ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Geriatric assessment is an integral part of geriatrics and leads to various improvements in the treatment of geriatric patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Analysis of assessment data and patient characteristics in a large inpatient geriatric patient population. Evaluation of data from the Geriatrics in Bavaria Database (GiB-DAT) over 20 years as well as a cross-sectional study from 2020. Presentation of data for patients in inpatient acute geriatrics as well as continuing geriatric rehabilitation. RESULTS: The number of patient records and participating hospitals has steadily increased for both inpatient care types to 821,913 (status 31 March 2021). The Barthel index and other assessment results show differentiated values between acute geriatrics and continuing geriatric rehabilitation. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrate the differences in patient outcomes between the two types of care as well as changes in the setting over time. The constancy of the applied assessment instruments contributes to the comparability of the different hospitals; however, it is necessary to introduce new and alternative assessment instruments and to further develop inpatient geriatrics.
Subject(s)
Geriatric Assessment , Geriatrics , Aged , Cross-Sectional Studies , Humans , Inpatients , Outcome Assessment, Health CareABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The aim of this project was to obtain information about drug therapy in geriatric units. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Members of the geriatrics in Bavaria database (GiB-DAT) collected data on discharge medication and transferred them to the database. A total of 88,840 data sets of geriatric rehabilitation clinics and acute geriatric units were evaluated according to the anatomical therapeutic chemical (ATC) system. RESULTS: Patients (mean age: 81.1 years, female 67.7%) had an average of 10.4 diagnoses and took 8.0 drugs at discharge. A peak number of prescribed drugs was reached at the age of 60-70 years with a decrease in the following decades of life. Female patients received more drugs, significantly those in the decades from 71 to 80 and 81 to 90 years old. The bulk of the drugs were from the ATC groups "Cardiovascular system" (89.9%), "Nervous system" (82.3%) and "Alimentary tract and metabolism" (78%).
Subject(s)
Clinical Pharmacy Information Systems/statistics & numerical data , Databases, Factual/statistics & numerical data , Drug Prescriptions/statistics & numerical data , Health Records, Personal , Health Services for the Aged/statistics & numerical data , Patient Discharge/statistics & numerical data , Polypharmacy , Aged, 80 and over , Female , Germany/epidemiology , Humans , Male , Sex DistributionABSTRACT
The demographic shift demands more and more customized medical supplies and management structures for geriatric patients. The elderly patient with age-related functional restrictions and multi-morbidity is at special risk for an ill-adapted pharmacotherapy. In addition the frail elderly person is dependent on general-practitioner assistance. The prescription of a suitable drug and a safe and workable (galenic) application form is key to therapeutic success. Age-based intake regulations, repeated education, and intake training are crucial tasks for the general-practitioner when caring for a fast growing elderly patient population.
Subject(s)
Dosage Forms , Drug Administration Routes , Drug Administration Schedule , Drug Delivery Systems/instrumentation , Drug Delivery Systems/methods , Geriatrics/instrumentation , Geriatrics/methods , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Female , Germany , Humans , Male , Patient Compliance , Patient Education as Topic/methods , Practice Guidelines as Topic , Practice Patterns, Physicians'ABSTRACT
Geriatrics is needed as an independent discipline to cope with the demographic challenges ahead in a medically qualified manner. Geriatrics is a "supraspeciality" and not a "subspeciality" of Internal Medicine, because geriatrics typically combines the different medical disciplines and does not play a role as an independent functional area. For general practitioners and medical specialists a geriatric qualification is required. The geriatric structures in place in the German federal states need to be adapted and advanced with a focus on ambulatory geriatric service provision. The current health care reform has resulted in a strengthening of rehabilitation in general and in particular of an ambulant/mobile service approach. The resultant opportunities and risks are described. Internal and external quality assurance is indispensable for the advancement of structures including geriatrics and social medicine.
