Health Care Facilities for Senior Citizens in Selected Tertiary Hospitals During Covid-19 Pandemic

Background: To assess the health care facilities provided for senior citizens in selected tertiary hospitals. Methods: This descriptive type of cross-sectional study was carried out among service providers (doctors and nurses) and hospital administrators within the period of January to December 2020. A total of 305 respondents was selected purposively. Semi structured questionnaire and observational checklist was used to collect data. Data was collected by face to face interview and observation. Data was analyzed by using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) software version 25. Results: Among participants, Administrator 2.6%, Doctor 25.2% and Nurse 72.1%. Mean age of the respondents was 32.72±7.67 years. Most of the respondents 90.8% working experience less than 10 years and their average monthly income was Tk. 35398.90±16509.12. In DMCH separate geriatric ward present but in BSMMU geriatric ward absent. Rehabilitation center & long-term care facilities for elderly patients, telemedicine service, separation facility for non COVID geriatric patients from COVID positive patients, free care facility for poor elderly patients, social welfare support facilities present in both hospitals. Separate bed facility in general wards, geriatric ICU and COVID ward absent, training facility on geriatric health absent in both hospitals. Majority of the respondents 97.0% take consent before any procedure, 89.6% service provider involve geriatric patients in decision making about their care and treatment, 56.6% respondents follow polypharmacy guideline. Opinion regarding utility service was average. Opinion regarding diagnostic facilities, essential drugs, sterilization facilities, of this hospital for senior citizens was moderately sufficient 50.5%, 60.6% and 59.3% respectively and ambulance service insufficient 53.4%. Among respondents 89.8% face barriers in providing geriatric health care. Opinion regarding the existing health care facilities for senior citizens of this hospitals insufficient 52.8%. Regarding improvement of health care services 26.0% mentioned that training of doctor/ nurses followed by separate geriatric ward facilities for geriatric patients 20.8%, increase the number of supporting staff 16.2%, free health care facilities for poor elderly patients 11.8%, training of supporting staffs 10.6%, training for informal/family caregiver 7.4%, separate bed for geriatric patient in general wards 6.4% and the rest others mentioned 0.7%. Analysis found statistically significant association between national guideline follow for the treatment and care of older patients and their educational qualification (0.001), designation (p=0.001), polypharmacy guideline follows for the treatment and care of older patients and their designation, referral guideline follows for geriatric patients and their designation (p=0.001). Conclusion: To provide quality healthcare service to the senior citizens of Bangladesh, geriatric health care should be given highest priority. JOPSOM 2021; 40(1): 51-58

The association between geriatric treatment and 30-day readmission risk among medical inpatients aged ≥75 years with multimorbidity

Background Readmission to hospital is frequent among older patients and reported as a post-discharge adverse outcome. The effect of treatment in a geriatric ward for acutely admitted older patients on mortality and function is well established, but less is known about the possible influence of such treatment on the risk of readmission, particularly in the oldest and most vulnerable patients. Our aim was to assess the risk for early readmission for multimorbid patients > 75 years treated in a geriatric ward compared to medical wards and to identify risk factors for 30-day readmissions. Methods Prospective cohort study of patients acutely admitted to a medical department at a Norwegian regional hospital. Eligible patients were community-dwelling, multimorbid, receiving home care services, and aged 75+. Patients were consecutively included in the period from 1 April to 31 October 2012. Clinical data were retrieved from the referral letter and medical records. Results We included 227 patients with a mean (SD) age of 86.0 (5.7) years, 134 (59%) were female and 59 (26%) were readmitted within 30 days after discharge. We found no statistically significant difference in readmission rate between patients treated in a geriatric ward versus other medical wards. In adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression analyses, lower age (hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) 0.95 (0.91–0.99) per year), female gender (2.17 (1.15–4.00)) and higher MMSE score (1.03 (1.00–1.06) per point) were significant risk factors for readmission. Conclusions Lower age, female gender and higher cognitive function were the main risk factors for 30-day readmission to hospital among old patients with multimorbidity. We found no impact of geriatric care on the readmission rate.

Anticholinergic Burden of Geriatric Ward Inpatients

Background and Objectives: Anticholinergic drug use in the pharmacotherapy of elderly persons is common despite the increased risk of side effects. We examined the prevalence of anticholinergic drug use and total anticholinergic drug burden among patients admitted to an acute care geriatric ward in Poland. Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional study of 329 subjects hospitalized at the geriatric ward. Patient condition was assessed with a comprehensive geriatric assessment. The Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden (ACB) scale was used to estimate the total anticholinergic load. Results: Mean patient age was 79.61 ± 6.82 years. 40.73% of them were burdened with at least one anticholinergic drug. The clinically significant anticholinergic burden was observed in 13.98% of subjects. Patients with dementia, risk of falls, and severe disability had significantly higher total ACB scores compared to other groups. The receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve revealed that the total ACB score ≥ 1 was significantly associated with dementia and the risk of falls. Total ACB score ≥ 2 was significantly associated with severe disability. Conclusions: Patients admitted to an acute care geriatric ward had an anticholinergic cognitive burden score comparable to other patient populations. We found associations at both low and elevated levels of anticholinergic burden with dementia and risk of falls. At elevated anticholinergic burden levels, we found associations with severe disability. Despite recommendations against the use of anticholinergics in older adults these medications are still commonly prescribed. Further study is necessary to define the characteristics of anticholinergic medication most closely associated with negative outcomes in elderly populations.

