Acupressure in insomnia and other sleep disorders in elderly institutionalized patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

BACKGROUND: Sleep disorders are very common in elderly institutionalized people with dementia and acupressure recently has been associated with conventional medicine in their treatment. AIMS: Exploring the effectiveness of acupressure for the treatment of insomnia and other sleep disturbances and we want to show that the acupressure treatment is feasible also in elderly resident patients. METHODS: We enrolled institutionalized patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease with mild cognitive impairment and insomnia. A daily acupressure on HT7 point (H7 Insomnia Control(®)) was performed for a 8-week period. We administered the following scales: the mini mental state examination, the global deterioration scale, the neuropsychiatric inventory, the state-trait-anxiety inventory, the activity daily living and the instrumental activity daily living, the global health quality of life, and the Pittsburgh sleep quality index. RESULTS: After receiving the acupressure treatment, patients saw a significant decrease of sleep disorders. The number of hours of effective sleep was perceived as increased. Furthermore, the time necessary to fall asleep decreased significantly and also the quality of sleep increased. Additionally, also the quality of life was bettered. Sedative drugs have been reduced in all patients involved in the study. CONCLUSIONS: Acupressure can be recommended as a complementary, effective, and non-intrusive method to reduce sleep disturbances in old resident patients affected by cognitive disorders. A limitation of the study is the small sample size. More studies are needed to further validate the results of our study.

Chronic pain in a sample of nursing home residents: prevalence, characteristics, influence on quality of life (QoL).

Chronic pain is common in the elderly, but it is often under-estimated and under-treated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and characteristics of chronic pain in nursing home residents and to analyze its influence on patient's QoL and functional status. We studied 105 patients (mean age 82.2+/-9 years), living in two nursing homes in Torino, Italy. The McGill Pain Questionnaire (MGPQ), the Visual Analogical Scale (VAS) and the Face Pain Scale (FPS) were used to test pain. Depression, functional and cognitive status were also evaluated by using specific instruments, such as the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL), Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments were documented. It was found that chronic pain was present in 82.9% of the sample; it lasted over 24 months and it was persistent in half of them (49.4%). We observed that chronic pain in the elderly has a strong affective component and its intensity influences older patients' mood, nutrition, sleep and QoL. Our study showed that chronic pain was under-treated. We conclude that chronic pain in institutionalized elderly is common and worsens patients' QoL. It is important to assess and manage pain as a relevant problem in particular for the population at increased risk for under-recognition and under-treatment.

Delirium in elderly home-treated patients: a prospective study with 6-month follow-up.

Delirium usually occurs during hospitalisation. The aims of this study were to evaluate the incidence of delirium in "hospital-at-home" compared to a traditional hospital ward and to assess mortality, hospital readmissions and institutionalisation rates at 6-month follow-up in elderly patients with intermediate/high risk for delirium at baseline according to the criteria of Inouye. We performed a prospective, non-randomised, observational study with 6-month follow-up on 144 subjects aged 75 years and older consecutively admitted to the hospital for an acute illness and followed in a geriatric hospital ward (GHW) or in a geriatric home hospitalisation service (GHHS). Baseline socio-demographic information, clinical data, functional, cognitive, nutritional status, mood, quality of life, and caregiver's stress scores were collected. Of the 144 participants, 14 (9.7%) had delirium during their initial hospitalisation: 4 were treated by GHHS and 10 in a GHW. The incidence of delirium was 16.6% in GHW and 4.7% in GHHS. All delirious patients were very old, with a high risk for delirium at baseline of 60%, according to the criteria of Inouye. In GHW, the onset of delirium occurred significantly earlier and the mean duration of the episode was significantly longer. The severity of delirium tended to be higher in GHW compared to GHHS. At 6-month follow-up, mortality was significantly higher among patients who suffered from an episode of delirium. Moreover, they showed a trend towards a greater institutionalisation rate. GHHS may represent a protective environment for delirium onset in acutely ill elderly patients.