Burden of Oral Symptoms and Its Associations With Nutrition, Well-Being, and Survival Among Nursing Home Residents.

Objectives: To explore how oral problems, chewing problems, dry mouth, and swallowing difficulties cluster and whether their burden is associated with nutritional status, eating habits, gastrointestinal symptoms, psychological well-being, and mortality among institutionalized residents.

Design: Cross-sectional study with 1-year mortality.

Setting And Participants: 3123 residents living in assisted facilities and nursing homes in Helsinki, Finland.

Changes in malnutrition and quality of nutritional care among aged residents in all nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Helsinki 2003-2011.

Background: While nutritional problems have been recognized as common in institutional settings for several decades, less is known about how nutritional care and nutrition has changed in these settings over time.

Objectives: To describe and compare the nutritional problems and nutritional care of residents in all nursing homes (NH) in 2003 and 2011 and residents in all assisted living facilities (ALF) in 2007 and 2011, in Helsinki, Finland.

Methods: We combined four cross-sectional datasets of (1) residents from all NHs in 2003 (N=1987), (2) residents from all ALFs in 2007 (N=1377), (3) residents from all NHs in 2011 (N=1576) and (4) residents from all ALFs in 2011 (N=1585).

Potentially severe drug-drug interactions among older people and associations in assisted living facilities in Finland: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: This study aims to assess potentially severe class D drug-drug interactions (DDDIs) in residents 65 years or older in assisted living facilities with the use of a Swedish and Finnish drug-drug interaction database (SFINX).

Design: A cross-sectional study of residents in assisted living facilities in Helsinki, Finland.

Setting: A total of 1327 residents were assessed in this study.

Dentition, nutritional status and adequacy of dietary intake among older residents in assisted living facilities.

Objective: We examined the relationships between dentition, nutritional status and dietary intakes of energy, protein and micronutrients among older people in assisted living facilities in Helsinki.

Background: Poor dentition is associated with malnutrition. Less is known about how dentition is associated with detailed nutrient intakes in institutionalised older people.

Vision impairment and nutritional status among older assisted living residents.

Vision impairment is common among older persons. It is a risk factor for disability, and it may be associated with nutritional status via decline in functional status. However, only few studies have examined the relationship between vision impairment and nutritional status, which was investigated in this cross-sectional study.

Oral hygiene and associated factors among frail older assisted living residents.

The aim of this study was to determine the associations of older assisted living residents' tooth brushing habits with health and nutritional status. We assessed the tooth brushing habits, nutritional status, oral health, use of dental services, and morbidity of 1,447 assisted living residents in the Helsinki metropolitan area of Finland. Of the residents, 17% did not clean or had not cleaned their teeth and/or dentures daily.

Use of anticholinergic drugs and cholinesterase inhibitors and their association with psychological well-being among frail older adults in residential care facilities.

Background: Drugs with anticholinergic properties have harmful effects among frail older people and they may antagonize the effects of cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs). However, their association with psychological well-being has not been studied.

Objective: To determine (1) the prevalence of the use of anticholinergic drugs, ChEIs, or their combination among older adults in residential care facilities and their association with psychological well-being, and (2) the association of anticholinergic drugs with an individual's psychological well-being.

Nutritional status, energy, protein, and micronutrient intake of older service house residents.

Objectives: To examine the nutritional status and energy, protein, and micronutrient intake of aged residents living in service houses and to compare how they meet official recommendations.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Participants: Service house residents (n = 375) in the metropolitan region of Helsinki, Finland.

Use of proton-pump inhibitors and their associated risks among frail elderly nursing home residents.

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the use of proton-pump inhibitors (PPI) and their associated risks among frail elderly nursing home residents.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Setting: General practice.

Exposure to potentially inappropriate drugs and drug-drug interactions in elderly nursing home residents in Helsinki, Finland: a cross-sectional study.

Background And Objective: Multiple drug use is common among old, frail nursing home residents who are, as a consequence, susceptible to adverse effects and drug interactions. This study uses the updated Beers criteria for potentially inappropriate drug (PID) use in older adults to determine the extent and nature of PIDs in older nursing home residents in Helsinki, Finland. The study also uses the Swedish, Finnish, INteraction X-referencing (SFINX) interaction database to assess the possibility of clinically significant class D ("clinically significant interaction, and the combination should be avoided") drug-drug interactions (DDIs) in the same population.

Use of laxatives among older nursing home residents in Helsinki, Finland.

Background And Objective: Constipation and, as a consequence, the use of laxatives are common among frail older people. The causes of and factors associated with laxative use, however, have undergone surprisingly little study. The objectives of our study were to (i) assess the prevalence of regularly administered laxatives, (ii) identify factors associated with regular use of laxatives, and (iii) determine which drug classes or medications are associated with regular laxative use in an older nursing home population in Helsinki.

Nursing documentation in nursing homes--state-of-the-art and implications for quality improvement.

This study was designed to gain information on the quality of nursing care based on the comments in nursing records. The specific aims of the study were to find out if the patients' (i) individual needs are assessed, the goals for nursing care are set, and the nursing interventions are determined; (ii) if the patients' needs are met and (iii) if goal achievement is regularly evaluated by including comments in nursing documents. In addition, the study aimed to describe the up-to-dateness of nursing care plans as well as the frequency of making daily notes.