The indwelling urinary catheter is a frequent procedure which has a significant nosocomial impact with a risk of infectious and non-infectious complications. Studies show a reduction in the risk of these complications thanks to better monitoring of recommendations as part of programs within healthcare establishments aimed at improving professional practices (indication, monitoring, etc.).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Recent studies on machine learning have shown the potential to provide new methods with which to assess pain through the measurement of signals associated with physiologic responses to pain detected by wearables. We conducted a prospective pilot study to evaluate the real-world feasibility of using an AI-enabled wearable system for pain assessment with elderly patients with dementia and impaired communication.
Methods: Sensor data were collected from the wearables, as well as observational data-based conventional everyday interventions.
Background: Over the past few decades, advances in the neurology of aging have been considerable and have led to a better understanding of the science of age-related neurological disorders. Likewise, it changed the perception of classical neurology practice, research, and the way of looking at age-related conditions. Neurological disorders are the most frequent cause of major disability in the elderly and account for almost half of the incapacitation occurring beyond age 65 and more than 90% of serious dependency.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF(1) Background: Geriatric patients are at high risk of complications of Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) and are good candidates for antiviral drugs. (2) Methods: A retrospective study of electronic health records (EHRs) aiming to describe antiviral (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir (nirmatrelvir/r) or remdesivir) use, drug-drug interactions (DDIs) and adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in elderly patients (75 and over), hospitalized with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 between July 2022 and June 2023. (3) Results: Out of 491 patients (mean age: 86.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: This report aimed to describe mortality at 18 months in older survivors of the first wave of COVID-19.
Design: Observational cohort study.
Setting And Participants: Patients aged ≥65 years hospitalized for COVID-19 in the acute geriatric wards of 2 centers.
Currently, robust evidence is lacking to support one exercise type over another in the prevention of physical and cognitive decline and falls among older adults, primarily because of the lack of comparative trials of proven interventions. Therefore, a 12-month randomized, single-blind, comparative effectiveness trial is conducted, in which 142 older adults at high risk for falls are randomized (1:1) to receive an evidence-based Dalcroze Eurhythmics (DE) exercise program (once weekly, group-based) or an evidence-based multicomponent (MULTI) exercise program incorporating balance, functional, and strength training activities (twice weekly, group- and home-based), for 12 months. The primary outcome is gait variability under dual-task at 12 months.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe increasing prevalence of Alzheimer's disease in the general population presents a number of medical, economic and social challenges for the years to come. After 20 years of research with no new treatment option, a new class of drugs is set to be introduced in Europe. Anti-amyloid drugs, which are already available in the United-States, slow the disease progression by targeting the biological processes causing the disease, unlike the symptomatic treatments that are currently available.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRev Med Suisse
November 2023
Delirium is a commonly encountered syndrome in clinical practice. Older people with cognitive disorders are most at risk of developing delirium during the hospital stay. However, the risk of underdiagnosis is significant, particularly because of the overlap of behavioral symptoms and cognitive impairment between delirium and dementia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWith Switzerland's population ageing, promoting healthy ageing remains a public health issue. This represents a challenge for the healthcare system, which is still mainly focused on curative or palliative care. It has been clearly established that it is possible to maintain the functional capacity of older people by taking early action on health-related behaviors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Frailty assessment by paramedics in the prehospital setting is understudied. The goals of this study were to assess the inter-rater reliability and accuracy of frailty assessment by paramedics using the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS).
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study with paramedics exposed to 30 clinical vignettes created from real-life situations.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
March 2023
The ageing population calls for interventions that can assist older people to age healthily. This study aimed to provide a targeted synthesis of high-level research and current evidence-based recommendations on effective interventions for maintaining or preventing the decline in intrinsic capacity, functional ability, and physiological systems, or for caregiver support. Nestled within the healthy ageing framework by the World Health Organization, available evidence was selected in a targeted manner, with the purpose of providing a synthesis that would allow the application of this knowledge in real life.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Resource-rich countries are facing the challenge of aging societies, a high risk of dependence, and a high cost of care. Researchers attempted to address these issues by using cost-efficient, innovative technology to promote healthy aging and regain functionality. After an injury, efficient rehabilitation is crucial to promote returning home and prevent institutionalization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurr Gerontol Geriatr Res
January 2023
Worldwide, the number of old adults will peak in the coming decades. Relying solely on the chronological age to make treatment decisions and shape general or specific societal and medical considerations may reinforce ageism and lead to flawed reasoning. Defining physiological age using biological markers is not yet reliable, and an approach based on comorbidities without considering their impact on quality of life is inadequate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Masticatory function declines with age or disease, implicating a poor chewing efficiency and an often-unconscious change for a less healthy, yet easy to chew diet. Timely screening of masticatory function may foster an early-onset diagnosis and potential treatment. The aim of this study was to compare alternative diagnostic tools for masticatory function to a Jelly-scan test.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe risk of developing functional dependence rises with age. Following an acute event, a rehabilitation stay is often needed to restore functional capacities and consider home discharge. The geriatric rehabilitation process usually involves standardized multidisciplinary management, setting and frequent reviewing of the goals, and a discharge plan.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe management of infections in the elderly requires medical and nursing expertise with a standardized global geriatric evaluation. We present here an original and pioneering unit in Switzerland, dedicated to polymorbid and complex elderly patients hospitalized for an acute infection and who will benefit from joint management by an interdisciplinary team including a geriatrician, an infectious diseases specialist and a pharmacogeriatrician. The Hôpital des Trois-Chêne, which has geriatric emergencies, intermediate care beds, SOMADEM (somatic dementia) and UGIMP (medico-psychiatric) programs adapted to this population, seems to be the ideal place to host this unit.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Real-time prediction is key to prevention and control of infections associated with health-care settings. Contacts enable spread of many infections, yet most risk prediction frameworks fail to account for their dynamics. We developed, tested, and internationally validated a real-time machine-learning framework, incorporating dynamic patient-contact networks to predict hospital-onset COVID-19 infections (HOCIs) at the individual level.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There is ongoing uncertainty regarding transmission chains and the respective roles of healthcare workers (HCWs) and elderly patients in nosocomial outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in geriatric settings.
Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study including patients with nosocomial coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in four outbreak-affected wards, and all SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR positive HCWs from a Swiss university-affiliated geriatric acute-care hospital that admitted both Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 patients during the first pandemic wave in Spring 2020. We combined epidemiological and genetic sequencing data using a Bayesian modelling framework, and reconstructed transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 involving patients and HCWs, to determine who infected whom.
Healthcare workers have potentially been among the most exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection as well as the deleterious toll of the pandemic. This study has the objective to differentiate the pandemic toll from post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection in healthcare workers compared to the general population. The study was conducted between April and July 2021 at the Geneva University Hospitals, Switzerland.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Loneliness and social isolation are associated with anxiety and psychological discomfort, especially amongst the oldest and fragile persons.
Aims: SILVER evaluates the acceptance of video calls by old hospitalized patients and their relatives during the ban on visits due to the COVID-19. Moreover, SILVER evaluates if the use of different communication technology is associated with different outcomes in terms of anxiety, fear of self and of others' death and mood.
Background: Persistent symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 are prevalent weeks to months following the infection. To date, it is difficult to disentangle the direct from the indirect effects of SARS-CoV-2, including lockdown, social, and economic factors.
Objective: The study aims to characterize the prevalence of symptoms, functional capacity, and quality of life at 12 months in outpatient symptomatic individuals tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 compared to individuals tested negative.