Frailty trends in Catalonia 2017-2021: An epidemiological study with 1.5 million people aged ≥65 years.

Objectives: Knowledge of frailty prevalence and incidence trends over time is essential for planning the necessary health and social resources. The objective of this study was to assess frailty prevalence, incidence, reversibility and mortality rates, and trends for the population aged ≥65 years in Catalonia over the period 2017-2021.

Study Design: Longitudinal epidemiological study.

Development and validation of the electronic screening index of frailty.

Background: primary care screening for frailty status is recommended in clinical guidelines, but is impeded by doctor and nurse workloads and the lack of valid, easy-to-use and time-saving screening tools.

Aim: to develop and validate a new electronic tool (the electronic screening index of frailty, e-SIF) using routinely available electronic health data to automatically and massively identify frailty status in the population aged ≥65 years.

Methods: the e-SIF was developed in three steps: selection of clinical conditions; establishment of ICD-10 codes, criteria and algorithms for their definition; and electronic tool design and data extraction, transformation and load processes.

Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Complications of Oropharyngeal Dysphagia in Older Patients with Dementia.

The prevalence of older patients with dementia and oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) is rising and management is poor. Our aim was to assess the prevalence, risk factors, and long-term nutritional and respiratory complications during follow-up of OD in older demented patients. We designed a prospective longitudinal quasi-experimental study with 255 patients with dementia.

Intracellular Water Content in Lean Mass is Associated with Muscle Strength, Functional Capacity, and Frailty in Community-Dwelling Elderly Individuals. A Cross-Sectional Study.

High intracellular water (ICW) content has been associated with better functional performance and a lower frailty risk in elderly people. However, it is not clear if the protective effect of high ICW is due to greater muscle mass or better muscle quality and cell hydration. We aimed to assess the relationship between ICW content in lean mass (LM) and muscle strength, functional performance, frailty, and other clinical characteristics in elderly people.

Avoidable hospitalizations due to adverse drug reactions in an acute geriatric unit. Analysis of 3,292 patients.

Objective: To determine prevalence of admissions due to an adverse drug reaction (ADR) and determine whether or not admission was avoidable, and what drugs and risk factors were implicated.

Design: Cross-sectional observational study.

Study Sample: All patients hospitalized in an acute geriatric unit during the period January 2001 to December 2010 were studied.

Randomized controlled trial of an intervention to improve drug appropriateness in community-dwelling polymedicated elderly people.

Background: Polypharmacy is frequent in the elderly population and is associated with potentially drug inappropriateness and drug-related problems.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness and safety of a medication evaluation programme for community-dwelling polymedicated elderly people.

Design: Randomized, open-label, multicentre, parallel-arm clinical trial with 1-year follow-up.

Nutritional status of older patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia in a chronic versus an acute clinical situation.

Background: Oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) is a prevalent risk factor for malnutrition (MN) in older patients and both conditions are related to poor outcome.

Objective: To explore the nutritional status in older patients with OD in a chronic and an acute clinical situation.

Design: We examined 95 older (≥70 years) patients with OD associated to chronic neurological diseases or aging, and 23 older patients with OD and acute community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) with videofluoroscopy; and 15 older people without OD.

Drugs Related to Oropharyngeal Dysphagia in Older People.

Scientific evidence on the impact of medication on the physiology of swallowing is scarce and mainly based on clinical case reports. To evaluate the association between oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) and chronic exposure to medication in older patients admitted to the acute geriatric unit (AGU) of a secondary hospital, we performed a retrospective cross-sectional study of 966 patients admitted to an AGU from 2008 to 2011. We reviewed (a) diagnosis of OD (assessed with the volume-viscosity swallow test, V- VST); (b) chronic patient medication classified by anatomical, therapeutic, chemical codes; and (c) demographic and clinical data.

Oropharyngeal dysphagia is a prevalent risk factor for malnutrition in a cohort of older patients admitted with an acute disease to a general hospital.

Background & Aims: Oropharyngeal dysphagia and malnutrition are prevalent conditions in the older. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between oropharyngeal dysphagia, nutritional status and clinical outcome in older patients admitted to an acute geriatric unit.

Methods: We studied 1662 patients ≥70 years consecutively hospitalized with acute diseases, in whom dysphagia could be clinically assessed by the volume-viscosity swallow test and nutritional status with the Mini Nutritional Assessment(®).

Oropharyngeal dysphagia is a risk factor for readmission for pneumonia in the very elderly persons: observational prospective study.

Background: To determine whether oropharyngeal dysphagia is a risk factor for readmission for pneumonia in elderly persons discharged from an acute geriatric unit.

Methods: Observational prospective cohort study with data collection based on clinical databases and electronic clinical notes. All elderly individuals discharged from an acute geriatric unit from June 2002 to December 2009 were recruited and followed until death or December 31, 2010.

Complications of oropharyngeal dysphagia: aspiration pneumonia.

The incidence and prevalence of aspiration pneumonia (AP) are poorly defined. They increase in direct relation with age and underlying diseases. The pathogenesis of AP presumes the contribution of risk factors that alter swallowing function and predispose to the oropharyngeal bacterial colonization.

Pathophysiology, relevance and natural history of oropharyngeal dysphagia among older people.

Oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) is a very frequent condition among older people with a prevalence ranging from mild symptoms in 25% of the independently living to severe symptoms in more than 50% living in nursing homes. There are several validated methods of screening, and clinical assessment and videofluoroscopy are the gold standard for the study of the mechanisms of OD in the elderly. Oropharyngeal residue is mainly caused by weak bolus propulsion forces due to tongue sarcopenia.

Diagnosis and management of oropharyngeal Dysphagia and its nutritional and respiratory complications in the elderly.

Oropharyngeal dysphagia is a major complaint among older people. Dysphagia may cause two types of complications in these patients: (a) a decrease in the efficacy of deglutition leading to malnutrition and dehydration, (b) a decrease in deglutition safety, leading to tracheobronchial aspiration which results in aspiration pneumonia and can lead to death. Clinical screening methods should be used to identify older people with oropharyngeal dysphagia and to identify those patients who are at risk of aspiration.

Prevalence and prognostic implications of dysphagia in elderly patients with pneumonia.

Background: oropharyngeal dysphagia is a common condition among the elderly but not systematically explored.

Objective: to assess the prevalence and the prognostic significance of oropharyngeal dysphagia among elderly patients with pneumonia.

Design: a prospective cohort study.

Functional status as a risk factor for mortality in very elderly patients with pneumonia.

Background And Objective: The most commonly used prognostic mortality indexes for pneumonia take into account several variables including comorbidities, physical examination results, and laboratory test results, as well as age. Other factors such as functional status are not included. The objective of this study was to know whether the preadmission functional status was related to 30-day mortality in old or very old patients who were hospitalized for pneumonia.

[Aspiration pneumonia].

The incidence and the prevalence of aspiration pneumonia (AP) in the community is poorly defined. It increases in direct relation with age and underlying diseases. The pathogenesis of AP presumes the contribution of risk factors that alter swallowing funtion and predispose the orofaringe and gastric region to bacterial colonization.

[Prognostic factors of community acquired pneumonia in very old patients].

Background And Objective: To determine whether there are differences between the prognostic factors associated with 30-days mortality in patients 65-84 year-old and patients over 84 years hospitalized for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).

Patients And Method: An observational study with retrospective data collection was carried out in a representative sample of all CAP in-patients of 27 general hospitals. Data regarding comorbidities, signs and symptoms on admission, radiological and laboratory examinations, and complications during hospitalization were recorded.