Background: Various explicit screening tools, developed mostly in central Europe and the USA, assist clinicians in optimizing medication use for older adults. The Turkish Inappropriate Medication use in oldEr adults (TIME) criteria set, primarily based on the STOPP/START criteria set, is a current explicit tool originally developed for Eastern Europe and subsequently validated for broader use in Central European settings. Reviewed every three months to align with the latest scientific literature, it is one of the most up-to-date tools available.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAppetite is a strong determinant of nutritional status. As cognitive impairment is usually linked to alterations in eating behaviour, people with dementia might experience changes in appetite with the loss of ability to express their needs, including dietary choices and preferences. The aim of the study was to develop an appetite loss screening tool for older adults, inclusive for those with mild to moderate cognitive impairment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFI n t r o d u c t i o n: Despite increased awareness of malnutrition and improved nutrition-related policies, there are still cases of deterioration of nutritional status during hospitalisation. NutritionDay is an audit organised by the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN), the Medical University of Vienna and the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) to prevent the onset of malnutrition and to improve hospital policies to deal with this problem. The aim of the study was to analyse the results of the audit with regard to factors that may contribute to the deterioration of a patients' nutritional status in hospital setting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: One symptom commonly associated with the presence of unruptured intracranial aneurysms is headache. In this study, the authors aimed to analyze factors associated with headaches among patients with intracranial aneurysms, with special consideration of hemodynamic parameters.
Methods: The authors prospectively included 96 patients with 122 unruptured intracranial aneurysms.
Aim: Hypertension is a risk factor for intracranial aneurysm rupture. We analyzed whether the intake of drugs from specific classes of anti-hypertensive medications affects hemodynamic parameters of intracranial aneurysm dome.
Methods And Results: We recorded medical history including medications and the in-hospital blood pressure values.
Purpose: We aimed to analyse the characteristics of geriatric courses offered to undergraduate medical students in higher educational institutions (HEIs) in Poland.
Methods: We searched the official websites of the HEIs offering the medical degree programmes and directly contacted the dean's offices and HEIs representatives to retrieve the relevant information. The documents were analysed for course content, teaching methods, duration, and recommended texts.
Introduction: Interprofessional education (IPE) is an integrative approach that enables collaboration of students of two or more different health professions in aim to acquire skills and competencies related not only to their field of study but also to ensure the standard of care based on collaborative practice. IPE has not yet been explored in relation to collaboration between dietetics-nutrition and pharmacy students, while there is evidence that in many cases nutrition is complementary to pharmacotherapy in the treatment process.
Aim: The aim of this scoping review was to gather, describe and discuss all relevant literature regarding joint interprofessional training of pharmacy and dietetics-nutrition undergraduates.
Purpose: To measure changes in quantitative tortuosity descriptors of the internal carotid artery (ICA) after intracranial aneurysm embolization, and to determine possible factors associated with changes in tortuosity.
Materials And Methods: An analysis of 52 patients with embolized intracranial aneurysms was performed. ICA tortuosity was assessed by digital subtraction angiograms obtained prior to the embolization and after the first follow-up examination.
Purpose: Intracerebral hemorrhage is the deadliest form of stroke. This study aimed to enhance the prediction of 30-day mortality in intracerebral hemorrhage patients by integrating computational parameters.
Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed 435 patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).
Purpose: Reduced appetite is a common issue among older adults. However, its formal assessment is rarely undertaken in clinical practice. The aim of the study was to check the frequency of reporting of appetite status in hospitalized older adults and to analyze the terms documented by physicians when reporting reduced appetite.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of the NADA (National Acupuncture Detoxification Association)-standardized ear acupuncture protocol in comparison to medical acupuncture (MA) in the treatment of chronic nonspecific low back pain (LBP) in older adults.
Methods: This was a prospective, clinical, single center, open label, comparative study. A total of 60 older patients with chronic nonspecific LBP were enrolled in the study.
Purpose: To present the two-day Delirium Awareness Day-related event held at the University Hospital, Kraków, Poland.
Methods: Activities included a lecture, a multimedia presentation, meetings with healthcare workers at their respective wards, and distribution of information posters about delirium. Local news outlets were also engaged.
