the following two-month period (reference standard). Both the BAT and the full assessment targeted eight geriatric syndromes: cognitive impairment, mood impairment, urinary incontinence, visual impairment, hearing loss, undernutrition, osteoporosis and gait and balance impairment. Diagnostic accuracy of the BAT was estimated in terms of sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values; secondary outcomes were measures of feasibility, in terms of added consultation time and comprehensiveness in applying the BAT items.Prevalence of the geriatric syndromes in participants (N=85, 46 (54.1%) women, mean age 78 years (SD 6))ranged from 30.0% (malnutrition and cognitive impairment) to 71.0% (visual impairment), with a median number of 3 syndromes (IQR 2 to 4) per participant. Sensitivity of the BAT ranged from 25.0% for undernutrition (95%CI 9.8% - 46.7%) to 82.1% for hearing impairment (95%CI 66.5% - 92.5%), while specificity ranged from 45.8% for visual impairment (95%CI 25.6-67.2) to 87.7% for undernutrition (76.3% to 94.9%). Finally, most negative predictive values (NPV) were between 73.5% and 84.1%, excluding visual impairment with a NPV of 50.0%. Family physicians reported BAT use as per instructions for 76.7% of the syndromes assessed.Although the BAT does not replace a comprehensive geriatric assessment, it is a useful and appropriate tool for the FP to screen elderly patients for most geriatric syndromes.The study was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov on February 20, 2013 ( NCT01816087 ).