[Evolution of COVID-19 at nursing homes from the second wave to vaccination. Description of a coordination program between Primary Care, Geriatrics and Public Health.] / Evolución de la COVID-19 en las residencias de personas mayores desde la segunda ola hasta la vacunación. Descripción de un programa de coordinación entre Atención Primaria, Geriatría y Salud Pública.

OBJECTIVE: Nursing homes have suffered in a particularly pronounced way from the effects of COVID-19 so it is very convenient to know the evolution in them of the disease and the impact of SARS-CoV2 vaccination The objective of this study was to analyze COVID-19 pandemic evolution from the start of the second wave to the end of the vaccination campaign at the nursing homes. A coordination program between Primary Care and Geriatrics and Public Health services was activated. METHODS: 2,668 seniors were followed at 39 nursing homes. Data from new cases, active cases, mortality and place of treatment of COVID-19 were collected. A descriptive analysis was performed with the measurement of the absolute number of positive SARS-CoV-2 cases and the frequency distribution. RESULTS: Between August 7th 2020 and February 26th 2021, 30 outbreaks occurred at 21 nursing homes. 300 people tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (11% of total residents). The daily average of active cases was 27,166 were hospitalized (55%). 66 patients died (22% of those infected), 54 of them (78%) at the hospital. 1,984 PCR tests were performed. The temporary profile of new cases did not follow a distribution "in waves" as in the community. Thirty-seven days after the start of the second dose of vaccination, there were no active cases until March 1st, when new cases were under study for possible vaccine leakage. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of COVID-19 at nursing homes after the first wave of the pandemic has apparently been lower. The transmission in these centers has followed a different distribution than at community. Mass vaccination has achieved the practical disappearance of the disease.

OBJETIVO: Los centros residenciales han sufrido de una manera especialmente acusada los efectos de la COVID-19 por lo que es muy conveniente conocer la evolución en ellos de la enfermedad y el impacto de la vacunación frente al SARS-CoV2. El objetivo de este estudio fue conocer la evolución de la pandemia de COVID-19 desde el comienzo de la segunda ola hasta el final del proceso de vacunación en las residencias de personas mayores de un área sanitaria, en la cual se activó un programa de coordinación entre Atención Primaria y los servicios de Geriatría y Salud Publica. METODOS: Se siguió a 2.668 personas mayores en 39 residencias. Se recogieron datos de casos nuevos, activos, fallecidos y lugar de tratamiento de la COVID-19. Se realizó un análisis descriptivo con la medición del número absoluto de casos positivo de SARS-CoV-2 y la distribución de frecuencias. RESULTADOS: Entre el 7 de agosto de 2020 y el 26 de febrero de 2021 se produjeron 30 brotes en 21 residencias. Se detectaron 300 casos positivos de SARS-CoV-2 (11% de los residentes totales). La media diaria de casos activos fue 27. Fueron hospitalizados 166 (55%). Fallecieron 66 pacientes (22% de los infectados), 54 de ellos (78%) en el hospital. Se realizaron 1.984 test PCR. El perfil temporal de aparición de casos nuevos no siguió una distribución "en olas" como en la comunidad. Treinta y siete días después del inicio de la segunda dosis de vacunación, no existieron casos activos hasta el 1 de marzo en que aparecieron nuevos casos en estudio por posible escape vacunal. CONCLUSIONES: La incidencia de la COVID-19 en las residencias de personas mayores tras la primera ola de la pandemia es aparentemente inferior. La transmisión en estos centros sigue una distribución diferente a la de la comunidad. El efecto de la vacunación masiva consigue la práctica desaparición de la enfermedad.

[Liaison geriatrics with nursing homes in COVID time. A new coordination model arrived to stay]. / La Geriatría de Enlace con residencias en la época de la COVID-19. Un nuevo modelo de coordinación que ha llegado para quedarse.

Older people living in nursing homes fulfil the criteria to be considered as geriatric patients, but they often do not have met their health care needs. Current deficits appeared as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. The need to improve the coordination between hospitals and nursing homes emerged, and in Madrid it materialized with the implantation of Liaison Geriatrics teams or units at public hospitals. The Sociedad Española de Geriatría y Gerontología has defined the role of the geriatricians in the COVID-19 pandemic and they have given guidelines about prevention, early detection, isolation and sectorization, training, care homes classification, patient referral coordination, and the role of the different care settings, among others. These units and teams also must undertake other care activities that have a shortfall currently, like nursing homes-hospital coordination, geriatricians visits to the homes, telemedicine sessions, geriatric assessment in emergency rooms, and primary care and public health services coordination. This paper describes the concept of Liaison Geriatrics and its implementation at the Autonomous Community of Madrid hospitals as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. Activity data from a unit at a hospital with a huge number of nursing homes in its catchment area are reported. The objective is to understand the need of this activity in order to avoid the current fragmentation of care between hospitals and nursing homes. This activity should be consolidated in the future.

