Exercise and fall prevention self-management to reduce mobility-related disability and falls after fall-related lower limb fracture in older people: protocol for the RESTORE (Recovery Exercises and STepping On afteR fracturE) randomised controlled trial.

Background: Lasting disability and further falls are common and costly problems in older people following fall-related lower limb and pelvic fractures. Exercise interventions can improve mobility after fracture and reduce falls in older people, however the optimal approach to rehabilitation after fall-related lower limb and pelvic fracture is unclear. This randomised controlled trial aims to evaluate the effects of an exercise and fall prevention self-management intervention on mobility-related disability and falls in older people following fall-related lower limb or pelvic fracture.

Rivastigmine for gait stability in patients with Parkinson's disease (ReSPonD): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial.

Background: Falls are a frequent and serious complication of Parkinson's disease and are related partly to an underlying cholinergic deficit that contributes to gait and cognitive dysfunction in these patients. Gait dysfunction can lead to an increased variability of gait from one step to another, raising the likelihood of falls. In the ReSPonD trial we aimed to assess whether ameliorating this cholinergic deficit with the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor rivastigmine would reduce gait variability.

Dementia: A risk factor for burns in the elderly.

Background: Older people are disproportionately at risk of burn and have a high risk of dementia; however the impact of dementia on risk of burn is unknown.

Method: Linked hospitalisation and death records for individuals aged 65 years and older admitted to a NSW hospital for a burn over the ten year period 2003-2012 were analysed. Demographic and burn characteristics and health outcomes were compared for people with and without dementia.

Hip fracture and the influence of dementia on health outcomes and access to hospital-based rehabilitation for older individuals.

Background: For older individuals who sustain a hip fracture, the presence of dementia can influence their access to hospital-based rehabilitation.

Purpose: This study compares the characteristics and health outcomes of individuals with and without dementia following a hip fracture; and access to, and outcomes following, hospital-based rehabilitation in a population-based cohort.

Method: An examination of hip fractures involving individuals aged 65 years and older with and without dementia using linked hospitalisation, rehabilitation and mortality records during 2009-2013.

The influence of dementia on injury-related hospitalisations and outcomes in older adults.

Introduction: Injury is the most common reason for admission to hospital in people with dementia in Australia. However relatively little is known about the temporal trends and the hospital experience of people with dementia hospitalised for an injury. This population-based data linkage study compared the causes, temporal trends and health outcomes for injury-related hospitalisations in people with and without dementia.

A Unique Incidental Finding in Two Young Dancers: A Case Series.

Dancers frequently present to the sports medicine clinic with a variety of lower extremity complaints ranging from acute and traumatic injuries to more chronic, overuse injuries. This case series depicts a similar and unique incidental radiographic finding found in 2 young dancers seen at the same sports medicine clinic. While the findings are likely benign and unrelated to both patients' initial presentation, the finding of acroosteolysis can be found in more serious systemic and genetic processes as well an early finding in repetitive trauma.

Evaluating the effectiveness of a home-based exercise programme delivered through a tablet computer for preventing falls in older community-dwelling people over 2 years: study protocol for the Standing Tall randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: In order to prevent falls, older people should exercise for at least 2 h per week for 6 months, with a strong focus on balance exercises. This article describes the design of a randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a home-based exercise programme delivered through a tablet computer to prevent falls in older people.

Methods And Analysis: Participants aged 70 years or older, living in the community in Sydney will be recruited and randomly allocated to an intervention or control group.

The association of physical illness and self-harm resulting in hospitalisation among older people in a population-based study.

Objectives: With population ageing, self-harm injuries among older people are increasing. Further examination of the association of physical illness and self-harm among older people is warranted. This research aims to identify the association of physical illness with hospitalisations following self-harm compared to non-self-harm injury among older people.

Economic evaluation of a falls prevention exercise program among people With Parkinson's disease.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the cost-effectiveness of a 6-month minimally supervised exercise program for people with PD.

Methods: An economic analysis was conducted alongside a randomized, controlled trial in which 231 people age 40 years and over with PD were randomized into a usual care control group or an exercise group. Cost-effectiveness was estimated using incremental cost per fall prevented (using falls calendars) as the primary analysis and cost per extra person avoiding mobility deterioration (defined as an improvement or no change in the 12-point Short Physical Performance Battery Score between baseline and 6 month).

Dementia and intentional and unintentional poisoning in older people: a 10 year review of hospitalization records in New South Wales, Australia - CORRIGENDUM.

The authors would like to apologise for a typographical error in the abstract of the above mentioned article. In the results section of the abstract on the first page of the article, the first odds ratio that refers to 'aged care facilities' should be (OR 5.44; 95% CI 4.

Dementia and intentional and unintentional poisoning in older people: a 10 year review of hospitalization records in New South Wales, Australia.

