Hip Fracture

2019 ◽  
pp. 281-293
Author(s):  
Franchesca Arias ◽  
Catherine C. Price ◽  
Jeffrey C. Gadsden

This chapter discusses hip fracture, which is a significant public health problem associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Pain with hip fracture is often severe but despite this is frequently undertreated in the elderly population. Untreated pain not only is inhumane but also is a significant risk factor for delirium in this population that is already at increased risk due to age-related cognitive decline. Hip fracture patients benefit from early intervention with regional analgesic techniques such as femoral or fascia iliaca block, as well as a scheduled regimen of nonopioid analgesics such as acetaminophen and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications. While opioids are known to contribute to risk for delirium, pain itself is a much stronger risk factor, and when nonopioid options are exhausted, opioids should be carefully considered. Continuous nerve block techniques provide opportunities for extended pain relief, which is associated with improved recovery profile, greater satisfaction, and a decreased risk for complications.

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (S1) ◽  
pp. 173-173
Author(s):  
Catarina Pedro ◽  
Mariana Duarte ◽  
Beatriz Jorge ◽  
Daniela Freitas

Introduction:Personality and emotions have not been studied as thoroughly as cognition in old age. Recent research suggests personality changes across the entire life span, through middle age and even into old age. Thus, the previous assumption of stability in personality traits from early adulthood has been challenged and novel approaches to the study of personality development have emerged.Objectives:The aim of this presentation is to describe the effects of the ageing process in personality and emotions.Methods:A non-systematic review of the literature was performed on PubMed, PsycINFO and Web of science using selected keywords.Results:When older adults compare their current and past selves, they usually perceive a subjective growth in personality. Descriptive research suggests that the big five personality characteristics (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness) remain generally stable over the lifespan, despite variations in life experiences. Some studies revealed age-related linear decrease in extraversion. One of the studies found that hearing impairment, already identified as a significant risk factor for social isolation, was related to this decline in extraversion. Although levels of neuroticism tends to go down over the course of adulthood, the increased vulnerabilities that accompany old age may amplify neurotic traits, increasing worries about physical health and memory, common features of depression in the elderly. Emotions, relative to more neutral knowledge and skills, increase in later years. Elderly have better control over emotions than do younger adults, they reason more flexibly about emotion-laden dilemmas and remember emotionally charged information better than neutral facts. Older people also rely more often on emotion-focused forms of coping, as opposed to active, problem-solving approaches.Conclusions:Core features of personality seem to remain relatively stable throughout adulthood and any marked change in mood or social behavior may indicate a disorder. However, more subtle reordering of personal priorities and shifts in coping styles are common with normal ageing. The richness of emotional processing in older persons runs counter to the generally declining patterns seen in many cognitive and physical skills.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pooja Shivshankar

Streptococcus pneumonia, (Spn, the pneumococcus), is the leading cause of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and is responsible for 15–40% deaths in the elderly worldwide. A primed inflammatory status is a significant risk factor for the increased severity of infectious diseases among the elderly (≥65 years of age). Studies have shown that expression of host receptors that the pneumococci bind to invade the tissues are increased thereby increasing the susceptibility to pneumococcal challenge in aged mice. Cellular senescence, an age-related phenomenon that leads to cell cycle arrest may also contribute to increased inflammation in aged mice. Evidence of cellular senescence in aged lungs of humans and mice adds credits to the concept of inflammaging and enhanced bacterial ligands expression during aging. Furthermore, cell senescence has been shown to occur in age-associated lung pathologies such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) that may predispose the elderly to pathogenic assaults, including S. pneumoniae. This review highlights the aspects of: chronic inflammation in the aged population; contribution of cellular senescence to age-associated inflammation and their impact on host receptor expression; and, increased susceptibility of fibrosis and emphysematous lesions-bearing lungs to microbial infections.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Gasiorowska ◽  
Malgorzata Wydrych ◽  
Patrycja Drapich ◽  
Maciej Zadrozny ◽  
Marta Steczkowska ◽  
...  

