Implementation of advance care planning in the routine care for acutely admitted patients in geriatric units: protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Acutely ill and frail older adults and their next of kin are often poorly involved in treatment and care decisions. This may lead to either over- or undertreatment and unnecessary burdens. The aim of this project is to improve user involvement and health services for frail older adults living at home, and their relatives, by implementing advance care planning (ACP) in selected hospital wards, and to evaluate the clinical and the implementation interventions. METHODS: This is a cluster randomized trial with 12 hospital units. The intervention arm receives implementation support for 18 months; control units receive the same support afterwards. The ACP intervention consists of 1. Clinical intervention: ACP; 2. Implementation interventions: Implementation team, ACP coordinator, network meetings, training and supervision for health care personnel, documentation tools and other resources, and fidelity measurements with tailored feedback; 3. Implementation strategies: leadership commitment, whole ward approach and responsive evaluation. Fidelity will be measured three times in the intervention arm and twice in the control arm. Here, the primary outcome is the difference in fidelity changes between the arms. We will also include 420 geriatric patients with one close relative and an attending clinician in a triadic sub-study. Here, the primary outcomes are quality of communication and decision-making when approaching the end of life as perceived by patients and next of kin, and congruence between the patient's preferences for information and involvement and the clinician's perceptions of the same. For patients we will also collect clinical data and health register data. Additionally, all clinical staff in both arms will be invited to answer a questionnaire before and during the implementation period. To explore barriers and facilitators and further explore the significance of ACP, qualitative interviews will be performed in the intervention units with patients, next of kin, health care personnel and implementation teams, and with other stakeholders up to national level. Lastly, we will evaluate resource utilization, costs and health outcomes in a cost-effectiveness analysis. DISCUSSION: The project may contribute to improved implementation of ACP as well as valuable knowledge and methodological developments in the scientific fields of ACP, health service research and implementation science. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT05681585. Registered 03.01.23.

Comparing two different orthogeriatric models of care for hip fracture patients: an observational prospective cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: Patients with hip fractures are almost always operated with quite extensive surgery and are often frail with a high risk of complications, increased dependency, and death. Orthogeriatric interdisciplinary care has shown better results compared with orthopaedic care alone. The best way of delivering orthogeriatric care, however, is still largely unknown. It is believed that a high degree of integration and shared care is better than on-demand consultative services. We aimed to evaluate two different orthogeriatric models for patients with hip fracture. METHODS: A prospective hip fracture quality database was used to evaluate two coexisting models of care from 2019 to 2021 in our hospital. An 'integrated care model' (ICM) was compared with a 'geriatric consult service' (GCS). RESULTS: 516 patients were available for analysis, 360 from ICM and 156 from GCS. Mean age was 84 years. There were 370 (72%) women. American Society of Anesthesiologists class and prefracture cognitive impairment was similar between the groups. There were more patients with femoral neck fractures in the ICM group, and more patients were living independently prefracture. A logistic regression adjusting for the variables above showed that more patients in the ICM group were given a nerve block preoperatively (OR 2.0 (95% CI 1.31 to 2.97); p<0.01), had their urinary catheter removed the first day after surgery (OR 1.9 (95% CI 1.27 to 2.89); p<0.01), were mobilised to standing or seated in a chair beside the bed the first day after surgery (OR 1.5 (95% CI 1.03 to 2.30); p=0.033) and more ICM patients were considered for treatment against osteoporosis (OR 8.58 (95% CI 4.03 to 18.28); p<0.001). There were no significant differences in time to surgery, length of stay, discharge destination or mortality. CONCLUSION: The ICM group performed equally good or better on all quality indicators than the GCS.

Scope of treatment and clinical-decision making in the older patient with COVID-19 infection, a European perspective.

PURPOSE: Older patients were particularly vulnerable to severe COVID-19 disease resulting in high in-hospital mortality rates during the two first waves. The aims of this study were to better characterize the management of older people presenting with COVID-19 in European hospitals and to identify national guidelines on hospital admission and ICU admission for this population. METHODS: Online survey based on a vignette of a frail older patient with Covid-19 distributed by e-mail to all members of the European Geriatric Medicine Society. The survey contained questions regarding the treatment of the vignette patient as well as general questions regarding available services. Additionally, questions on national policies and differences between the first and second wave of the pandemic were asked. RESULTS: Survey of 282 respondents from 28 different countries was analyzed. Responses on treatment of the patient in the vignette were similar from respondents across the 28 countries. 247 respondents (87%) would admit the patient to the hospital, in most cases to a geriatric COVID-19 ward (78%). Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was found medically inappropriate by 85% of respondents, intubation and mechanical ventilation by 91% of respondents, admission to the ICU by 82%, and ExtraCorpular Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) by 93%. Sixty percent of respondents indicated they would consult with a palliative care specialist, 56% would seek the help of a spiritual counsellor. National guidelines on admission criteria of geriatric patients to the hospital existed in 22 different European countries. CONCLUSION: This pandemic has fostered the collaboration between geriatricians and palliative care specialists to improve the care for older patients with a severe disease and often an uncertain prognosis.

Association between clinical frailty, illness severity and post-discharge survival: a prospective cohort study of older medical inpatients in Norway.

PURPOSE: Study associations between frailty, illness severity and post-discharge survival in older adults admitted to medical wards with acute clinical conditions. METHODS: Prospective cohort study of 195 individuals (mean age 86; 63% females) admitted to two medical wards with acute illness, followed up for all-cause mortality for 20 months after discharge. Ward physicians screened for frailty and quantified its degree from one to eight using Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS), while clinical illness severity was estimated by New Early Warning Score 2 (NEWS2) and laboratory illness severity was calculated by a frailty index (FI-lab) using routine blood tests. RESULTS: CFS, NEWS2 and FI-lab scores were independently associated with post-discharge survival in an adjusted Cox proportional hazards model with age, ward category (acute geriatric and general medical) and comorbidity as covariates. Adjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals were 1.54 (1.24-1.91) for CFS, 1.12 (1.03-1.23) for NEWS2, and 1.02 (1.00-1.05) for FI-lab. A frailty × illness severity category interaction effect (p = 0.003), suggested that the impact of frailty on survival was greater in those experiencing higher levels of illness severity. Among patients with at least moderate frailty (CFS six to eight) and high illness severity according to both NEWS2 and FI-lab, two (13%) were alive at follow-up. CONCLUSION: Frailty screening aided prognostication of survival following discharge in older acutely ill persons admitted to medical wards. The prognostic value of frailty increased when combined with readily available illness severity markers acquired during admission.

COVID-19 in an elderly woman with acute functional decline. / Covid-19 påvist hos eldre kvinne med akutt funksjonssvikt.

A woman in her late eighties was referred to Accident and Emergency because of acute functional decline with falls and increasing confusion. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed 48 hours later. Many older people and residents of care homes are vulnerable to functional decline with acute illness. Healthcare professionals should be aware that such symptoms may be due to COVID-19.