[The efficiency of «Cross-speciality Geriatrics¼ in the co-management of patients older than 80 years admitted to the General Surgery Service. Economic results]. / Eficiencia del apoyo de Geriatría Transversal en el manejo de pacientes mayores de 80 años ingresados en el Servicio de Cirugía General. Resultados en la liberación de estancias y el coste asociado.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficiency of «Cross-speciality Geriatrics¼ program in patients older than 80 years admitted to the Colorectal Pathology Unit of a General Surgery Department. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A «before-after¼ study was conducted. The initial period (usual treatment for General Surgery) included patients admitted from 1st January to 31st August 2018, and the subsequent period (with support from geriatrics) from 1st January to 31st December 2019. Two types of patients were studied: Type 1, who were admitted to the Emergency Department, and Type 2, programmed admissions for colorectal cancer intervention. The Geriatrics intervention consisted of daily monitoring in the ward, collaboration in clinical management, and discharge planning. Furthermore, in Type 2 patients, a previous visit was made in the clinic, which included the detection and approach of frailty and pre-habilitation for surgery. RESULTS: A total of 175 patients were included, of whom 53 were treated by General Surgery and 122 with the co-management of geriatrics. The mean age was 84.9 years (SD 4.8). In the period with the Cross-speciality Geriatrics program, the mean stay was reduced by 10.6 days (39%), and 8.5 days (44%) in types 1 and 2, respectively (P < .01). This led to a decrease in bed occupancy (3.3 beds/day) and a cost reduction (1,215,970 € / year). CONCLUSIONS: The support of Cross-speciality Geriatrics in patients older than 80 years admitted to General Surgery is an efficient care model. These data support its implementation in hospitals where this care line has not yet been developed.

[Efficiency of the acute geriatric units compared to the rest of the hospital departments. A 5-year audit of the case-mix adjusted for diagnosis-related group]. / Eficiencia de las unidades de agudos de geriatría frente al resto de servicios hospitalarios. Análisis de la casuística de 5 años ajustada por GRD.

INTRODUCTION: Hospital occupancy rate by older patients is high, and it will be even higher in the future. Their hospital stay is usually longer, making it important for hospitals to develop structures with the best efficiency possible. METHOD: Hospital discharges of patients older than 75years with the 15 most frequent Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRG) in Geriatrics were recorded during a 5-year period in a 1,200-bed hospital. Length of stay was compared between the two acute geriatric units (AGU), one in the general hospital (GH) and another in an affiliate hospital (AH), as well as with the rest of departments. RESULTS: A total of 14,948 discharged patients were included. Length of stay was 2.9 (25%) days shorter in AGU units than in the rest of departments. Differences were 22% (9.2 vs 11.7days) in 2011, 16% (9.3 vs 11.1days) in 2012, 21% (9.3 vs 11.1days) in 2013, 34% (7.4 vs 11.1days) in 2014, and 25% (8.3 vs 11days) in 2015 in the GH. Differences were 18% (10.4 vs 12.7days) in 2011, 19% (9.5 vs 11.7days) in 2012, 25% (8.8 vs 11.7days) in 2013, 24% (8.8 vs 11.6days) in 2014, and 32% (9 vs 13.1days) in 2015 at the AH, all of them with a P<.05. CONCLUSIONS: AGU are 25% more efficient than the rest of hospital departments in managing hospital admissions of patients older than 75years.

Comprehensive geriatric assessment for identifying older people at risk of hip fracture: cross-sectional study with comparative group.

Background: Hip fracture (HF) is by far the most common serious fragility fracture. Its care is a major challenge to all healthcare systems. Aim: To determine whether there are characteristics of older people identified via comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) that help identify those with an increased risk of HF. Methods: The demographic, functional, cognitive and nutritional data of a cohort of patients admitted for acute HF were compared with those of a population cohort representing community-dwelling older people in the same urban district without HF. Bivariate analysis was performed on the variables in both the complete samples and in a subsample of age and sex paired subjects, followed by logistic regression analysis. Results: A total of 509 HF patients and 1315 community-dwelling older people were included. The HF patients were older and more frequently women and had more frequent disability and cognitive impairment, lower handgrip strength, lower body mass index (BMI) and a higher frequency of vitamin D deficiency compared with the community controls (P < 0.001). The variables most strongly associated with the presence of HF in the multivariate analysis, aside from age and female sex, were BMI<22 kg/m2 [odds ratio (OR) = 5.11], disability (OR = 4.32), muscle weakness (OR = 3.01), and vitamin D deficiency (OR = 2.13). Conclusions: There are easily obtained CGA determinants that are strongly associated with fragility HF. The detection of low weight, disability, malnutrition, muscle weakness, and vitamin D deficiency can help identify at-risk older people to implement prevention strategies.

[Geriatric assessment tools in Spanish Geriatric Departments]. / Herramientas de valoración geriátrica en Servicios de Geriatría españoles.

