Usefulness of point of care ultrasound in older adults: a multicentre study across different geriatric care settings in Spain and the United Kingdom.

Background: Point of care ultrasound (POCUS) is an imaging technique performed bedside. To date, few published studies have reported the usefulness of multiorgan POCUS in Geriatrics. The objective of this study was to describe the utility of multiorgan POCUS in the care of older adults admitted to geriatric care settings.

Muscle mass loss measured with portable ultrasound in hospitalized older adults: The ECOSARC study.

Objectives: The main objective was to analyze the evolution of muscle of the Quadriceps Rectus Femoris (QRF) between admission and discharge, in older adults hospitalized with an acute medical disease in Acute Geriatric Units (AGUs).

Design: Prospective multicentric observational cohort study.

Setting: Seven AGUs from University Hospitals in Spain.

"SARCOPENIA MEASURED BY ULTRASOUND IN HOSPITALIZED OLDER ADULTS" (ECOSARC): multi-centre, prospective observational study protocol.

Background: Measurement of muscle mass and function, and thereafter, screening and diagnosis of sarcopenia, is a challenge and a need in hospitalized older adults. However, it is difficult in complex real-world old patients, because usually they are unable to collaborate with clinical, functional, and imaging testing. Ultrasound measurement of quadriceps rectus femoris (QRF) provides a non-invasive, real-time assessment of muscle quantity and quality, and is highly acceptable to participants with excellent inter-rater and intra-rater variability.

Humoral and Cellular Response after mRNA Vaccination in Nursing Homes: Influence of Age and of History of COVID-19.

Background: Most residents and staff in nursing homes have received full vaccination. Factors related to the immune response to vaccination might be related to the risk of future severe COVID-19 and may guide the need for vaccine boosters. Design: Nursing homes that were tested in a point survey in July-October 2020 were again analyzed after a vaccination campaign in June-July 2021.

Prehabilitation and perioperative geriatric care in patients aged over 80 years with colorectal cancer: Results of a cross-speciality geriatrics program.

Objectives: To describe a perioperative cross-speciality geriatrics program for patients aged >80 years with colorectal cancer (CRC), aimed to detect and manage frailty and to understand its influence on clinical outcomes.

Materials And Methods: Patients aged >80 years with CRC and proposed for surgery were included from October 2018 to March 2020. Comprehensive geriatric assessments (CGA) were performed.

[Evolution of COVID-19 at nursing homes from the second wave to vaccination. Description of a coordination program between Primary Care, Geriatrics and Public Health.].

Objective: Nursing homes have suffered in a particularly pronounced way from the effects of COVID-19 so it is very convenient to know the evolution in them of the disease and the impact of SARS-CoV2 vaccination The objective of this study was to analyze COVID-19 pandemic evolution from the start of the second wave to the end of the vaccination campaign at the nursing homes. A coordination program between Primary Care and Geriatrics and Public Health services was activated.

Methods: 2,668 seniors were followed at 39 nursing homes.

[Liaison geriatrics with nursing homes in COVID time. A new coordination model arrived to stay].

Older people living in nursing homes fulfil the criteria to be considered as geriatric patients, but they often do not have met their health care needs. Current deficits appeared as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. The need to improve the coordination between hospitals and nursing homes emerged, and in Madrid it materialized with the implantation of Liaison Geriatrics teams or units at public hospitals.

[The efficiency of «Cross-speciality Geriatrics» in the co-management of patients older than 80 years admitted to the General Surgery Service. Economic results].

Objective: To determine the efficiency of «Cross-speciality Geriatrics» program in patients older than 80 years admitted to the Colorectal Pathology Unit of a General Surgery Department.

Material And Methods: A «before-after» study was conducted. The initial period (usual treatment for General Surgery) included patients admitted from 1 January to 31 August 2018, and the subsequent period (with support from geriatrics) from 1 January to 31 December 2019.

Development of a new comprehensive preoperative risk score for predicting 1-year mortality in patients with hip fracture: the HULP-HF score. Comparison with 3 other risk prediction models.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to develop a new comprehensive preoperative risk score for predicting mortality during the first year after hip fracture (HF) and its comparison with 3 other risk prediction models.

Methods: All patients admitted consecutively with a fragility HF during 1 year in a co-managed orthogeriatric unit at a university hospital were assessed and followed for 1 year. Factors independently associated with 1-year mortality were used to create the HULP-HF (Hospital Universitario La Paz - Hip Fracture) score.

