Biological Markers of Musculoskeletal Pain: A Scoping Review.

Background: Musculoskeletal pain (MSP) is the leading contributor to disability, limiting mobility and dexterity. As research on the determinants of MSP is evolving, biomarkers can probably play a significant role in understanding its causes and improving its clinical management. This scoping review aimed to provide an overview of the associations between biomarkers and MSP.

Factors Associated With Specialists' Intention to Adopt New Behaviors After Taking Web-Based Continuing Professional Development Courses: Cross-sectional Study.

Background: Web-based continuing professional development (CPD) is a convenient and low-cost way for physicians to update their knowledge. However, little is known about the factors that influence their intention to put this new knowledge into practice.

Objective: We aimed to identify sociocognitive factors associated with physicians' intention to adopt new behaviors as well as indications of Bloom's learning levels following their participation in 5 web-based CPD courses.

An exploratory identification of biological markers of chronic musculoskeletal pain in the low back, neck, and shoulders.

Objectives: This study was an in-depth exploration of unique data from a nationally representative sample of adults living in the United States to identify biomarkers associated with musculoskeletal pain.

Methods: We performed secondary analyses of 2003-2004 NHANES data. After a first screening of 187 markers, analyses of 31 biomarkers were conducted on participants aged ≥20 years identified in all counties using the 2000 Census Bureau data (n = 4,742).

Evaluation of a prenatal screening decision aid: A mixed methods pilot study.

Background: We developed a decision aid (DA) to help pregnant women and their partners make informed decisions about prenatal screening for trisomy. We aimed to determine its usefulness for preparing for decision-making and its acceptability among end-users.

Methods: In this mixed-methods pilot study, we recruited participants in three prenatal care settings in Quebec City.

Impact of Fasting Status on the Use of Klotho as a Biomarker.

Background: Klotho is a protein secreted physiologically in humans. It acts like a hormone that regulates many biological processes. It is also a novel serological biomarker that is increasingly used as a predictive factor for several physiological and psychological conditions.

Postoperative outcomes in surgical COVID-19 patients: a multicenter cohort study.

Background: Data on postoperative outcomes of the COVID-19 patient population is limited. We described COVID-19 patients who underwent a surgery and the pandemic impact on surgical activities.

Methods: We conducted a multicenter cohort study between March 13 and June 192,020.

Web-Based Training for Nurses on Shared Decision Making and Prenatal Screening for Down Syndrome: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Pregnant women often find it difficult to choose from among the wide variety of available prenatal screening options. To help pregnant women and their partners make informed decisions based on their values, needs, and preferences, a decision aid and a web-based shared decision making (SDM) training program for health professionals have been developed. In Canada, nurses provide maternity care and thus can train as decision coaches for prenatal screening.

Decision Regret among Informal Caregivers Making Housing Decisions for Older Adults with Cognitive Impairment: A Cross-sectional Analysis.

. Informal caregivers are regularly faced with difficult housing decisions for older adults with cognitive impairment. They often regret the decision they made.

HIV incidence and risk contributing factors among men who have sex with men in Benin: A prospective cohort study.

Men who have sex with Men (MSM) are a key population in the transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection. In Benin, there is a lack of strategic information to offer appropriate interventions for these populations who live hidden due to their stigmatization and discrimination. The objective is to identify contributing factors that affect HIV incidence in the MSM population.

Incidence of shoulder pain in 40 years old and over and associated factors: A systematic review.

Background: Shoulder pain is one of the most frequent musculoskeletal complaints, and its prevalence and consequences increase with age. However, little is known about the incidence of shoulder pain among aging adults. We conducted this review to estimate the incidence of shoulder pain in ageing adults and its associated factors.

Antipsychotic prescription and mortality in hospitalized older persons.