The elderly population is growing worldwide, with important health and socioeconomic implications. Clinical and experimental studies on aging have uncovered numerous changes in the brain, such as decreased neurogenesis, increased synaptic defects, greater metabolic stress, and enhanced inflammation. These changes are associated with cognitive decline and neurobehavioral deficits. Although aging is not a disease, it is a significant risk factor for functional worsening, affective impairment, disease exaggeration, dementia, and general disease susceptibility. Conversely, life events related to mental stress and trauma can also lead to accelerated age-associated disorders and dementia. Here, we review human studies and studies on mice and rats, such as those modeling human neurodegenerative diseases, that have helped elucidate (1) the dynamics and mechanisms underlying the biological and pathological aging of the main projecting systems in the brain (glutamatergic, cholinergic, and dopaminergic) and (2) the effect of defective glutamatergic, cholinergic, and dopaminergic projection on disabilities associated with aging and neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Detailed knowledge of the mechanisms of age-related diseases can be an important element in the development of effective ways of treatment. In this context, we briefly analyze which adverse changes associated with neurodegenerative diseases in the cholinergic, glutaminergic and dopaminergic systems could be targeted by therapeutic strategies developed as a result of our better understanding of these damaging mechanisms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 433-441
Author(s):  
V. N. Larina ◽  
I. A. Samkova ◽  
E. V. Kudina

The article presents modern views on the problem of falls in the elderly. There is a global trend of changing the demographic situation - the permanent increase in the proportion of elderly and senile people in the general population, the issues of geriatrics as one of the medical specialties are becoming the most relevant. Among the problems that geriatricians and all specialists involved in the treatment of elderly patients have to solve, one of the most serious is the problem of falls. The article provides a medical review of the assessment of the frequency of falls depending on gender, age, diseases and external factors. The main risk factors for falls and their prevention measures are discussed in detail. Special attention is given to the fear of falls as a significant risk factor. The methods of validation the risk factor with the use of unified questionnaires - “The scale of assessment of the fear of fa lls” and “the Falls efficacy scale” are presented. The purpose of this article is to attract the attention of practitioners to the problem of falls and the fear of falls as one of the significant risk factors, methods of its identification and prevention


Author(s):  
Sekhar Reddy ◽  
Mohd Ashraf Ganie ◽  
Parvaiz A. Koul ◽  
Tajali Sahar ◽  
Shaista Showkat

AbstractSARS CoV-2 is a β-coronavirus responsible for the current COVID-19 pandemic. Although there is increase severity and mortality described in the elderly population and people with co-morbidities, all age groups are susceptible to COVID-19. Recent data showed that obesity has also emerged as a significant risk factor for COVID-19 mortality. As per the WHO, most of the world's population lives in countries where obesity is highly prevalent. In this context, we aimed to review various studies that showed obesity as an independent risk factor for mortality in SARS CoV-2 infection. We followed the PRISMA guidelines to search for two databases including PubMed and Google Scholar using the key terms “COVID-19, OBES* and MORTALITY,” SARS CoV-2, OBES* and MORTALITY” “COVID-19, OBESITY, and MORTALITY,” SARS Cov-2, OBESITY and MORTALITY,” respectively, up to August 3, 2020. Twelve studies were finally included in this review after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. All 12 studies included in the review consistently showed that obesity is a risk factor for mortality in patients with SARS CoV-2 infection. These studies have also shown evidence that obesity leads to increased hospitalization, ICU admission, increased need for mechanical ventilation, and poor prognosis among patients with SARS CoV-2 infection. Obesity is an independent risk factor for mortality in patients infected with this novel coronavirus. Appropriate triage, monitoring, and vigilance are required while dealing with individuals with obesity with SARS CoV2 infection, especially in the young obese population. More epidemiological studies need to be done taking BMI also into consideration in COVID-19 patients to find the exact cause of increased severity and mortality and develop appropriate preventive and therapeutic strategies.


