Economic burden to primary informal caregivers of hospitalized older adults in Mexico: a cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The burden of out of pocket spending for the Mexican population is high compared to other countries. Even patients insured by social security institutions have to face the cost of health goods, services or nonmedical expenses related to their illness. Primary caregivers, in addition, experience losses in productivity by taking up responsibilities in care giving activities. This situation represents a mayor economic burden in an acute care setting for elderly population. There is evidence that specialized geriatric services could represent lower overall costs in these circumstances and could help reduce these burdens.The aim of this study was to investigate economic burden differences in caregivers of elderly patients comparing two acute care services (Geriatric and Internal Medicine). Specifically, economic costs associated with hospitalization of older adults in these two settings by evaluating health care related out of pocket expenditures (OOPE), non-medical OOPE and indirect costs. METHODS: A comparative analysis of direct and indirect costs in hospitalised elderly patients (60-year or older) and their primary informal caregivers in two health care settings, using a prospective cohort was performed. Economic burden was measured by out of pocket expenses and indirect costs (productivity lost) due to care giving activities. The analysis included a two-part model, the first one allowing the estimation of the probability of observing any health care related and non-medical OOPE; and the second one, the positive observations or expenditures. RESULTS: A total of 210 subjects were followed during their hospital stay. Of the total number of subjects 95% reported at least one non-medical OOPE, being daily transportation the most common expense. Regarding medical OOPE, medicines were the most common expense, and the mean numbers of days without income were 4.12 days. Both OOPE and indirect costs were significantly different between type of services, with less overall economic burden to the caregivers of elderly hospitalized in the geriatric unit. The final model showed that type of service and satisfaction had the largest coefficients (-0.68 and 0.662 respectively, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study allowed us to identify associated factors of economic burden in elderly hospitalized in acute care units. It opens as well, an issue that should not be overlooked in framing public policies regarding elderly health care.

Drug-drug interactions at hospital admission in geriatric patients in a single facility: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Individuals older than 60 years of age have multiple simultaneous diseases, for which the average number of medications is greater than five, leading up to 3% possibility of having an adverse reaction event. OBJECTIVE: To detect potential drug-drug interactions (PDDIs) and report the average hospital stay for severity potential PPIs, in adults 60 years of age and older in an Internal Medicine Service. METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis with a review of the clinical records of patients 60 years of age and older. The length of stay, number and type of prescribed daily medications, PDDIs, and number of admission diagnoses for each patient, were reviewed. RESULTS: This study included 342 patients with an average and standard deviation of 6 ± 3.0 medications per day. The PDDI levels were 27 (7.9%) severe, 94 (27.5%) moderate, and 61 (17.8%) had both types of interactions. Severe interactions, presented a hospital stay of 10 days, and moderate interaction a 13-day stay. CONCLUSION: The most common interactions and their average length of stay may be utilized for quality evaluation of the medication process of such a major patient population as that of the older adult in the hospital setting.

[Impact of the program Home Care for the Chronically Ill for elderly: quality of life and hospital readmissions]. / Impacto de un programa de Atención Domiciliaria al Enfermo Crónico en ancianos: calidad de vida y reingresos hospitalarios.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of the ADEC program (acronym in Spanish) as compared with the typical care provided to disabled elderly affiliated with the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Prospective cohort at three months after discharge from two general hospitals in Mexico City. A total of 130 patients with functional dependency were studied, 70 in the ADEC program and 60 with typical care. Impact was measured using hospital readmissions and quality of life based on the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP). RESULTS: Average age was 74 (61/103) years and 60% were women. The main diagnosis was cerebrovascular disease (30.77%). The quality of life in the psychosocial dimension improved for the ADEC group (from 46.26 (±13.85) to 29.45(±16.48) as compared with 47.03 (±16.47) to 42.36 (±16.35) for those receiving typical care (p<0.05). No differences were found regarding hospital readmissions. (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: HC program improved the psychosocial dimension of quality of life.

The Mini-mental State Examination revisited: ceiling and floor effects after score adjustment for educational level in an aging Mexican population.

BACKGROUND: The Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) is the most widely used cognitive test, both in clinical settings and in epidemiological studies. However, correcting its score for education may create ceiling effects when used for poorly educated people and floor effects for those with higher education. METHODS: MMSE and a recent cognitive test, the seven minute screen (7MS), were serially administered to a community sample of Mexican elderly. 7MS test scores were equated to MMSE scores. MMSE-equated 7MS differences indicated ceiling or floor effects. An ordinal logistic regression model was fitted to identify predictors of such effects. RESULTS: Poorly educated persons were more prevalent on the side of MMSE ceiling effects. Concentration (serial-sevens), orientation and memory were the three MMSE subscales showing the strongest relationship to MMSE ceiling effects in the multivariate model. CONCLUSION: Even when MMSE scores are corrected for educational level they still have ceiling and floor effects. These effects should be considered when interpreting data from longitudinal studies of cognitive decline. When an education-adjusted MMSE test is used to screen for cognitive impairment, additional testing may be required to rule out the possibility of mild cognitive impairment.

