Controlling nutritional status score and geriatric nutritional risk index as a predictor of mortality and hospitalization risk in hospitalized older adults.

Background: The COntrolling NUTritional Status (CONUT) score and the Global Nutrition Risk Index (GNRI) are screening tools for assessing the risk of malnutrition based on widely available biochemical parameters. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the predictive value of CONUT and GNRI score on 36 months mortality and hospitalization risk in hospitalized older patients.

Methods: Data of 382 patients (196 women, mean age 80.

The confidence in the results of physiotherapy systematic reviews in the musculoskeletal field is not increasing over time: a meta-epidemiological study using AMSTAR 2 tool.

Objectives: To assess the confidence in the results of systematic reviews on the effectiveness of physiotherapy for musculoskeletal conditions in the past 10 years and to analyze trends and factors associated.

Methods: This is a metaepidemiological study on systematic reviews (SRs) with meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). MEDLINE, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CINAHL, and PEDro were searched for SRs of RCT on physiotherapy interventions for musculoskeletal disorders from December 2012 to December 2022.

Effects of the implementation of the dynamic silver code in the emergency department.

Background: Older persons accessing the Emergency Department (ED) spend more time and are at increased risk of poor outcomes. The Dynamic Silver Code (DSC), based on administrative data, predicts mortality of 75+ subjects visiting the ED.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of the implementation of the DSC in the ED.

Incidence of stroke in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in stable sinus rhythm during long-term monitoring.

Introduction: Patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) are at increased risk of stroke, but the incidence and factors associated with cardioembolic events in HCM patients without atrial fibrillation (AF) remain unresolved. We determined the incidence of stroke in patients in sinus rhythm (SR) monitored with a cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED).

Methods: All consecutive patients diagnosed with HCM and referred to CIED implantation with >16 years at diagnosis and ≥ 1 year follow-up post CIED implantation were retrospectively reviewed.

Predictors of physical frailty improvement in older patients enrolled in a multidisciplinary cardiac rehabilitation program.

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) improves clinical and functional recovery in older patients after acute cardiac syndromes, whose outcome is influenced by cardiac disease severity, but also by comorbidity and frailty. The aim of the study was to analyze the predictors of physical frailty improvement during the CR program. Data were collected in all patients aged > 75 years consecutively admitted from 1 January to December 2017 to our CR, consisting of 5-day-per-week of 30-min session of biking or calisthenics on alternate days for 4 weeks.

Potentially inappropriate prescribing before and after nursing home admission: a retrospective observational study in a sample of Italian nursing homes.

Objectives: to assess the occurrence of potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) in residents of Tuscany nursing homes (NHs) and its variation before and after NH entry.

Design: retrospective observational study using data from the Regional Administrative Database of Tuscany.

Setting And Participants: the study involved residents of 67 Tuscan NHs identified between 2011 and 2012.

Manipulation under Anesthesia versus Non-Surgical Treatment for Patients with Frozen Shoulder Contracture Syndrome: A Systematic Review.

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy of manipulation under anesthesia (MUA) compared to other non-surgical therapeutic strategies for patients with frozen shoulder contracture syndrome (FSCS). Methods: A systematic review of literature was conducted. A literature search was performed in MEDLINE, EMBASE, PEDro, Cochrane Central Library and Scopus.

Reliability, Validity, and Responsiveness of the Craniocervical Flexion Test in People Who Are Asymptomatic and Patients With Nonspecific Neck Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: Among the tests designed to evaluate neck neuromuscular function, the craniocervical flexion test (CCFT) assesses the function of the deep cervical flexor muscles (DCFs). The purpose of this study was to conduct a review and meta-analysis of published articles about all measurement properties of the different CCFT versions (CCFT Activation Score [CCFT-AS], CCFT Performance Index [CCFT-PI], CCFT Cumulative Performance Index [CCFT-CPI], and CCFT alternative procedures for measuring activation level (CCFT1) or endurance (CCFT2) in people who were asymptomatic and people with nonspecific neck pain.

Methods: PubMed Central, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar were searched from inception to June 30, 2020.

Multicomponent intervention to prevent mobility disability in frail older adults: randomised controlled trial (SPRINTT project).

Objective: To determine whether a multicomponent intervention based on physical activity with technological support and nutritional counselling prevents mobility disability in older adults with physical frailty and sarcopenia.

Design: Evaluator blinded, randomised controlled trial.

Setting: 16 clinical sites across 11 European countries, January 2016 to 31 October 2019.

Lower extremity performance predicts length of hospital stay in older candidates to elective cardiac surgery.

Introduction: Prolonged hospital stay must be considered as risk factor for poor outcomes after cardiac surgery; different variables have been advocated as predictors of in-hospital stay. Nevertheless, most patients requiring prolonged hospital stay are frail older subjects; thus, we hypothesized a significant influence of pre-operative physical performance, as a frailty measure, on in-hospital stay after elective cardiac surgery.

Methods: In a prospective, single-center, cohort study we enrolled patients aged 75+ years referred to our Division of Cardiac Surgery at Careggi University Hospital, for their first elective cardiac surgery.

Telehealth Management and Risk Stratification of Older Patients With Chronic Heart Failure During COVID-19 Pandemic: Prognostic Evaluation of the TeleHFCovid19-Score.

Objectives: To evaluate 6-month risk stratification capacity of the newly developed TeleHFCovid19-Score for remote management of older patients with heart failure (HF) during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Design: Monocentric observational prospective study.

Setting And Participants: Older HF outpatients remotely managed during the first pandemic wave.

COVID-19, Vulnerability, and Long-Term Mortality in Hospitalized and Nonhospitalized Older Persons.

