[Changes of skeletal muscle mass among disabled elderly].

Background: The reduction of skeletal muscle mass and strength, that occurs with aging (sarcopenia), leads to disability in the elderly population.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of sarcopenia among older disabled nursing home residents and to examine the relationship between skeletal muscle mass (SMM) and routine data of nutritional, functional status and body composition estimations.

Participants: Sixty three men and women aged 63 to 99 years old (mean +/- SD = 84.

[Artificial tube feeding of elderly suffering from advanced dementia].

Background: There is a notable discord between physicians' opinions and reported practice regarding percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) nutrition in nursing homes for demented residents.

Aim: The aim of this study was to describe the decision and the outcomes of PEG placement in elderly nursing home residents, suffering from advance dementia and dysphagia.

Patients And Method: The retrospective study evaluated frequency, complications of dysphagia and survival in 90 patients of Geriatric Center (61 women, 29 men) who underwent PEG.

[Nutritional status assessment in nursing home elderly residents].

Background: It is important to correctly assess the nutritional status in elderly nursing home residents because of a direct link between weight loss, general illness and death among this population.

Methods: In 248 nursing home residents (74 men, 174 women; mean age 84.4+/-0.

The role of the cerebral hemispheres in specific versus abstract priming.

The present study examined specific and abstract priming for pictures in unilateral brain-damaged patients using a picture fragment identification task. Participants were 10 posterior right hemisphere (RH) damaged patients, 11 posterior left hemisphere (LH) damaged patients, and 30 healthy normal controls. Results reveal that RH patients perform specific priming tasks significantly worse than healthy participants (p < .

In-hospital referral source and rehabilitation outcome of elderly stroke patients.

To date, there is no data regarding the association of patient in-hospital referral source and stroke rehabilitation outcomes. The objective of the present study was to investigate the possible relation between in-hospital referring source, whether directly from an emergency ward (EW) or indirectly through a general medical ward (GMW), and the functional outcomes achieved during rehabilitation of such stroke patients. This retrospective observational study included 315 consecutive patients, admitted for rehabilitation following the onset of acute stroke.