Lessons learnt from a 2017 Irish national clinical claims review: a retrospective observational study.

Objective: Learning from adverse outcomes in health and social care is critical to advancing a culture of patient safety and reducing the likelihood of future preventable harm to service users. This review aims to present an overview of all clinical claims finalised in one calendar year involving publicly funded health and social care providers in Ireland.

Design: This is a retrospective observational study.

Measurement Error, Reliability, and Minimum Detectable Change in the Mini-Mental State Examination, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, and Color Trails Test among Community Living Middle-Aged and Older Adults.

Background: Knowing the reliability of cognitive tests, particularly those commonly used in clinical practice, is important in order to interpret the clinical significance of a change in performance or a low score on a single test.

Objective: To report the intra-class correlation (ICC), standard error of measurement (SEM) and minimum detectable change (MDC) for the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and Color Trails Test (CTT) among community dwelling older adults.

Methods: 130 participants aged 55 and older without severe cognitive impairment underwent two cognitive assessments between two and four months apart.

Oscillometric measure of blood pressure detects association between orthostatic hypotension and depression in population based study of older adults.

Background: White matter hyperintensities may contribute to depression by disrupting neural connections among brain regions that regulate mood. Orthostatic hypotension (OH) may be a risk factor for white matter hyperintensities and accumulating evidence, although limited suggests it may play a role in the development of late-life depression. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between an oscillometric measure of orthostatic hypotension and depression in population based sample of older adults.

Age and sex differences in prevalence and clinical correlates of depression: first results from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing.

Objective: The risk of depression is increased by physical illness; however, the nature of this relationship is complex and unclear. Here, we explore the prevalence and clinical correlates of depression, with particular emphasis on factors representing consequences or physical manifestations of disease and identify age and gender differences in their effects.

Methods: A population-representative sample of 8175 community-dwelling adults aged 50 years and over participated in the first wave of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing.

Effects of fear of falling and activity restriction on normal and dual task walking in community dwelling older adults.

Fear of falling (FOF) is associated with poor physical and psychosocial health and can have debilitating consequences especially when it leads to activity restriction. This study examined whether normal and dual task gait disruptions were independently associated with FOF and activity restriction or if they were fully explained by impaired health status. Data was obtained from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA).

Education is positively associated with macular pigment: the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA).

Purpose: The three carotenoids lutein, zeaxanthin, and meso-zeaxanthin, are found at the macula and referred to as macular pigment (MP). This study was undertaken to investigate determinants of MP in a large randomly selected sample from the Republic of Ireland (as part of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing [TILDA]).

Methods: MP optical density (MPOD) was measured using customized heterochromatic flicker photometry in 4373 participants.

Using timed up-and-go to identify frail members of the older population.

Background: Fried's definition of frailty is widely used but its measurement is problematic. Timed up-and-go (TUG) is a simple measure of mobility that may be a useful proxy for frailty. Here, we describe the distribution of frailty and TUG in the older population of Ireland and discuss the extent to which TUG identifies the frail and prefrail populations.

Association between timed up-and-go and memory, executive function, and processing speed.

Objectives: To determine which cognitive tests are independently associated with performance on the Timed Up-and-Go Test (TUG).

Design: Data were obtained from Wave 1 of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), a population-based study assessing health, economic, and social aspects of aging.

Setting: Community-dwelling adults completed a home based interview and a health center-based assessment.

Depression, anxiety and cardiovascular disease: which symptoms are associated with increased risk in community dwelling older adults?

Background: Depression is a risk factor for Cardiovascular Disease (CVD). It has been reported that somatic symptoms of depression and not cognitive symptoms are associated with increased risk although findings have been inconsistent. Few studies have examined whether co-morbid anxiety confers additive risk.

Factors affecting continuous beat-to-beat orthostatic blood pressure response in community-dwelling older adults.

Objective: To examine the effect of age, time of day, the timing of medication and food ingestion on orthostatic blood pressure response (OBP) in community-dwelling adults.

Methods: A nationally representative sample of 109 community-dwelling adults aged at least 50 years attended for health assessment in a pilot study of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing. OBP was measured using continuous beat-to-beat plethysmography (Finometer) during active stand, and OBP with excessive artefacts were excluded.

Comparison of centre and home-based health assessments: early experience from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA).

Background: some cohort studies of ageing and health supplement questionnaire-based surveys with in-home measurements of biological parameters and others have required respondents to attend assessment centres. Centre-based assessments facilitate detailed measurements and novel technologies, but may differentially influence participation. The aim of this paper is to compare the characteristics of participants who attended a centre with those who chose a home assessment and those who did not have a health assessment.

Macular pigment optical density in an ageing Irish population: The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing.

Purpose: The 3 carotenoids lutein, zeaxanthin, and meso-zeaxanthin, which account for the 'yellow spot' at the macula and which are referred to as macular pigment (MP), are believed to play a role in visual function and protect against age-related macular degeneration (AMD) via their optical and antioxidant properties. This study was undertaken to compare MP optical density (MPOD) in a population aged > or =50 years with MPOD values from a normative database of subjects aged 18-60 years.

Methods: Seventy-nine subjects were recruited into this pilot study (The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing-TILDA).

Patient satisfaction with an emergency department psychiatric service.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to measure the rate of satisfaction of the sample population with an emergency department psychiatric service and to explore in open-ended questions, factors which contributed to these satisfaction ratings.

Design/methodology/approach: All psychiatric patients who attended the service and fulfilled the eligibility criteria during the study timeframe received the postal questionnaire (n = 55). The Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8 was used, which is a brief, eight-item instrument designed to assess post-service satisfaction.