INTRODUCTION: Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) is the main measurement tool used by Geriatricians. A 2000 survey demonstrated great variability in the tools used for CGA among Spanish Geriatric Departments. A new survey to detect 13-year trends in the use of CGA tools in our country is presented. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Descriptive study using a structured questionnaire on the use of CGA tools in different levels of care sent to the Heads of 39 Spanish Geriatric Departments or Services (27 with postgraduate teaching in Geriatrics) during the first three months of 2013. RESULTS: The response rate was 97.4%. It was found that 78.4% (29 centers) used different tools depending on the level of care. Barthel and Lawton index were the most used functional assessment tools in all Departments and across all geriatric levels, although gait speed and Tinetti scale were frequently used in Day Hospital and Outpatient clinics. The Mini Mental State Exam and its Spanish version Mini Examen Cognoscitivo were the most used mental scales (97.4%), followed by tools for assessing depression-behavior (86.8%) and severity of cognitive impairment tools (84.2%). CGA tools were used in 43.2% of the emergency departments of the hospitals surveyed, being the most frequent. More than two-thirds (69.4%) of the Departments reported that their affiliated Primary Care centers used CGA tools, with the Barthel and Lawton again being indexes the most used. Most of the responding Departments considered that the main domains of CGA are functional, mental and social status. Nutrition, comorbidity, falls and pressure ulcers are other important domains. CONCLUSIONS: There is still a great variability in the CGA tools being used in Spanish Geriatric Departments, although there is a trend towards a greater use of Barthel index, greater adaptation of tools to each level of care, and increasing assessment of new domains like frailty, nutrition or comorbidity.

[The acute orthogeriatric unit. Assessment of its effect on the clinical course of patients with hip fractures and an estimate of its financial impact]. / La unidad de ortogeriatría de agudos. Evaluación de su efecto en el curso clínico de los pacientes con fractura de cadera y estimación de su impacto económico.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of the management of hip fracture patients in an acute orthogeriatric unit shared between the departments of Orthopedic Surgery and Geriatrics compared with the usual hospital care, and to analyse financial differences in both systems of care. METHOD: Prospective quasy-experimental randomized intervention study in 506 patients admitted to a terciary hospital with an osteoporotic hip fracture. The usual model of care was the admission to the orthopedic ward with a request to Geriatrics (RC) and the study model consisted of the admission to an orthogeriatric unit (OGU) for the shared co-management between orthopaedic surgeons and geriatricians. This model included the appointment of one spokesperson from each department, the specialist geriatric nurse management, early geriatric assessment, shared daily clinical care, weekly joint ward round and coordinated planning of the surgery schedule, the start of the ambulation and the time and setting of patient discharge. RESULTS: Two hundred fifty five consecutive patients admitted to the OGU and 251 patients managed simultaneously by the RC model were included. Except for a mean age slightly lower in the OGU group, there were no differences neither in the baseline patients characteristics nor in the surgical rates between the two groups. Among the OGU patients group it was more frequent to receive rehabilitation in the acute setting, to be able to walk at discharge and to be referred to a geriatric rehabilitation unit (all with P < .05). The OGU patients received geriatric assessment and were operated on earlier than the RC patients (P < .001). The length of stay in the acute ward was 34% shorter in the OGU patients (mean 12.48 ± 5 vs 18.9 ± 8.6 days, P < .001) (median 12 [9-14] vs 17 [13-23] days, P < .001). The whole hospital length of stay, including the days spent in the geriatric rehabilitation units, was 11% shorter in the OGU patients (mean 21.16 ± 14.7 vs 23.9 ± 13.8 days, P < 0.05) (median 14 [10-31] vs 20 [14-30] days, P < .001). The OGU saved 1,207 € to 1,633 € per patient when estimated by the costs for process model, and 3,741 € when estimated by the costs for stay model. CONCLUSIONS: The OGU is a hospital setting that provides an improvement in the patients functional outcome and a reduction in the hospital length of stay. Therefore it saves health care resources. These findings show the OGU as an advisable setting for the acute care of hip fracture patients.

[The Orpington scale. An evaluation tool in cerebrovascular disorders]. / La escala de Orpington. Un instrumento de valoración en accidente cerebrovascular.

To study the validity of the Orpington scale as a predictive instrument of functional prognosis in patients with stroke. More exactly, to know their ability to assess the admission of patients into Geriatric Units of Medium Stay (GUMS) and the influence of other variables of the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) to take into account for the patients admission into such Units. The protocols of the patients older than 65 year admitted with a stroke and surveyed by the Department of Neurology to the Geriatric Unit from the 1st October of 1999 to the 30th June of 2000 were revised. From the 139 patients revised 49% were moved into GUMS and 34% were discharged to their home. The admission into GUMS of patients in subacute phase of a stroke is determined by mental and functional factors that the Orpington scale do not consider by itself. The Orpington scale, into the CGA, gives additional information to the CGA regarding the admission of patients into these Units.