The Effectiveness of Frailty Intervention for Older Patients with Frailty during Hospitalization.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a multidomain intervention program on the change in functional status of hospitalized older adults. DESIGN: This single-arm, prospective, non-randomized interventional study investigates the efficacy of a multidomain interventional program including cognitive stimulation activity, simple exercises, frailty education, and nutrition counseling. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: At a tertiary hospital in southern Taiwan, 352 eligible patients were sequentially enrolled. Included patients were aged ≥65 years (mean age, 79.6 ± 9.0 years; 62% male), scored 3-7 on the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS), and were hospitalized in the geriatric acute ward. INTERVENTION: Those receiving standard care (physical rehabilitation and nutrition counseling) during January-July 2019 composed the historical control group. Those receiving the multidomain intervention during August-December 2019 composed the intervention group. MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome was the change in activities of daily life (ADL) and frailty status, as assessed by Katz Index and Clinical Frailty Scale, with using the generalized estimating equation model. The length of hospital stay, medical costs, and re-admission rates were secondary outcomes. RESULTS: Participants undergoing intervention (n = 101; 27.9%) showed greater improvements in the ADL and CFS during hospitalization (ADL adjusted estimate, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.11-1.11; p = 0.02; CFS adjusted estimate, -1.11; 95% CI, -1.42- -0.80; p < 0.01), shorter length of hospital stay (adjusted estimate, -5.00; 95% CI, -7.99- -2.47; p < 0.01), lower medical costs (adjusted estimate, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.49-0.69; p < 0.01), and lower 30- and 90-day readmission rates (30-day adjusted OR [aOR], 0.12; 95% CI, 0.27-0.50; p < 0.01; 60-day aOR, 0.04; 95% CI, 0.01-0.33; p < 0.01) than did controls. CONCLUSIONS: Participation in the multidomain intervention program during hospitalization improved the functional status and decreased the hospital stay length, medical costs, and readmission rates of frail older people.

The Adverse Effects of Physical Restraint Use among Older Adult Patients Admitted to the Internal Medicine Wards: A Hospital-Based Retrospective Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the negative effect of physical restraint use on the hospital outcomes of older patients. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Internal medicine wards of a tertiary medical center in Taiwan. PARTICIPANTS: Subjects aged 65 years and over who were admitted during April to Dec 2017 were recruited for study. MEASUREMENTS: Demographic data, geriatric assessments (polypharmacy, visual impairment, hearing impairment, activities of daily living before and after admission, risk of pressure sores, change in consciousness level, mood condition, history of falls in the previous year, risk of malnutrition and pain) and hospital conditions (admission route, department of admission, length of hospital stay and mortality) were collected for analysis. RESULTS: Overall, 4,352 participants (mean age 78.7±8.7 years, 60.2% = male) were enrolled and 8.3% had physical restraint. Results of multivariate logistic regression showed that subjects with physical restraints were at greater risk of functional decline (adjusted odds ratio 2.136, 95% confidence interval 1.322-3.451, p=0.002), longer hospital stays (adjusted odds ratio 5.360, 95% confidence interval 3.627-7.923, p<0.001) and mortality (adjusted odds ratio 4.472, 95% confidence interval 2.794-7.160, p<0.001) after adjustment for covariates. CONCLUSION: The use of physical restraints during hospitalization increased the risk of adverse hospital outcomes, such as functional decline, longer length of hospital stay and mortality.

Predictive Effect of Malnutrition on Long-Term Clinical Outcomes among Older Men: A Prospectively Observational Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether nutritional status can predict 3-year cognitive and functional decline, as well as 4-year all-cause mortality in older adults. DESIGN: Prospectively longitudinal cohort study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: The study recruited 354 men aged 65 years and older in the veteran's retirement community. MEASURES: Baseline nutritional status was evaluated using the Mini-Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA-SF). Cognitive function and Activities of Daily Living (ADL) function were determined by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Barthel Index, respectively. Three-year cognitive and functional decline were respectively defined as a >3 point decrease in the MMSE scores and lower ADL scores than at baseline. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify nutritional status as a risk factor in poor outcome. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional regression models were used to estimate the effect of malnutrition risk on the mortality. RESULTS: According to MNS-SF, the prevalence of risk of malnutrition was 53.1% (188/354). Multivariate logistic regression found risk of malnutrition significantly associated with 3-year cognitive decline (Adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2.07, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.05-4.08, P =0.036) and functional decline (Adjusted OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.01-3.34, P =0.047) compared with normal nutritional status. The hazard ratio (HR) for all-cause mortality was 1.8 times higher in residents at risk of malnutrition (Adjusted HR 1.82, 95% CI 1.19-2.79, P =0.006). CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide strong evidence that risk of malnutrition can predict not only cognitive and functional decline but also risk of all-cause mortality in older men living in a veteran retirement's community. Further longitudinal studies are needed to explore the causal relationship among nutrition, clinical outcomes, and the effect of an intervention for malnutrition.

Gender difference in clinical and genetic characteristics of Brugada syndrome: SADS-TW BrS registry.