Background: Recent scientific reports have shown that older persons treated with antipsychotics for dementia-related behavioural symptoms have increased mortality. However, the impact of these drugs prescribed during hospitalization has rarely been assessed. We aimed to investigate whether antipsychotics are associated with an increased risk of mortality during hospitalization and at 3-month follow-up in elderly inpatients.

E-learning in order to improve drug prescription for hospitalized older patients: a cluster-randomized controlled study.

Aims: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of an e-learning educational program meant to foster the quality of drug prescription in hospitalized elderly patients.

Methods: Twenty geriatric and internal medicine wards were randomized to intervention (e-learning educational program) or control (basic geriatric pharmacology notions). Logistic regression analysis was used in order to assess the effect of the intervention on the use of potentially inappropriate medication (PIM, primary outcome) at hospital discharge.

A Multicomponent Intervention to Optimize Psychotropic Drug Prescription in Elderly Nursing Home Residents: An Italian Multicenter, Prospective, Pilot Study.

Background: Older nursing home residents often have a large number of diseases and frequently require multiple medications; the high consumption of psychotropic drugs is of particular concern. The majority of residents in nursing homes suffer from dementia, and the use of psychotropic drugs in these patients is very high. Prescription for short periods of time only are usually recommended to avoid the risk of adverse drug reactions and potentially severe drug-drug interactions (DDIs).

Under-detection of delirium and impact of neurocognitive deficits on in-hospital mortality among acute geriatric and medical wards.

Background: Delirium is a neuropsychiatric disorder, triggered by medical precipitants causes. Study aims were to describe the prevalence and impact on in-hospital mortality of delirium identified through ICD-9 codes as well as evidence of neurocognitive deficits demonstrated in a population of older patients admitted to acute medical wards.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort multicenter study of 2521 older patients enrolled in the "Registro Politerapie SIMI (REPOSI)" during the years 2010 and 2012.

Gender difference in drug use in hospitalized elderly patients.

Purpose: The aims of this study were to evaluate whether or not there are gender differences in drug use at hospital admission and prescription at discharge and to evaluate the effect of hospitalization on medication patterns in the elderly.

Method: In-patients aged >65years included in the REPOSI registry during a recruitment period of 3years (2008-2010-2012) were analyzed in order to evaluate drug use at hospital admission and prescription at discharge according to gender.

Results: A total of 3473 patients, 52% women and 48% men, were considered.

Cognitive and psychological profiles in treatment compliance: a study in an elderly population with hemophilia.

Elderly patients with hemophilia have to face new challenges linked to concomitant pathologies and concurrent use of different treatments. In order to promote optimal care in the elderly hemophilia population, this study is aimed to analyze treatment compliance in relation to the presence of comorbidities and the role of potential determinants that can affect compliance (positively or negatively), including health-related quality of life, cognitive decline, and sociodemographic parameters (eg, living situation, partnership, presence of caregivers). This will be an observational study of elderly patients with hemophilia (aged >60 years).

Adherence to antibiotic treatment guidelines and outcomes in the hospitalized elderly with different types of pneumonia.

Background: Few studies evaluated the clinical outcomes of Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP), Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia (HAP) and Health Care-Associated Pneumonia (HCAP) in relation to the adherence of antibiotic treatment to the guidelines of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the American Thoracic Society (ATS) in hospitalized elderly people (65 years or older).

Methods: Data were obtained from REPOSI, a prospective registry held in 87 Italian internal medicine and geriatric wards. Patients with a diagnosis of pneumonia (ICD-9 480-487) or prescribed with an antibiotic for pneumonia as indication were selected.

Brain and kidney, victims of atrial microembolism in elderly hospitalized patients? Data from the REPOSI study.

Background: It is well known that atrial fibrillation (AF) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are associated with a higher risk of stroke, and new evidence links AF to cognitive impairment, independently from an overt stroke (CI). Our aim was to investigate, assuming an underlying role of atrial microembolism, the impact of CI and CKD in elderly hospitalized patients with AF.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data collected on elderly patients in 66 Italian hospitals, in the frame of the REPOSI project.