Objective: Studies suggesting that vulnerability increased short-term mortality in older patients with COVID-19 enrolled hospitalized patients and lacked COVID-negative comparators. Aim of this study was to examine the relationship between frailty and 1-year mortality in older patients with and without COVID-19, hospitalized and nonhospitalized.

Design: Cohort study.

The association of uric acid with mortality modifies at old age: data from the uric acid right for heart health (URRAH) study.

Objectives: In older individuals, the role of serum uric acid (SUA) as risk factor for mortality is debated. This study investigated the association of SUA with all-cause and cardiovascular (CV) mortality in older adults participating in the large multicentre observational uric acid right for heart health (URRAH) study.

Methods: Eight thousand URRAH participants aged 65+ were included in the analysis.

Accessibility to SARS-CoV-2 swab test during the Covid-19 pandemic: Did age make the difference?

Although COVID-19 affects older people more severely, health policies during the first wave of the pandemic often prioritized younger individuals. We investigated whether age had influenced the access to a diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2 infection and whether clinical complexity and healthcare resources availability could have impacted such differences. This work included 126,741 Italian participants in the EPICOVID19 web-based survey, who reported having had contacts with known/suspected COVID-19 cases (epidemiological criterion) and/or COVID-19-like signs/symptoms (clinical criterion) from February to June 2020.

Prevalence of obesity and diabetes in older people with sarcopenia defined according to EWGSOP2 and FNHI criteria.

Background: Although the prevalence of sarcopenic obesity is increasing, nowadays a universally accepted definition still does not exist. Because, this clinical entity is defined as the combination of obesity and sarcopenia, the diagnosis appears to be strictly linked to criteria used for sarcopenia and the available prevalence data are not uniform. To investigate the prevalence of sarcopenic obesity in older persons according to EWGSOP2 and FNIH criteria.

Towards Automated Assessment of Frailty Status Using a Wrist-Worn Device.

Wearable sensors potentially enable monitoring the user's physical activity in daily life. Therefore, they are particularly appealing for the evaluation of older subjects in their environment, to capture early signs of frailty and mobility-related problems. This study explores the use of body-worn accelerometers for automated assessment of frailty during walking activity.

Prognostic interplay of kidney function with sarcopenia, anemia, disability and cognitive impairment. The GLISTEN study.

Background: Interactions between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and several comorbidities may potentially affect prognosis of older hospitalized patients. This study aims at evaluating the prognostic interactions between estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), anemia, sarcopenia, functional and cognitive dysfunction, and 3-year mortality among older patients discharged from acute care hospitals.

Methods: Our series consisted of 504 older adults enrolled in a multicenter observational study carried out in twelve Acute Geriatric and Internal Medicine wards throughout Italy.

Acute heart failure in the elderly: setting related differences in clinical features and management.

Background: Administrative data show that acute heart failure (HF) patients are older than those enrolled in clinical registries and frequently admitted to non-cardiological settings of care. The purpose of this study was to describe clinical characteristics of old patients hospitalised for acute HF in Cardiology, Internal Medicine or Geriatrics wards.

Methods: Data came from ATHENA (AcuTe Heart failurE in advaNced Age) registry which included elderly patients (≥ 65 years) admitted to the above mentioned settings of care from December 1, 2014 to December 1, 2015.

Estimating Prognosis and Frailty in Persons Aged ≥75 Years in the Emergency Department: Further Validation of Dynamic Silver Code.

Objectives: To assess concurrent validity of the Dynamic Silver Code (DSC), a tool based on administrative data that predicts prognosis in older adults accessing the emergency department (ED), in terms of association with markers of poor functional and cognitive status.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting And Participants: Data were obtained in the AIDEA study, which enrolled a cohort of ≥75-year-old patients, accessing the ED of 2 hospitals in Florence, Italy.

The influence of central pain modulation on postoperative outcomes after shoulder surgery: A systematic review.

Objective: The aim of this study was to systematically review whether the altered central pain modulation has a significant influence on post-surgical outcomes in patients undergoing shoulder surgery due to musculoskeletal disorders.

Methods: A systematic search of MEDLINE, PEDro, and EMBASE was conducted without time restriction, including observational prognostic studies. Quality in Prognostic Studies Tool was adopted for critical appraisal, and a qualitative synthesis was undertaken.

Determinants of cardiac structure in frail and sarcopenic elderly adults.

Background: Cardiac structure and function change with age. The higher prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) with concentric remodeling is indicative of a typical geometric pattern of aging associated with a higher cardiovascular (CV) risk and diseases. The recent associations found between low left ventricular and skeletal mass in older patients with frailty and sarcopenia have raised great interest in investigating cardiac characteristics and determinants of left ventricular mass (LVM) in this population.

The relationship between frailty and delirium: insights from the 2017 Delirium Day study.

Background: although frailty and delirium are among the most frequent and burdensome geriatric syndromes, little is known about their association and impact on short-term mortality.

Objective: to examine, in hospitalized older persons, whether frailty is associated with delirium, and whether these two conditions, alone or in combination, affect these patients' 30-day survival.

Design: observational study nested in the Delirium Day project, with 30-day follow-up.

Age-Related Changes in Clinical Presentation of Covid-19: the EPICOVID19 Web-Based Survey.

Background: The influence of aging and multimorbidity on Covid-19 clinical presentation is still unclear.

Objectives: We investigated whether the association between symptoms (or cluster of symptoms) and positive SARS-CoV-2 nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) was different according to patients' age and presence of multimorbidity.

Methods: The study included 6680 participants in the EPICOVID19 web-based survey, who reported information about symptoms from February to June 2020 and who underwent at least one NPS.