A frailty index to predict the mortality risk in a population of senior Mexican adults.

BACKGROUND: Frailty in the elderly can be regarded as nonspecific vulnerability to adverse health outcomes, caused by multiple factors. The aim was to analyze the relationships between the frailty index, age and mortality in a two year follow up study of Mexican elderly. METHODS: A frailty index was developed using 34 variables. To obtain the index, the mean of the total score for each individual was obtained. Survival analyses techniques were used to examine the risk ratios for the different levels of the frailty index. Kaplan-Meier estimates were obtained, adjusted for age and gender. Cox proportional hazards models were also built to obtain hazard ratio estimates. RESULTS: A total of 4082 participants was analyzed. Participants had an average age of 73 years and 52.5% were women. On average, participants were followed-up for 710 days (standard deviation = 111 days) and 279 of them died. Mortality increased with the frailty index level, especially in those with levels between .21 to .65, reaching approximately 17% and 21%, respectively. Cox proportional hazards models showed that participants with frailty index levels associated to increased mortality (.21 and higher) represent 24.0% of those aged 65-69 years and 47.6% of those 85 and older. CONCLUSION: The frailty index shows the properties found in the other studies, it allows stratifying older Mexican into several groups different by the degree of the risk of mortality, and therefore the frailty index can be used in assessing health of elderly.

[Guideline for integrated geriatric assessment]. / Guía para la evaluación gerontológica integral.

A clinical practice guideline was developed as a response to the increasing of elderly in Mexican population due to the epidemiological transition; this instrument allows the assessment of health conditions for people from 60 years of age and older, and it can be a tool for helping family physicians and nurses in providing care for the main health problems of this group of age. The guideline for gerontologic assessment includes six principal health priorities in older people (loss of vision, difficulty to hear, falls or problems walking, nutritional disorders, memory difficulties, and sleep disorders); additionally, another four components for assessment are revised (medication use, physical functionality, quality of life, and social support). Simple recommendations for detection, diagnosis and management of these problems in primary care settings are presented.

Depressive symptoms among older adults in Mexico City.

BACKGROUND: Ageing and depression are associated with disability and have significant consequences for health systems in many other developing countries. Depression prevalence figures among the elderly are scarce in developing countries. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of depressive symptoms and their cross-sectional association with selected covariates in a community sample of Mexico City older adults affiliated to the main healthcare provider. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, multistage community survey. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 7,449 persons aged 60 years and older. MEASUREMENTS: Depression was assessed using the 30-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS); cognitive impairment, using the Mini-Mental State Examination; and health-related quality of life with the SF-36 questionnaire. MAIN RESULTS: The prevalence of significant depressive symptoms was estimated to be 21.7%, and 25.3% in those aged 80 and older. After correcting for GDS sensitivity and specificity, major depression prevalence was estimated at 13.2%. Comparisons that follow are adjusted for age, sex, education and stressful life events. The prevalence of cognitive impairment was estimated to be 18.9% in depressed elderly and 13.7% in non-depressed. SF-36 overall scores were 48.0 in depressed participants and 68.2 in non-depressed (adjusted mean difference = -20.2, 95% CI = -21.3, -19.1). Compared to non-depressed elderly, the odds of healthcare utilization were higher among those depressed, both for any health problem (aOR 1.4, 95% CI = 1.1, 1.7) and for emotional problems (aOR 2.7, 95% CI = 2.2, 3.2). CONCLUSIONS: According to GDS estimates, one of every eight Mexican older adults had major depressive symptoms. Detection and management of older patients with depression should be a high priority in developing countries.

Usefulness of two instruments in assessing depression among elderly Mexicans in population studies and for primary care.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the psychometric qualities of the CES-DR and GDS scales in the elderly and compare them to clinical psychiatric diagnoses. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The first phase consisted of home interviews for determining the psychometric qualities of the GDS and CES-DR scales. In the second phase, psychiatrists conducted diagnostic interviews. The sample consisted of 534 participants older than 60 years of age insured by the Mexican Institute of Social Security. RESULTS: First phase: Cronbach's alpha for the GDS was 0.87 and 0.86 for CES-DR. The GDS factorial analysis found eight factors that could explain 53.5% of the total variance and nine factors that explained 57.9% in the CES-DR. Second phase: Compared to the psychiatric diagnoses, CES-DR reported a sensitivity of 82% and a specificity of 49.2%; GDS reported 53.8% sensitivity and 78.9% specificity. CONCLUSIONS: CES-DR and GDS scales have high reliability and adequate validity but the CES-DR reports higher sensitivity.