Crisis ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 330-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cun-Xian Jia ◽  
Lin-Lin Wang ◽  
Ai-Qiang Xu ◽  
Ai-Ying Dai ◽  
Ping Qin

Background: Physical illness is linked with an increased risk of suicide; however, evidence from China is limited. Aims: To assess the influence of physical illness on risk of suicide among rural residents of China, and to examine the differences in the characteristics of people completing suicide with physical illness from those without physical illness. Method: In all, 200 suicide cases and 200 control subjects, 1:1 pair-matched on sex and age, were included from 25 townships of three randomly selected counties in Shandong Province, China. One informant for each suicide or control subject was interviewed to collect data on the physical health condition and psychological and sociodemographic status. Results: The prevalence of physical illness in suicide cases (63.0%) was significantly higher than that in paired controls (41.0%; χ2 = 19.39, p < .001). Compared with suicide cases without physical illness, people who were physically ill and completed suicide were generally older, less educated, had lower family income, and reported a mental disorder less often. Physical illness denoted a significant risk factor for suicide with an associated odds ratio of 3.23 (95% CI: 1.85–5.62) after adjusted for important covariates. The elevated risk of suicide increased progressively with the number of comorbid illnesses. Cancer, stroke, and a group of illnesses comprising dementia, hemiplegia, and encephalatrophy had a particularly strong effect among the commonly reported diagnoses in this study population. Conclusion: Physical illness is an important risk factor for suicide in rural residents of China. Efforts for suicide prevention are needed and should be integrated with national strategies of health care in rural China.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ting-Chun Huang ◽  
Po-Tseng Lee ◽  
Mu-Shiang Huang ◽  
Pei-Fang Su ◽  
Ping-Yen Liu

AbstractPremature atrial complexes (PACs) have been suggested to increase the risk of adverse events. The distribution of PAC burden and its dose–response effects on all-cause mortality and cardiovascular death had not been elucidated clearly. We analyzed 15,893 patients in a medical referral center from July 1st, 2011, to December 31st, 2018. Multivariate regression driven by ln PAC (beats per 24 h plus 1) or quartiles of PAC burden were examined. Older group had higher PAC burden than younger group (p for trend < 0.001), and both genders shared similar PACs distribution. In Cox model, ln PAC remained an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.09 per ln PAC increase, 95% CI = 1.06‒1.12, p < 0.001). PACs were a significant risk factor in cause-specific model (HR = 1.13, 95% CI = 1.05‒1.22, p = 0.001) or sub-distribution model (HR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.04‒1.21, p = 0.004). In ordinal PAC model, 4th quartile group had significantly higher risk of all-cause mortality than those in 1st quartile group (HR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.13‒1.94, p = 0.005), but no difference in cardiovascular death were found in competing risk analysis. In subgroup analysis, the risk of high PAC burden was consistently higher than in low-burden group across pre-specified subgroups. In conclusion, PAC burden has a dose response effect on all-cause mortality and cardiovascular death.


Author(s):  
Stephanie M. Cabral ◽  
Katherine E. Goodman ◽  
Natalia Blanco ◽  
Surbhi Leekha ◽  
Larry S. Magder ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective: To determine whether electronically available comorbidities and laboratory values on admission are risk factors for hospital-onset Clostridioides difficile infection (HO-CDI) across multiple institutions and whether they could be used to improve risk adjustment. Patients: All patients at least 18 years of age admitted to 3 hospitals in Maryland between January 1, 2016, and January 1, 2018. Methods: Comorbid conditions were assigned using the Elixhauser comorbidity index. Multivariable log-binomial regression was conducted for each hospital using significant covariates (P < .10) in a bivariate analysis. Standardized infection ratios (SIRs) were computed using current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) risk adjustment methodology and with the addition of Elixhauser score and individual comorbidities. Results: At hospital 1, 314 of 48,057 patient admissions (0.65%) had a HO-CDI; 41 of 8,791 patient admissions (0.47%) at community hospital 2 had a HO-CDI; and 75 of 29,211 patient admissions (0.26%) at community hospital 3 had a HO-CDI. In multivariable regression, Elixhauser score was a significant risk factor for HO-CDI at all hospitals when controlling for age, antibiotic use, and antacid use. Abnormal leukocyte level at hospital admission was a significant risk factor at hospital 1 and hospital 2. When Elixhauser score was included in the risk adjustment model, it was statistically significant (P < .01). Compared with the current CDC SIR methodology, the SIR of hospital 1 decreased by 2%, whereas the SIRs of hospitals 2 and 3 increased by 2% and 6%, respectively, but the rankings did not change. Conclusions: Electronically available patient comorbidities are important risk factors for HO-CDI and may improve risk-adjustment methodology.


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