BACKGROUND: Brugada syndrome (BrS) is a heritable sudden cardiac death (SCD) disease with male predominance. Information on gender difference of BrS remains scarce. AIM: To investigate the gender difference of BrS in Han Chinese. DESIGN: We consecutively enrolled 169 BrS patients (153 males and 16 females) from Han Chinese in Taiwan from 1998 to 2017. METHODS: Clinical characteristics, electrocardiographic parameters and SCN5A mutation status were compared between genders. RESULTS: The percentage of family history of SCD in females was slightly higher (31.3% vs. 15%, P = 0.15). Females exhibited longer QTc (457.8 ± 33.0 vs. 429.5 ± 42.1 ms, P < 0.01). Regarding cumulative event occurrence by age, Mantel-Cox test showed females had earlier age of onset of first cardiac events (SCD or syncope) than males (P = 0.049), which was mainly attributed to syncope (P < 0.01). Males with SCD exhibited longer QRS duration (114.2 ± 26.8 vs. 104.8 ± 15.3 ms, P = 0.02) and QTc (442.5 ± 57.4 vs. 422.9 ± 28.8 ms, P = 0.02). Males with syncope exhibited longer PR interval (181.2 ± 33.7 vs. 165.7 ± 27.1 ms, P = 0.01), whereas females with SCD or syncope had a trend towards slower heart rates (69.1 ± 9.6 vs. 82.2 ± 16.3 bpm, P = 0.10) than female with no or mild symptoms. There was no difference in the percentage of SCN5A mutation between genders. CONCLUSION: Gender difference is present in BrS. Females have longer QTc and suffer from syncope earlier than males. Risk of SCD in males is associated with boarder QRS complex and longer QTc, whereas risk of syncope is associated with longer PR interval in males and slower heart rate in females.

Inhibitory effects of Alpinia speciosa K. SCHUM on the porphyrin photooxidative reaction.

It is thought that the beta-carotene defense mechanism against photosensitivity involves the inhibition of singlet oxygen formation, a kind of active oxygen. When we screened chemical substances obtained from plants indigenous to Okinawa, known to have residents with the longest life span in Japan, we found that Alpinia speciosa K. SCHUM (Japanese name: gettou), which is used as a food preservative, has an activity similar to that of beta-carotene. We measured the amount of lipid peroxide (LPO) formed from a hematoporphyrin-containing rat liver microsomal suspension irradiated with visible light. The inhibitory effect of Alpinia speciosa on LPO formation was confirmed when the addition of increasing concentrations of Alpinia speciosa extract led to a decrease in the amount of LPO formed. Moreover, the reaction mechanism that affects the amount of singlet oxygen formed was measured, and the effect of the extract was determined by the ESR trapping technique. It was found that the extract effectively inhibited the formation of singlet oxygen. The extract of Alpinia speciosa contains dihydro-5,6-dehydrokawain. It was confirmed that dihydro-5,6-dehydrokawain, which is a water-soluble compound, has singlet oxygen quenching activity. We synthesized five derivatives of kawain and found that dimethyl [6-(2-phenylethyl)-2-oxo-2H-pyran-4-yl] phosphorothionate has the strongest singlet oxygen quenching activity. The use of the compound from Alpinia speciosa that exhibits singlet oxygen quenching activity as an inhibitory agent of the phototoxic reaction in porphyria is expected.

[Studies on the chemical constituents from Aquilegia ecalcarata Maxim].

OBJECTIVE: To study the chemical constituents from Aquilegia ecalcarata. METHOD: Compounds were isolated with silica gel and polyamide chromatography and their structures were determined by spectral analysis and chemical evidence. RESULT: Five compounds were obtained and identified as beta-sitosterol, isoorientin-7-O-glucoside, isovitexin-4'-O-glucoside, isovitexin-2'-O-rhamnoside, luteolin-7-O-glucoside. CONCLUSION: All the compounds were isolated from this plant for the first time.

Age effect of type I collagen on morphogenesis of Mardin-Darby canine kidney cells.

BACKGROUND: Mardin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells cultured in hydrated collagen gels develop simple epithelial cysts or branching tubules, depending on the presence of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). Constituents of extracellular matrix can modulate the morphogenesis of MDCK cells. Collagen is one of the few well-defined structural entities that display gross structural changes with aging. This study was conducted to delineate the effects of age-induced changes of collagen on the morphogenesis of MDCK cells cultured in collagen gel. METHODS: We employed Y224 and MDCK clone II 3B5 cells to study cystogenesis and branching tubulogenesis, respectively. Cells were cultured in three-dimensional collagen gels prepared from 1-, 4-, 8-, and 16-month-old rat tail tendons, and their capacity to develop cysts or branching tubules was assessed. We also analyzed the compositions and physical structures of collagen of various ages. RESULTS: Y224 cells developed generally larger spherical cysts in collagen gels prepared from rats that were more than four months old. The ratio of apoptosis of cells cultured in one-month-old collagen gel was markedly higher than in the gel of older ages. The results were consistent with the observations that collagen gel overlay-induced apoptosis of Y224 cells in one-month-old collagen was higher than that in older collagen. On the other hand, 3B5 cells exhibited a remarkable scattering morphology when cultured in one- or four-month-old collagen gel with HGF. In contrast, 3B5 cells exhibited more intercellular adhesion and were organized into branching tubule structures only in the collagen gel that was more than eight months old. The differences in morphogenesis could be explained by the observations that collagen of younger ages exerted markedly higher HGF-triggered migration capability than collagen of older ages. CONCLUSIONS: Age-related alterations in collagen influence epithelial cell morphogenesis via regulation of cell apoptosis, proliferation, and/or motility.