Randomized Phase II Study Evaluating Palbociclib in Addition to Letrozole as Neoadjuvant Therapy in Estrogen Receptor-Positive Early Breast Cancer: PALLET Trial.

Purpose: CDK4/6 inhibitors are used to treat estrogen receptor (ER)-positive metastatic breast cancer (BC) in combination with endocrine therapy. PALLET is a phase II randomized trial that evaluated the effects of combination palbociclib plus letrozole as neoadjuvant therapy.

Patients And Methods: Postmenopausal women with ER-positive primary BC and tumors greater than or equal to 2.

The influence of caregivers and behavioral and psychological symptoms on nursing home placement of persons with Alzheimer's disease: A matched case-control study.

Objectives: Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in individuals with Alzheimer's disease and caregiver characteristics may influence the decision to provide care at home or in a nursing home, though few studies examine this association near the actual time of nursing home placement. Using a matched case-control design, this study investigates the association between (1) total Neuropsychiatric Inventory score, (2) the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-4 (an agitation/aggression subscale), and (3) individual domains of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory and nursing home placement.

Methods: Data from the South Carolina Alzheimer's disease Registry provides an opportunity to expand the literature by looking at cases at the time of nursing home care eligibility/placement and allowing for propensity-score-matched controls.

Impact of a medication management system on nursing home admission rate in a community-dwelling nursing home-eligible Medicaid population.

Background: Community-dwelling frail elderly have an increased need for effective medication management to reside in their homes and delay or avoid admission to nursing homes.

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the impact of a medication management system on nursing home admission within the community-dwelling frail elderly.

Methods: This prospective cohort study compared nursing home admission rates in intervention and control clients of a state Medicaid home and community-based waiver program.

Prevention of elder mistreatment in nursing homes: competencies for direct-care staff.

Existing training on elder mistreatment in nursing homes focuses on detection and reporting of abuse, with little training specifically targeted toward prevention of mistreatment before it occurs. We used qualitative interviews with nursing home staff, policy makers, and related professionals to identify training needs. Based on participant accounts, we drafted a number of competencies essential for caregiver training to prevent mistreatment in nursing homes.

Resilience and challenges among staff of gulf coast nursing homes sheltering frail evacuees following Hurricane Katrina, 2005: implications for planning and training.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to: (1) explore experiences and responses of staff in caring for sheltered, frail, Hurricane Katrina evacuees; and (2) identify how planning and training can be enhanced for staff who may care for frail older populations during and after disasters.

Methods: Individual, in-person, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 38 staff members in four nursing homes in Mississippi, sheltering 109 evacuees in November 2005, nine weeks after Hurricane Katrina. Twenty-four were direct care staff, including certified nursing assistants, licensed nurses, dietary aides, and social workers; 14 were support staff, including maintenance and business managers.

Functional status assessment for community long-term care: preliminary observations.

The Community Long-Term Care (CLTC) program in South Carolina offers services to nursing home eligible persons that allow them to remain at home and receive help with activities of daily living. Variation in the ways potential clients are evaluated often produces inconsistent eligibility determinations. We developed a simple, objective assessment tool to complement CLTC evaluations.

Disaster preparedness for vulnerable persons receiving in-home, long-term care in South Carolina.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine how agencies in South Carolina that provide in-home health care and personal care services help older and/or disabled clients to prepare for disasters. The study also examines how agencies safeguard clients' records, train staff, and how they could improve their preparedness.

Methods: The relevant research and practice literature was reviewed.

Providing shelter to nursing home evacuees in disasters: lessons from Hurricane Katrina.

Objectives: We examined nursing home preparedness needs by studying the experiences of nursing homes that sheltered evacuees from Hurricane Katrina.

Methods: Five weeks after Hurricane Katrina, and again 15 weeks later, we conducted interviews with administrators of 14 nursing homes that sheltered 458 evacuees in 4 states. Nine weeks after Katrina, we conducted site visits to 4 nursing homes and interviewed 4 administrators and 38 staff members.

Protecting nursing home residents during emergencies or disasters: an exploratory study from South Carolina.

Purpose: This is an exploratory study of nursing home preparedness in South Carolina intended to: (1) examine nursing home administrators' perceptions of disaster preparedness in their facility in the absence of an immediate emergency or disaster, and changes in their views about preparedness following a large disaster; (2) study whether administrators' knowledge of shortcomings in preparedness leads them to change their views about planning; and (3) suggest ways to enhance preparedness.

Methods: A descriptive survey based on interviews with public officials responsible for nursing home safety was developed and mailed to all 192 licensed nursing homes in South Carolina in July 2005, and an extensive literature review was performed. As responses to the baseline survey were received, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast.

Person-centered planning training for consumer-directed care for the elderly and disabled.