The drug prescription network: a system-level view of drug co-prescription in community-dwelling elderly people.

Networks are well suited to display and analyze complex systems that consist of numerous and interlinked elements. This study aimed at: (1) generating a series of drug prescription networks (DPNs) displaying co-prescription in community-dwelling elderly people; (2) analyzing DPN structure and organization; and (3) comparing various DPNs to unveil possible differences in drug co-prescription patterns across time and space. Data were extracted from the administrative prescription database of the Lombardy Region in northern Italy in 2000 and 2010.

Gout, allopurinol intake and clinical outcomes in the hospitalized multimorbid elderly.

Background: Increased serum uric acid has been considered a cardiovascular risk factor but no study has assessed its relation with hospital mortality or length of stay. On the basis of data obtained from a prospective registry, the prevalence of gout/hyperuricemia and its association with these and other clinical parameters was evaluated in an Italian cohort of elderly patients acutely admitted to internal medicine or geriatric wards.

Methods: While the prevalence of gout was calculated by counting patients with this diagnosis hyperuricemia was inferred in patients taking allopurinol at hospital admission or discharge, on the assumption that this drug was only prescribed owing to the finding of high serum levels of uric acid.

The stigma of low opioid prescription in the hospitalized multimorbid elderly in Italy.

The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of opioid prescriptions in hospitalized geriatric patients. Other aims were to evaluate factors associated with opioid prescription, and whether or not there was consistency between the presence of pain and prescription. Opioid prescriptions were gathered from the REgistro POliterapie Societa` Italiana di Medicina Interna (REPOSI) data for the years 2008, 2010 and 2012.

Electrocardiographic monitoring for new prescriptions of quetiapine co-prescribed with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors or memantine from 2005 to 2009. A population study on community-dwelling older people in Italy.

Purpose: The aims of this study are to analyse, in community-dwelling people aged 65+ living in Italy's Lombardy Region, electrocardiographic (ECG) monitoring for new users of the atypical antipsychotic quetiapine co-prescribed with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) or memantine and to find independent predictors of ECG monitoring before and after the starting of this prescription.

Methods: The Lombardy Region's administrative health database was used to retrieve prescriptions of ECG exams as well as prevalence rates of subjects aged 65+ who were prescribed such psychotropic drugs from 2005 to 2009. Multivariable analyses were adjusted for age, sex, number of drugs, treatment with beta-blockers, digoxin, verapamil or diltiazem, any antiarrhythmic drug and antidepressants.

Inappropriate prescription of allopurinol and febuxostat and risk of adverse events in the elderly: results from the REPOSI registry.

Purpose: To investigate the prevalence of xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitors prescription at admission and discharge in elderly hospital in-patients, to analyze the appropriateness of their use in relation to evidence-based indications, to evaluate the predictors of inappropriate prescription at discharge and the association with adverse events 3 months after hospital discharge.

Methods: This cross-sectional study, based upon a prospective registry, was held in 95 Italian internal medicine and geriatric hospital wards. The sample included 4035 patients aged 65 years or older at admission and 3502 at discharge.

Prevalence of dementia in the oldest old: the Monzino 80-plus population based study.

Background: Epidemiological studies commonly include too few of the oldest old to provide accurate prevalence rates of dementia in older age groups. Estimates of the number of those affected, necessary for healthcare planning, are thus flawed. The objective is to estimate the prevalence of dementia and levels of dementia severity in a very large population of oldest old and to investigate the relation between age and dementia prevalence in the extreme ages.

Gender-differences in disease distribution and outcome in hospitalized elderly: data from the REPOSI study.

Background And Purpose: Women live longer and outnumber men. On the other hand, older women develop more chronic diseases and conditions such as arthritis, osteoporosis and depression, leading to a greater number of years of living with disabilities. The aim of this study was to describe whether or not there are gender differences in the demographic profile, disease distribution and outcome in a population of hospitalized elderly people.