The hospital appropriateness evaluation protocol in elderly patients: a technique to evaluate admission and hospital stay.

BACKGROUND: Aging of the population represents one of the main challenges for health systems because of the increase in the demand for hospital services. To be able to count on tools that allow an objective evaluation of hospital-resource use becomes indispensable for health systems. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the reliability and validity of the Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol (AEP) regarding the appropriateness of admissions and hospital stays in elderly patients. In a scenario of scarce resources, to have a valid instrument will make it possible to evaluate the process of care in our growing elderly population in a standardized way. METHODS: We carried out a retrospective study of 144 randomly chosen elderly patients admitted to the hospital with 394 even-numbered hospital-stay days. For the reliability analysis between the pair of nurses with the AEP and the pair of specialists, the details of the hospital admissions and the stay days were obtained from the clinical files. Criteria validity was conducted by pairs of physicians, including two internists, two general surgeons and two geriatricians. Only the agreements were compared with agreements of the AEP-trained nurses. Disagreements were excluded from the final analysis. RESULTS: Inter-rater (inter-reviewer) agreement of hospital admissions and days spent by the patient presented a kappa coefficient of >0.70, while these admissions and hospital-stay days was >0.70. Sensitivity and positive predictor value to detect inappropriate admissions were not calculated because no agreement existed on inappropriate admissions. Specificity and negative predictive value to detect appropriate admission was >94.0% and >98.0%. Sensitivity and positive predictor value to detect inappropriate hospital-stay days was >44.0% and >10.0%, while specificity and negative predictor value for detecting appropriate hospital-stay days was >79.0% and >88.0%. CONCLUSIONS: AEP's high-reliability and moderate-validity results with regard to clinical judgement positions it as a useful instrument for appropriate hospitalization screening in elderly patients.

[Guideline for diagnosis and treatment of urinary incontinence in elderly]. / Guía para el diagnóstico y tratamiento de la incontinencia urinaria en adultos mayores.

Urinary incontinence is a frequent geriatric syndrome, characterized by involuntary urine losses that have a negatively influence on the health, their functionality and social relationships in whom suffered it. Nevertheless, most of these patients are not diagnosed and they do not receive treatment. The objective of this clinical guideline is to provide recommendations based on the best scientific evidence available for diagnosis and treatment of the urinary incontinence in the elderly, at primary care attention. Articles of clinical relevance were selected based on clinical evidence and analyzed by two family physicians, one geriatrician, one gerontologist and two experts in methods for elaboration of clinical guidelines. To verify comprehension and clinical applicability, 4 workshops including 35 family physicians were carried out, and the corresponding adjustments were made. The clinical guideline can be a tool for physicians at primary care attention to classify urinary incontinence and to provide pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment. Additionally, the guideline presents recommendations for identification of patients who need specialized care.

COVID-19, ACE -inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers: The need to differentiate between early infection and acute lung injury / COVID-19, y IECA -inhibidores y bloqueadores de los receptores de angiotensina: la necesidad de diferenciar entre una infección temprana y una lesión pulmonar aguda

SARS-CoV-2, along with SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, forms part of the three highly pathogenic coronaviruses identified since the start of the millennium.1,2 While SARS-CoV was identified on 2003 and MERS-CoV on 2012, the initial reports of SARS-CoV-2 (the etiological agent of COVID-19) were first released at the end of December 2019.3,4 Now, after less than four months, the virus has distributed globally and has become the focus of extensive medical research, as the number of cases keeps rising.A significant part of the investigative effort has been directed to the search for an effective therapy or intervention that could stop the spread of the disease or be used to effectively treat infected patients. Likewise, potential predisposing factors to develop a more severe clinical presentation are progressively being identified. Some of the more relevant are older age and the presence of certain comorbidities, such as cerebrovascular and coronary heart disease, hypertension and diabetes.5­8 It is important to highlight that the last two are chronic conditions commonly treated with ACE-inhibitors and angiotensin II type-I receptor blockers.9­11 However, the evidence suggests that these medications can upregulate the expression of angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), the cellular receptor for both SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2.11­16 Thus, a group of researchers hypothesized that ACE2-increasing drugs could raise the risk of infection and prompt a more severe clinical course or a fatal outcome in diabetic and hypertensive patients.