Based on the need for a training program for person-centered planning SC Choice, a Real Choice/Independent Living Grant, included the development of training materials and a training program for the implementation of the transformation from agency case manager to care advisor. The development of this training included receiving the person-centered planning training currently used by the developmentally disabled agencies, as well as interviews and focus groups with interested staff and participants. A training program for the Elderly/Disabled Waiver population using adult learning techniques is described in detail Included in this training are the philosophy, the activities, and the necessary steps to complete person-centered planning for the transition of a case manager to a care advisor in a consumer-directed program for the elderly.

Evaluating hospital care for individuals with Alzheimer's disease using inpatient quality indicators.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD) were at greater risk for in-hospital mortality than non-AD patients as a result of poor quality of care. The study focused on six common medical conditions that result in hospital mortality. Using 1995 to 2000 data from New York state (n = 7,021,065), analysts compared mortality risk for individuals with and without AD.

Application of capture-recapture methodology to estimate the prevalence of dementia in South Carolina.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of dementia in individuals 65 years of age and older in the state of South Carolina using capture-recapture methodology.

Methods: We linked data from the Department of Mental Health admissions, inpatient admissions, and emergency room visits. Separate log-linear models were used to obtain estimates of the underascertainment-corrected prevalence of dementia in twelve age-gender-race subgroups, which were summed to estimate the prevalence of dementia in the total population.

Co-morbidity associated with dementia.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify common co-morbid conditions associated with dementia subtypes and to evaluate the association of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure, and anemia with dementia subtypes relative to controls.

Methods: Hospital discharge data were used to identify 15,013 subjects from South Carolina with a diagnosis of dementia between 1998 and 1999. A control group of 15,013 persons without dementia was randomly sampled from hospital discharge records and matched to persons with dementia on the basis of age, race, and gender.

Probing the Molecular Geometry of Five-Coordinate Vanadyl Complexes with Pulsed ENDOR.

The pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) technique of (51)V electron spin echo-electron nuclear double resonance (ESE-ENDOR) has been used to measure the nuclear quadrupole coupling constants of a series of five-coordinate vanadyl complexes containing Schiff base ligands with geometries ranging from distorted square pyramidal to distorted trigonal bipyramidal. Vanadium nuclear quadrupole coupling constants are sensitive to the coordination geometry of the vanadyl ion, and thus sensitive to the structural distortions within this series of complexes. (51)V ESE-ENDOR has been shown to be a probe of the coordination geometry of vanadyl complexes.

The value of strength training for older adults.

Health in older adults can best be measured in terms of functional status. Skeletal muscle strength has been reported to be a determinant of functional status in older individuals. Two major contributors to the decline in muscle function as a person ages are disuse and physical inactivity.

Functional health status as a predictor of mortality in men and women over 65.

This study evaluated the effect of functional health status on mortality in a sample of community-dwelling older people. White and African-American self-respondents to the 1986 National Health Interview Survey Functional Health Supplement (n = 5, 320) were included in the study. Functional health status was measured by a ten-item unidimensional activities of daily living-instrumental activities of daily living (ADL-IADL) scale and a three-item cognitive ADL scale.

Risk of institutionalization among community long-term care clients with dementia.

South Carolina Community Long-Term Care (CLTC) data were used to identify factors increasing the risk of institutionalization in people with dementia. Clients diagnosed with dementia and observed at least twice between June 1993 and December 1994 (N = 786) were studied. Logistic regression determined that clients with a decline in ADL function who were white, had a nonrelative or child as a caregiver, and were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease were at increased risk of institutionalization.

Epidemiology of Alzheimer's disease.

In summary, while only a few risk factors for Alzheimer's disease have been identified, several large collaborative studies of elderly populations are currently underway. As measurement techniques improve, the ability to diagnose this disease in its early stages will make the search for risk factors more feasible.

Survival of Alzheimer's disease patients with regard to pattern of care in South Carolina, 1988-1993.

The length of time from diagnosis of AD to death was compared among three groups of AD patients in South Carolina. Each group received a different pattern of care. The survival time from diagnosis to death was longest among those who lived in institutions (mean three years for men, 4.

Left ventricular filling in hypertensive blacks and whites following adrenergic blockade.

Left ventricular diastolic filling was investigated in 12 black and 15 white subjects before and after double-blinded randomized treatment of mild to moderate hypertension with combined alpha- and beta-adrenergic receptor blockade (labetalol) and beta-blockade alone (atenolol). At baseline (off medication), both groups were similar for age (46 +/- 8 years v 48 +/- 12 years), mean blood pressure (121 +/- 8 mm Hg v 115 +/- 8 mm Hg), left ventricular dimensions, left ventricular mass index (118 +/- 24 g/m2 v 113 +/- 13 g/m2), and left ventricular filling as reflected by transmitral flow velocity ratio A/E (0.97 +/- 0.