Background: Medicinal substances have been identified as common agents of both unintentional and intentional poisoning among older people, including those with dementia. This study aims to compare the characteristics of poisoning resulting in hospitalization in older people with and without dementia and their clinical outcomes.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study involving an examination of poisoning by intent involving individuals aged 50+ years with and without dementia using linked hospitalization and mortality records during 2003-2012.

Predictors of Adherence to a Falls Prevention Exercise Program for People with Parkinson's Disease.

Background: Long-term benefits of exercise for people with Parkinson's disease (PD) require regular and sustained participation. This study aimed to investigate predictors of adherence to a minimally supervised exercise program designed to reduce falls in people with PD.

Method: People with idiopathic PD who participated in the exercise arm of a randomized, controlled trial were included.

Cost-effectiveness of a Home-Exercise Program Among Older People After Hospitalization.

Background: Older people who have been recently discharged from hospital are at increased risk of falls and deterioration in physical functioning.

Objective: To investigate the cost-effectiveness of a 12-month home-exercise program for older adults after hospitalization.

Method: An economic evaluation was conducted alongside a randomized controlled trial.

Exercise for falls prevention in Parkinson disease: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To determine whether falls can be prevented with minimally supervised exercise targeting potentially remediable fall risk factors, i.e., poor balance, reduced leg muscle strength, and freezing of gait, in people with Parkinson disease.

Nursing journal clubs and the clinical nurse specialist.

Purpose/objectives: The purpose of this article was to describe the clinical nurse specialist's role in developing and implementing a journal club. Tools for critiquing clinical and research articles with an application of each are provided.

Background: The journal club provides a forum through which nurses maintain their knowledge base about clinically relevant topics and developments in their specific clinical discipline, analyze and synthesize the relevant scientific literature as evidence, and engage in informal discussions about evidence-based and best practices.

The ICD-10 Charlson Comorbidity Index predicted mortality but not resource utilization following hip fracture.

Objectives: To evaluate the performance of the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) in the prediction of mortality, 30-day readmission, and length of stay (LOS) in a hip fracture population using algorithms designed for use in International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10)--coded administrative data sets.

Study Design And Setting: Hospitalization and death data for 47,698 New South Wales residents aged 65 years and over, admitted for hip fracture, were linked. Comorbidities were ascertained using ICD-10 coding algorithms developed by Sundararajan (2004) and Quan (2005).

Current and future burden of incident hip fractures in New South Wales, Australia.

Unlabelled: Population ageing presents significant challenges for many developed nations. Accurately forecasting the likely future burden of age-related medical conditions, such as hip fracture, is critical. In this study, we present estimates of the current and future burden of hip fracture in NSW, Australia, providing crucial information for future health care planning.

From colour photographs to black-and-white line drawings: an assessment of chimpanzees' (Pan troglodytes') transfer behaviour.

Over two experiments, we investigated the ability of two adolescent and two adult chimpanzees to generalise a learnt, pictorial categorisation to increasingly degraded and abstract stimuli. In Experiment 2, we further assessed the ability of the adolescent chimpanzees to engage in open-ended categorisation of black-and-white line drawings. The current results confirmed and extended previous findings, showing that sub-adult chimpanzees outperform adult chimpanzees in the categorisation of pictorial stimuli, particularly when the stimuli are more degraded and abstract in nature.

Obesity and falls in older people: mediating effects of disease, sedentary behavior, mood, pain and medication use.

Obesity has been associated with an increased risk of falls among older people. However, it is not certain whether factors commonly associated with falls and/or obesity mediate this risk. This research examines whether specific diseases, sedentary behavior, mood, pain, and medication use mediate the association between obesity and falls.

Orthogeriatric services associated with lower 30-day mortality for older patients who undergo surgery for hip fracture.

Objective: To examine the impact of orthogeriatric services on 30-day mortality and length of stay (LOS) for hip fracture patients undergoing surgery in public hospitals in New South Wales.

Design, Setting And Patients: A retrospective analysis of patients aged 65 years and older who had a fractured hip and received surgical intervention between 1 July 2009 and 30 June 2011 at one of the 37 NSW public hospitals operating on hip fracture patients.

Main Outcome Measures: 30-day mortality and LOS.

Risk factors for frequent falls in people with Parkinson's disease.

Fall frequency varies among individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD). We aimed to determine whether risk factors that distinguish PD fallers from non-fallers are influenced by frequent falls. 205 people with PD participated in a 6-month prospective study.

Depressive symptoms increase fall risk in older people, independent of antidepressant use, and reduced executive and physical functioning.

Depressive symptoms and antidepressant use are associated with greater fall risk in older people. This prospective study investigated interactions between depressive symptoms, antidepressant use and physical and cognitive function measures in relation to injurious or multiple falls in a large sample of community-living older people. Four-hundred and eighty-eight community-dwelling older people aged 70 years and over, underwent a comprehensive psychological, cognitive and physiological assessment and were prospectively monitored for falls over a 12-month follow up period.