What obstacles to nursing home for Dependent older adults' entry? Analysis of 186 situations resulting from an Inter-Establishment Resident Orientation Commission / Quels freins à l'entrée en Établissement d'hébergement pour personnes âgées dépendantes ? Analyse de 186 situations issues d'une Commission d'orientation des résidents inter-établissement

The decision to admit an older adult with loss of autonomy to an institution is complex. There are many obstacles to the decision to be referred to an institution and it partly explain long hospital stays and inadequate health care spending. Several of these obstacles have been identified in the literature (medical complexity, psycho-behavioural disorders, social vulnerability, etc.). This work is based on an experiment that aimed at coordinating the players during an "inter-hospital consultation meeting" dedicated to the decision to admit older patients who cannot find a solution immediately. This work aim to identify the obstacles to the referral of patients to HITH services. This is a single-centre descriptive study. It analyses prospective data collected between January 2017 and the end of June 2019. The average length of hospitalisation before leaving the institution is relatively homogeneous according to the different complexity criteria defined, except for heavy dependence and obesity, where in these situations there are longer average lengths of hospitalisation. The absence of complexity criteria is not necessarily associated with a shorter hospital stay. The commission makes it possible to create synergies between players in the same gerontological basin and facilitates the admission of complex cases to hospital.

La décision d'entrée en établissement d'un sujet âgé en perte d'autonomie est complexe. Les freins à la décision d'orientation en établissement expliquent en partie des durées d'hospitalisation longues et à l'origine de dépense de santé inadéquates. Plusieurs de ces freins ont été identifiés dans la littérature (complexité médicale, troubles psycho-comportementaux, vulnérabilité sociale…). À partir d'une expérimentation qui vise la coordination des acteurs lors d'une « réunion de concertation inter-établissement ¼ dédiée à la décision d'entrée de patients âgés ne trouvant pas de solution dans l'immédiat, l'objectif de ce travail est d'identifier les freins à l'orientation des patients en Ehpad. Il s'agit d'une étude descriptive mono-centrique analysant des données prospectives recueillies entre janvier 2017 et fin juin 2019. Les durées moyennes d'hospitalisation avant le départ en institution sont relativement homogènes en fonction des différents critères de complexité définis sauf pour la dépendance lourde et l'obésité où dans ces situations il existe des durées moyennes d'hospitalisation plus longues. L'absence de critère de complexité n'est pas obligatoirement associée à un raccourcissement du séjour hospitalier. La CORIE permet de créer des synergies entre les acteurs d'un même bassin gérontologique et facilite l'entrée en établissement des cas complexes.

REview of potentially inappropriate MEDIcation pr[e]scribing in Seniors (REMEDI[e]S): French implicit and explicit criteria.

PURPOSE: To establish a consensus on both explicit and implicit criteria in order to identify potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) in French older people aged 75 years and over or 65 years and over with multimorbidity. METHODS: Fifteen experts in geriatrics, general practice, pharmacy, and clinical pharmacology were involved in a two-round Delphi survey to assess preliminary explicit and implicit criteria based on an extensive literature review and up-to-date evidence data. Experts were asked to rate their level of agreement using a 5-level Likert scale for inclusion of criteria and also for rationale and therapeutic alternatives. A consensus was considered as reached if at least 75% of the experts rated criteria as "strongly agreed" or "agreed." RESULTS: The new tool included a seven-step algorithm (implicit criteria) encompassing the three main domains that define PIP (i.e. overprescribing, underprescribing, and misprescribing) and 104 explicit criteria. Explicit criteria were divided into 6 tables related to inappropriate drug duplications (n = 7 criteria), omissions of medications and/or medication associations (n = 16), medications with an unfavourable benefit/risk ratio and/or a questionable efficacy (n = 39), medications with an unsuitable dose (n = 4) or duration (n = 6), drug-disease (n = 13), and drug-drug interactions (n = 19). CONCLUSION: The REMEDI[e]S tool (REview of potentially inappropriate MEDIcation pr[e]scribing in Seniors) is an original mixed tool, adapted to French medical practices, aimed at preventing PIP both at the individual level in clinical practice and the population level in large-scale studies. Therefore, its use could contribute to an improvement in healthcare professionals' prescribing practices and safer care in older adults.

