Comorbidity Burden and Health Services Use in Community-Living Older Adults with Diabetes Mellitus: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Abstract Background There is increasing pressure to get women and babies home rapidly after birth. Babies born to mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) currently get 24-h inpatient monitoring. We investigated whether a low-risk group of babies born to mothers with GDM could be defined for shorter inpatient hypoglycaemia monitoring. Methods Observational, retrospective cohort study conducted in a tertiary maternity hospital in 2018. Singleton, term babies born to women with GDM and no other risk factors for hypoglycaemia, were included. Capillary blood glucose (BG) testing and clinical observations for signs of hypoglycaemia during the first 24-h after birth. BG was checked in all babies before the second feed. Subsequent testing occurred if the first result was < 2.0 mmol/L, or clinical suspicion developed for hypoglycaemia. Neonatal hypoglycaemia, defined as either capillary or venous glucose ≤ 2.0 mmol/L and/or clinical signs of neonatal hypoglycaemia requiring oral or intravenous dextrose (lethargy, abnormal feeding behaviour or seizures). Results Fifteen of 106 babies developed hypoglycaemia within the first 24-h. Maternal and neonatal characteristics were not predictive. All babies with hypoglycaemia had an initial capillary BG ≤ 2.6 mmol/L (Area under the ROC curve (AUC) 0.96, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.91–1.0). This result was validated on a further 65 babies, of whom 10 developed hypoglycaemia, in the first 24-h of life. Conclusion Using the 2.6 mmol/L threshold, extended monitoring as an inpatient could have been avoided for 60% of babies in this study. Whilst prospective validation is needed, this approach could help tailor postnatal care plans for babies born to mothers with GDM.

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Characteristics and Outcomes of Hip Fracture Patients Hospitalized in an Orthogeriatric Unit Versus an Orthopedic Department: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Geriatric Orthopaedic Surgery & Rehabilitation ◽

10.1177/2151459320986299 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

pp. 215145932098629 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yulia Bugaevsky ◽

Yochai Levy ◽

Avital Hershkovitz ◽

Irena Ocheretny ◽

Adaya Nissenholtz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Cohort Study ◽

Hip Fracture ◽

Hip Fractures ◽

Retrospective Cohort Study ◽

Retrospective Cohort ◽

Functional Independence ◽

Functional Improvement ◽

Orthopedic Department ◽

Successful Recovery

Introduction: Hip fractures are a significant health risk in older adults and a major cause of morbidity, functional decline and mortality. Our aim was to compare clinical outcomes of older patients hospitalized in an ortho-geriatric (OG) unit to those hospitalized in an orthopedic department (OD) for surgical treatment of a hip fracture. Methods: A retrospective cohort study of hip fractured patients hospitalized between 2015-2016 in a single tertiary university-affiliated medical center. Included were patients aged 65 and older who had undergone hip fracture surgery and were admitted to either a geriatric or orthopedic ward. Results: 441 patients met the inclusion criteria (195 in the OG unit, 246 in the OD); 257 were transferred to an affiliated geriatric center hospital (107 from the OG unit and 127 from the OD) for rehabilitation. Patients in the OG unit were older, more cognitively and functionally impaired and with more comorbidities. The 1-year mortality rate was significantly lower in the OD group (OR 0.32, CI 95% 0.19-0.53, p < 0.001), however, after propensity matching, the 30-day and 1 year mortality rates were similar in both groups. No difference was found in the rehabilitation length of stay between the groups. The functional independence measure improvement was similar in both groups, with a non-significant trend toward better functional improvement among OG unit patients. Conclusions: Despite the higher complexity of patients, worse baseline functional capacity in the OG unit, improvement after rehabilitation was similar in both groups. These results demonstrate the advantages of the OG unit in treating and stabilizing frail older adults, thus maximizing their chances for a successful recovery after hip fractures. Level of Evidence: Level IV

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The association between medication or alcohol use and the incidence of frailty: a retrospective cohort study

BMC Geriatrics ◽

10.1186/s12877-020-01969-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Janja Jazbar ◽

Igor Locatelli ◽

Mitja Kos

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Cohort Study ◽

Alcohol Use ◽

Retrospective Cohort Study ◽

Retrospective Cohort ◽

Medication Use ◽

Reverse Causality ◽

Hazardous Alcohol Use ◽

Modifiable Factors ◽

Hazardous Alcohol

Abstract Background Understanding potentially modifiable factors that influence the risk of frailty is a key concern for the management of this urgent contemporary public health challenge. This study evaluates the association between the use of various medications or alcohol and the incidence of frailty among older adults. Methods This study was a retrospective cohort study on older adults (≥ 65 years) using data from the longitudinal Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE survey, 28 countries). Medication use was measured as taking several different groups of medications. Alcohol use was assessed with SHARE questions corresponding to AUDIT-C. The outcome measure was the incidence of frailty after two years, defined by frailty index (FI) and frailty phenotype (FP). A multiple logistic regression model was used to evaluate the association with adjustment for several potential confounding factors. Results Of the 14,665 FI-population participants, 1800 (12.3%) developed frailty within two years. Of the 8133 FP-population participants, 2798 (34.4%) developed pre-frailty and 247 (3.0%) developed frailty within two years of baseline. After adjustment for potential confounding variables, non-hazardous alcohol use (adjusted OR; 95% CI for the FI-population: 0.68; 0.60–0.77) and hazardous alcohol use (0.80; 0.68–0.93) are associated with lower incidence of frailty compared to no alcohol use. The odds of frailty are increased when taking medications; the largest effect size was observed in older adults taking medication for chronic bronchitis (adjusted OR; 95% CI for the FI-population: 2.45; 1.87–3.22), joint pain and other pain medication (2.26; 2.00–2.54), medication for coronary and other heart disease (1.72; 1.52–1.96), medication for diabetes (1.69; 1.46–1.96), and medication for anxiety, depression and sleep problems (1.56; 1.33–1.84). Additionally, the risk of frailty was increased with stroke, Parkinson’s disease and dementia. Conclusions Taking certain groups of medication was associated with increased incidence of frailty and pre-frailty, which might be due to either medication use or the underlying disease. Alcohol use was associated with a lower risk of pre-frailty and frailty compared to no alcohol use, which might be due to reverse causality or residual confounding. There was no significant interaction effect between medication groups and alcohol use on frailty incidence.

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