Impacto de un programa de atención domiciliaria al enfermo crónico en ancianos: calidad de vida y reingresos hospitalarios / Impact of the program home care for the chronically ill for elderly: quality of life and hospital readmissions

OBJETIVO: Evaluar el impacto del programa Atención Domiciliaria al Enfermo Crónico (ADEC) comparado con la atención habitual (AH) a ancianos con dependencia funcional, derechohabientes del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS). MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: Cohorte prospectiva a tres meses a partir del egreso hospitalario en dos hospitales de la Ciudad de México. Se ingresaron 130 ancianos con dependencia funcional, 70 insertados al programa ADEC y 60 con atención habitual. Se midió impacto en reingresos hospitalarios y calidad de vida a partir de la escala Perfil de Impacto de la Enfermedad (SIP, por sus siglas en inglés). RESULTADOS: La edad promedio de los ancianos fue de 74 años (61/103) y 60 por ciento fueron mujeres. El principal diagnóstico fue enfermedad vascular cerebral (EVC) (30.77 por ciento). El grupo de ADEC mejoró la calidad de vida en la dimensión psicosocial [46.26 (±13.85) comparado con 29.45 (±16.48) vs. 47.03 (±16.47) a 42.36 (±16.35) p<0.05 en grupo habitual]. No se presentaron diferencias en los reingresos (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONES: El programa mejoró la dimensión psicosocial de calidad de vida.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of the ADEC program (acronym in Spanish) as compared with the typical care provided to disabled elderly affiliated with the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Prospective cohort at three months after discharge from two general hospitals in Mexico City. A total of 130 patients with functional dependency were studied, 70 in the ADEC program and 60 with typical care. Impact was measured using hospital readmissions and quality of life based on the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP). RESULTS: Average age was 74 (61/103) years and 60 percent were women. The main diagnosis was cerebrovascular disease (30.77 percent). The quality of life in the psychosocial dimension improved for the ADEC group (from 46.26 (±13.85) to 29.45(±16.48) as compared with 47.03 (±16.47) to 42.36 (±16.35) for those receiving typical care (p<0.05). No differences were found regarding hospital readmissions. (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: HC program improved the psychosocial dimension of quality of life.

Usefulness of two instruments in assessing depression among elderly Mexicans in population studies and for primary care / Utilidad de dos instrumentos para valorar depresión entre adultos mayores de México en estudios poblacionales y para la atención en el primer nivel de salud

OBJECTIVE: To determine the psychometric qualities of the CES-DR and GDS scales in the elderly and compare them to clinical psychiatric diagnoses. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The first phase consisted of home interviews for determining the psychometric qualities of the GDS and CES-DR scales. In the second phase, psychiatrists conducted diagnostic interviews. The sample consisted of 534 participants older than 60 years of age insured by the Mexican Institute of Social Security. RESULTS: First phase: Cronbach's alpha for the GDS was 0.87 and 0.86 for CES-DR. The GDS factorial analysis found eight factors that could explain 53.5 percent of the total variance and nine factors that explained 57.9 percent in the CES-DR. Second phase: Compared to the psychiatric diagnoses, CES-DR reported a sensitivity of 82 percent and a specificity of 49.2 percent; GDS reported 53.8 percent sensitivity and 78.9 percent specificity. CONCLUSIONS: CES-DR and GDS scales have high reliability and adequate validity but the CES-DR reports higher sensitivity.

RESUMEN OBJETIVO: Determinar las propiedades psicométricas de las escalas CES-DR y GDS para depresión en población anciana y compararlas con el diagnóstico clínico psiquiátrico. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: La primera fase consistió en entrevistas en casa para determinar las propiedades psicométricas. En la segunda fase, los psiquiatras condujeron entrevistas diagnósticas. La muestra consistió en 534 participantes de 60 años y más asegurados por el Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social. RESULTADOS: Primera fase: Alfa de Cronbach para el GDS y CES-DR fue de 0.87 y 0.86, respectivamente. El análisis factorial del GDS reportó ocho factores que explicaron 53.5 por ciento de la varianza, comparado con nueve del CESDR que explicaron 57.9 por ciento. Segunda fase: Comparado con el diagnóstico psiquiátrico, el CES-DR reportó una sensibilidad de 82 por ciento y una especificidad de 49.2 por ciento comparado con 53.8 por ciento y 78.9 por ciento, respectivamente del GDS. CONCLUSIONES: Las escalas CES-DR y GDS tienen consistencia y adecuada validez pero el CES-DR reporta más alta sensibilidad.