Background: Numerous studies based on assessment of lithium clearance demonstrated higher sodium reabsorption in renal proximal tubules in individuals with hypertension, overweight, obesity, metabolic syndrome, or diabetes.
Aims: We aimed to assess the influence of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I) or angiotensin-II-receptor antagonists (ARB) treatment on sodium handling.
Methods: In a sample of 351Caucasian subjects without diuretic treatment with prevailing sodium consumption, we studied associations between renal sodium reabsorption in proximal (FPRNa) and distal (FDRNa) tubules assessed by endogenous lithium clearance and daily sodium intake measured by 24-hour excretion of sodium (UNaV), in the context of obesity and long-term treatment with ACE-I or ARB.
Introduction: Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage is a devastating type of stroke, associated with high mortality and morbidity. One of modifiable risk factors of aneurysm rupture is hypertension, however, it is still not clear whether any particular antihypertensive drugs play a significant role in the prevention of aneurysm rupture.
Objectives: We decided to investigate whether there is any association between acetylsalicylic acid, α-blockers, β‑blockers, angiotensin‑converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers, calcium channel blockers, diuretics, statins, and anticoagulants and a risk of intracranial aneurysm rupture.
We describe a case of a 74-year-old patient with recurrent fever of up-to 38.5°C, nocturnal sweating, weight loss of 4 kg, non-characteristic pain, and elevation of liver function tests (LFTs), who was diagnosed with Stauffer's syndrome. The patient successfully underwent laparoscopic heminephrectomy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcute viral respiratory infections have proven to be a major health threat, even after the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We aimed to check whether the presence or absence of an acute respiratory infection such as COVID-19 can influence the physical activity of older hospitalised patients. We cross-sectionally studied patients aged ≥60 years, hospitalized during the pandemic in the non-COVID-19 and COVID-19 ward at the University Hospital, Kraków, Poland.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Tortuosity of intracranial arteries has been proven to be associated with the risk of intracranial aneurysm development. We decided to analyze which aspects of tortuosity are correlated with hemodynamics parameters promoting intracranial aneurysm development.
Methods: We constructed 73 idealized models of tortuous artery (length: 25 mm, diameter: 2.
Anorexia of aging is a common problem in older adults. Depending on the setting, its prevalence varies from about 10% (among community-dwelling older adults) to over 30% in acute wards and nursing homes. The objective of this systematic review was to establish the prevalence of poor appetite in frail persons ≥60 years of age.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFB a c k g r o u n d: Due to current increased life expectancy, the quality of life (QoL) of senior patients is gaining in importance. The aims of this study were: to estimate QoL in a group of patients, aged above 64 years, that is cared for by general practitioners (GPs) in Krakow, Poland, and to find relation- ships between elements of QoL and the results of comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) and other important medical and social factors. M e t h o d s: We designed a cross-sectional, questionnaire study among patients who attended GPs' surgeries from April 2018 to April 2019.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To prospectively assess the concordance of examination under anesthesia (EUA)-based clinical T stage with pathological T stage and diagnostic accuracy of EUA in patients with bladder cancer undergoing cystectomy.
Methods: Consecutive patients with bladder cancer undergoing cystectomy between June 2017 and October 2020 in a single academic center were included in a prospective study. Two urologists performed EUA (one blinded to imaging) before patients underwent cystectomy.
Background: A reliable reference of population-based parameters for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and overactive bladder (OAB) is lacking for the elderly. Thus, the objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence, bother, effect on quality of life, and treatment-related behavior for LUTS and OAB in a large population-level cohort of Polish adults aged ≥ 65 years.
Methods: We used data from the telephone LUTS POLAND survey.
Background: The prevalence of frailty and its components may be affected by age, diseases and geriatric deficits. However, the current operational definition of frailty assigns equal weight to the five components of frailty.
Aims: To perform a population-based assessment of physical frailty, its prevalence, and distribution of its components across different age, disease and deficit spectrum.
Background: COVID-19 has affected older persons the most. The propensity to have severe COVID-19 or die of the infection was especially prevalent among older subjects with multimorbidity, frailty and sarcopenia. The aim of our study was to check which of the simple clinical biomarkers, including the assessment of muscle and frailty, would associate with the survival and the length of hospital stay in older patients with COVID-19.
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