Prevalence of vision loss among hospital in-patients; a risk factor for falls?

Purpose: Despite poor vision being a risk factor for falls, current hospital policies and practices often do not include a vision assessment at patient admission or in the hospital's incident reporting system when a fall occurs. Our purpose was to document the prevalence of vision loss in hospital general medicine units to increase awareness of poor vision as a potential risk factor for falls that occur within the hospital, and inform future preventative practice.

Methods: This cross-sectional study took place in medicine units of an acute care hospital.

Melatonin decreases delirium in elderly patients: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Disturbance in the metabolism of tryptophan and tryptophan-derived compounds (e.g., melatonin) may have a role in the pathogenesis of delirium.

A novel clinical pharmacy experience for third-year medical students.

A novel, clinical curriculum was developed to teach third-year medical students the principles of prescribing for elderly people. The experience involved a didactic session with a community pharmacist and a home visit to assess a senior citizen volunteer who was over age 75 years and was prescribed more than five medications. The medical students completed pre- and postexperience questionnaires to assess knowledge and opinions.