Subject(s)
Geriatrics/trends , Health Care Reform/trends , Health Services for the Aged/trends , National Health Programs/trends , Quality Assurance, Health Care/trends , Aged , Ambulatory Care/trends , Cooperative Behavior , Forecasting , Germany , Health Services Needs and Demand/trends , Humans , Patient Care Team/trends , Population Dynamics , Specialization/trendsABSTRACT
In the year 2000, a database was implemented in Bavaria, covering the majority of geriatric clinics. Benchmarking statistics are generated in quarterly periods and scientifically analyzed. Actually, 41 of the 57 geriatric clinics in Bavaria participate in the project 'Geriatrics in Bavaria-Database' (GiB-DAT). For geriatric rehabilitation, the coverage is 82.4%. In addition, all 7 geriatric day clinics participate; thus, a total of 24,000 cases are documented each year. Therefore, GiB-DAT is the largest database for geriatric rehabilitation in Germany and Europe. To make documentation more effective and easy, new software (GERIDOCTM) has been generated which is integrated in the process of daily treatment. GiB-DAT offers good data quality, especially concerning completeness of items. This manuscript describes conception and construction of GiB-DAT and identifies differences compared to the Geriatric Minimum-Dataset (GEMIDAS), a nationwide geriatric database in Germany.
Subject(s)
Databases as Topic , Geriatrics/standards , Health Services for the Aged/standards , Quality Assurance, Health Care , Rehabilitation/standards , Aged , Benchmarking , Day Care, Medical , Female , Germany , Hospitals, Special , Humans , Male , Rehabilitation Centers , SoftwareABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Presentation and comparison of basic data from geriatric rehabilitation in Bavaria with analysis of statistical influences on characteristic values like length of stay and Barthel Index. Are differences between participating clinics due to patient characteristics? SETTING: There were a total of 21 656 data records of the Geriatrics in Bavaria- Database (GiB-DAT) collected by 35 clinics within 1 year. RESULTS (PERCENTAGE OR MEAN): 70.6% female patients, age 80.0 years, 95.9% enrollment from acute care hospitals, length of stay in previous hospitals 24.3 days, length of stay in geriatric rehabilitation 24.6 days. DIAGNOSIS: 41.7% orthopedics, 24.9% neurological, 33.4% others. Barthel Index on admission 44.1 points, on discharge 65.8 points (difference 21.8 points). We found a large variance of all items between participating clinics. Variance for Barthel Index and length of stay is partly cleared up by regression analysis (multinomial logistic) and is mostly due to patient characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Basic data of Bavarian geriatric rehabilitation clinics is matching with nationwide reference statistics. Differences exist for the lower rate of stroke and direct enrollment of outpatients. A simple ranking of outcome parameters (e. g. Barthel Index) does not make sense due to multiple influencing factors.
Subject(s)
Databases as Topic , Geriatrics/standards , Rehabilitation Centers/standards , Rehabilitation/standards , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Benchmarking , Female , Geriatric Assessment , Germany , Humans , Length of Stay , Male , Middle Aged , Outcome Assessment, Health Care , Regression Analysis , Time FactorsABSTRACT
The Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), the Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) and the Nutritional Risk Screening (NRS) are screening and assessment tools aimed at detecting malnourished individuals and those at risk for malnutrition. In our study we tested their applicability in geriatric hospital patients and compared the results of the three tools. We examined prospectively all patients of two acute geriatric wards by the MNA, the SGA and the NRS. 121 patients were included in the study. The MNA could be completed in 66.1% of all patients, the SGA in 99.2% and the NRS in 98.3%. There was a significant association of all three tools with the BMI (p<0.01). With regard to serum albumin and to length of hospital stay (p<0.05), only a significant association could be shown for the MNA (p<0.05). Although the categories of the results were not completely identical for the three tools there were more patients at risk or malnourished according to the MNA (70%) than according to the SGA (45%) or the NRS (40.3%). The direct comparison of the NRS with the MNA and the SGA demonstrated significant differences, especially for the latter (p<0.001). In a relevant percentage of those tested, MNA, SGA, and NRS identify different individuals as malnourished or at risk for malnutrition. Because of its association with relevant prognostic parameters, the MNA is still the first choice for geriatric hospital patients. For those patients to whom the MNA cannot be applied, the NRS is recommended.