[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.