[Characteristics and one-year outcomes in elderly patients hospitalised with heart failure and preserved, mid-range and reduced ejection fraction].

Introduction: The latest European Society of Cardiology Heart Failure (HF) guidelines define three types of HF according to the ejection fraction (EF): HF with reduced EF (HFrEF) when EF<40%, HF with mid-range EF (HFmrEF), when EF 40-49%, and HF with preserved EF (HFpEF) when EF≥50%. The objective of this study was to analyse the characteristics and results of elderly patients hospitalised with HF according to the new classification using EF.

Methods: A prospective study was carried out with 531 HF patients aged ≥75 years classified according to EF, and admitted in the geriatric wards of 6 hospitals in Spain.

[Cross-speciality geriatrics: A health-care challenge for the 21st century].

Increasing numbers of older persons are being treated by specialties other than Geriatric Medicine. Specialists turn to Geriatric Teams when they need to accurately stratify their patients' risk and prognosis, predict the potential impact of their, often, invasive interventions, optimise their clinical status, and contribute to discharge planning. Oncology and Haematology, Cardiology, General Surgery, and other surgical departments are examples where such collaborative working is already established, to a varying extent.

[Efficiency of the acute geriatric units compared to the rest of the hospital departments. A 5-year audit of the case-mix adjusted for diagnosis-related group].

Introduction: Hospital occupancy rate by older patients is high, and it will be even higher in the future. Their hospital stay is usually longer, making it important for hospitals to develop structures with the best efficiency possible.

Method: Hospital discharges of patients older than 75years with the 15 most frequent Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRG) in Geriatrics were recorded during a 5-year period in a 1,200-bed hospital.

Baseline and pre-operative 1-year mortality risk factors in a cohort of 509 hip fracture patients consecutively admitted to a co-managed orthogeriatric unit (FONDA Cohort).

Introduction: The aim of this study was to determine the patient characteristics that predict 1-year mortality after a hip fracture (HF).

Methods: All patients admitted consecutively with fragility HF during 1 year in a co-managed orthogeriatric unit of a university hospital (FONDA cohort) were assesed. Baseline and admission demographic, clinical, functional, analytical and body-composition variables were collected in the first 72 h after admission.

[Functional consequences of fragile pelvis fracture. Description of several cases attended by a consultation Geriatrics team].

Introduction: The prevalence of pelvic fracture (PF) due to frailty is increasing, leading to an increase in functional impairment in the patient, as well as increasing morbidity and mortality. The aim of the present study is to gain knowledge about the sociodemographic characteristics, as well as the functional features, of patients admitted to hospital with PF and evaluated by a Geriatrics department. The functional burden of PF and the potential influence of geriatric interventions are also assessed.

Health Literacy and Health Outcomes in Very Old Patients With Heart Failure.

Introduction And Objectives: Health literacy (HL) has been associated with lower mortality in heart failure (HF). However, the results of previous studies may not be generalizable because the research was conducted in relatively young and highly-educated patients in United States settings. This study assessed the association of HL with disease knowledge, self-care, and all-cause mortality among very old patients, with a very low educational level.

[Predictive factors of functional decline at hospital discharge in elderly patients hospitalised due to acute illness].

Objective: To compare baseline characteristics and those found during hospitalisation as predictors of functional decline at discharge (FDd) in elderly patients hospitalised due to acute illness.

Material And Method: A review was made of the computerized records of patients admitted to a Geriatric Acute Unit of a tertiary hospital over a 10 year period. A record was made of demographic, clinical, functional and health-care variables.

The frailty syndrome is associated with adverse health outcomes in very old patients with stable heart failure: A prospective study in six Spanish hospitals.

Background: Most studies on the association between the frailty syndrome and adverse health outcomes in patients with heart failure (HF) have used non-standard definitions of frailty. This study examined the association of frailty, diagnosed by well-accepted criteria, with mortality, readmission and functional decline in very old ambulatory patients with HF.

Methods: Prospective study with 497 patients in six Spanish hospitals and followed up during one year.

Analysis of an electronic medication reconciliation and information at discharge programme for frail elderly patients.

Background During care transitions, discrepancies and medication errors often occur, putting patients at risk, especially older patients with polypharmacy. Objective To assess the results of a medication reconciliation and information programme for discharge of geriatric patients conducted through hospital information systems. Setting A 1300-bed university hospital in Madrid, Spain.