Anaemia and cognitive performances in the elderly: a systematic review.

Anaemia defined as a haemoglobin level <13 g/dl in men and <12 g/dl in women is common in older people and associated with numerous health consequences. The aim of this study was to systematically review all published data from the past 30 years that studied the association between anaemia and cognitive performance in people aged 65 years and over. An English and French Medline and Cochrane Library search ranging from 1979 to 2011 indexed under the Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terms 'haemoglobin' or 'anaemia' combined with the terms 'dementia' or 'cognition disorders' or 'memory disorders' or 'orientation' or 'executive functions' or 'attention' or 'brain' or 'neuropsychological tests' was performed.

Association of vitamin D deficiency and anemia in a hospitalized geriatric population: denutrition as a confounding factor.

This study aimed to investigate the association between vitamin D deficiency and anemia in a hospitalized geriatric population. An observational study, at the acute care geriatric unit of Brest Hospital, France, was conducted among 226 patients aged ≥70 years consecutively hospitalized between January 22, 2010 and August 9, 2010. Vitamin D and hemoglobin levels were measured.

[Medicinal prescriptions in geriatrics: overuse, misuse, underuse. Qualitative analysis from the prescriptions of 200 patients admitted in an acute care geriatric unit].

Purpose: In the elderly three modalities of suboptimal drug prescriptions are known: overuse, misuse, underuse.

Patients And Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted between September 2008 and March 2009. The prescriptions of 200 patients aged over 75 years admitted in the acute care geriatric unit at the teaching hospital of Brest (France) have been qualitatively analyzed to assess the prevalence of the three types of suboptimal prescription.

[Assessment of renal function in elderly after eighty years: Cockroft and Gault or Modification of diet in renal disease equation?].

Assessment of renal function is essential in the management of hospitalised patients, particularly in geriatric practice. Impairment of renal function is common in the elderly, aged of 80 years and over, and should be taken into account before prescribing drugs eliminated through the kidneys or performing investigations requiring iodine injection. Renal failure is also a predictor of mortality.

[Indications of vitamin K antagonists and aspirin in the atrial fibrillation of the elderly].

Non valvular atrial fibrillation is a public health concern because of the frequency and the severity of its embolic complications, particularly strokes. The aim of this paper is to analyze the recent recommendations for the prevention of embolic events and their application in the elderly. The recommendations for the prevention of stroke, published in 2001 on the basis of the results of randomized studies comparing vitamin K antagonists (VKA) and aspirin versus placebo, have been modified in August 2006.

[Prevention of delirium in an acute geriatric care unit].

Purpose: Delirium is the most common complication of hospitalization in frail elderly. The prognosis is poor with increased mortality and morbidity. Confusion results from one or several precipitating factors in patients at risk.

[Use of anticoagulant treatments in the elderly].

Purpose: The frequency of pathologies requiring anticoagulant treatment (thromboembolic disease, atrial fibrillation) is particularly high in people above 75. The risk of haemorrhagic complications is also highest in this population of patients.Therefore, the assessment of the risk/benefit ratio of an anticoagulant treatment may overestimate the haemorrhagic risk and lead to the under-using of anticoagulant treatment in such pathologies as atrial fibrillation.