Identification of Fall Risks by Nurses in Hospitalized Adult Patients

The aim of this study was to provide a nurses' comparison of fall risks in hospitalized adults according to gender, age and clinic, and to identify significant risk factors associated with the specific levels of the risk of falling. The respondent group consisted of patients hospitalized in selected hospital wards. Morse Fall Scale was used to map the data. We tested the statistical significance of differences among categories by using the chí2 test, Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test. The average risk score of falling in a group of 688 patients was at a high level 47.87 ± 26.4. In the group of 430 elderly patients, we found significantly higher average values than in the group of 258 patients younger than 65 years (p = < 0.00001).Patients hospitalized in the geriatric ward had the highest average Morse Fall Scale values (55.3 ± 26.11). The results of our study confirmed the risk of falling in selected groups of patients.

Factors associated with do-not-resuscitate document completion among patients hospitalized in geriatric ward

Background With a rapidly aging population, there is an increasing need for do-not-resuscitate (DNR) and advance care planning (ACP) discussions. This study investigated the factors associated with signing DNR documents of older patients in the geriatric ward. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study at a geriatric ward in a tertiary hospital in Southern Taiwan. Three hundred and thirty-seven hospitalized older patients aged ≥65 years in the geriatric ward from 2018 to 2019. The Hospital Information System and electronic medical records were accessed to obtain details regarding patients’ demographics, daily living activities, serum albumin level, nutrition screening score, intensive care unit transferal, resuscitation procedure, days of hospital stay, and survival status on discharge, and DNR status was recorded retrospectively. Patients were classified into DNR and non-DNR groups, with t-tests and Chi-square tests applied to compare the differences between groups. Logistic regression was performed to predict factors related to the DNR documents. Results A total of 337 patients were included, 66 of whom had signed a DNR during hospitalization. After multivariate logistic regression, age 85 or more compared to age 65–74 (adjusted odds ratio, aOR 5.94), poor nutrition with screening score two or more (aOR 2.71), albumin level less than 3 (aOR 3.24), Charlson Comorbidity Index higher than 2 (aOR 2.46) and once transferred to ICU (aOR 5.11) were independently associated with DNR documentation during hospitalization. Conclusions Several factors related to DNR documents for geriatric patients were identified which could provide clinical information for physicians, patients, and their families to discuss DNR and ACP.

Ability to detect potentially inappropriate prescribing in older patients: comparative analysis between PIM-Check and STOPP/STARTv2

Purpose Potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) is a source of preventable adverse drug events. The objective of this study was a comparative analysis (quantitative and qualitative) between two tools used to detect PIP, PIM-Check and STOPP/START. Methods First, a qualitative analysis (QAC) was conducted to evaluate the concordance between the criteria, which constitute PIM-Check and the gold standard STOPP/START. Second, a retrospective comparative and observational study was performed on the list of treatment at the admission of 50 older patients hospitalized in an acute geriatric ward of a university hospital in Switzerland in 2016 using both tools. Results The QAC has shown that 50% (57 criteria) of STOPP/START criteria are fully or partially concordant with those of PIM-Check. The retrospective study was performed on 50 patients aged 87 years, suffering from 5 co-morbidities (min–max 1–11) and treated by of 8 drugs (min–max 2–16), as medians. The prevalence of the detected PIP was 80% by PIM-Check and 90% by STOPP/START. Medication review shows that 4.2 PIP per patient were detected by PIM-Check and 3.5 PIP by STOPP/START among which 1.9 PIP was commonly detected by both tools, as means. PIM-Check detected more PIP related to cardiology, angiology, nephrology, and endocrinology in older patients but missed the PIP related to geriatric syndromes (e.g., fall, dementia, Alzheimer) detected by STOPP/START. Conclusions By using PIM-Check in geriatric settings, some PIP will not be detected. It is considered as a limitation for this tool in this frail population but brings a certain complementarity in other areas of therapy not covered by STOPP/START.

Predictors for Early Discharge Planning of Hospitalized Acute Geriatric Patients, a Retrospective Study

Purpose: When treated for an acute disorder, older adults are vulnerable for functional losses and the need of care after discharge. In a specialised geriatric ward, patients get a comprehensive treatment complementary to medical care in order to maintain and improve mobility and Activities of Daily Living (ADL) to facilitate the return to domesticity.