Impact of Geriatric Hotlines on Health Care Pathways and Health Status in Patients Aged 75 Years and Older: Protocol for a French Multicenter Observational Study.

BACKGROUND: In France, emergency departments (EDs) are the fastest and most common means for general practitioners (GPs) to cope with the complex issues presented by elderly patients with multiple conditions. EDs are overburdened, and studies show that being treated in EDs can have a damaging effect on the health of elderly patients. Outpatient care or planned hospitalizations are possible solutions if appropriate geriatric medical advice is provided. In 2013, France's regional health authorities proposed creating direct telephone helplines, "geriatric hotlines," staffed by geriatric specialists to encourage interactions between GP clinics and hospitals. These hotlines are designed to improve health care pathways and the health status of the elderly. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to describe the health care pathways and health status of patients aged 75 years and older hospitalized in short-stay geriatric wards following referral from a geriatric hotline. METHODS: The study will be conducted over 24 months in seven French university hospital centers. It will include all patients aged 75 and older, living in their own homes or nursing homes, who are admitted to short-stay geriatric wards following hotline consultation. Two questionnaires will be filled out by medical staff at specific time points: (1) after conducting the telephone consultation and (2) on admitting the patient to a short-stay geriatric medical care. The primary endpoint will be mean hospitalization duration. The secondary endpoints will be intrahospital mortality rate, the characteristics of patients admitted via the hotline, and the types of questions asked and responses given via the hotline. RESULTS: The study was funded by the National School for Social Security Loire department (École Nationale Supérieure de Sécurité Sociale) and the Conference for funders of prevention of autonomy loss for the elderly of the Loire department in November 2017. Institutional review board approval was obtained in April 2018. Data collection started in May 2018; the planned end date for data collection is May 2020. Data analysis will take place in the summer of 2020, and the first results are expected to be published in late 2020. CONCLUSIONS: The results will reveal whether geriatric hotlines provide the most effective management of elderly patients, as indicated by shorter mean hospitalization durations. Shorter hospital durations could lead to a reduced risk of complications-geriatric syndromes-and the domino chain of geriatric conditions that follow. We will also describe different geriatric hotlines from different cities and compare how they function to improve the health care of the elderly and pave the way toward new advances, especially in the organization of the care path. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03959475; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03959475. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/15423.

[Socio-economic vulnerability, support and hospitalisation plan in people aged over 75]. / Vulnérabilité socio-économique, plan d'aide et hospitalisation chez les plus de 75 ans.

The return home after a period in hospital is a high-risk situation for an elderly person. Services exist to facilitate the hospital-home transition but are sometimes not used. Few studies suggest that socio-economic vulnerability is an important factor in a successful return home. One study shows that this relationship is vague and disputed. In fact, compliance with a support plan, recommended when a patient returns home, is multifactorial and does not seem to depend on the existence or otherwise of socio-economic vulnerability.

[Interest of follow-up of recommendations over a period of 6 months for elderly subjects who have been screened for frailty]. / Intérêt du suivi des préconisations sur une période de 6 mois pour des sujets âgés ayant bénéficié d'un dépistage de la fragilité.

Frailty is a partially reversible geriatric syndrome. Its prevention requires a structured screening, and is a major public health issue given the increasing life expectancy of the population. The observance of the recommendations made after a screening of the frailty patients is not well known. The objective of our research was to describe the characteristics of patients evaluated in a frailty-day-hospital and followed up recommendation adherence at 3 and 6 months. METHODS: patients aged over 65 years old with an ADL score of at least 5 out of 6, were evaluated according to the Fried score to classify patients into pre-frailty or frailty patients. According to the standardized geriatric assessment, recommendations were prescribed for each medico-social situation according to HAS recommendations. A follow-up assessment of these measures was carried out at home basis at 3 and 6 months. RESULTS: 82 patients were included, with mean age of 83.7±5.7 years. 99% were pre-frail or frail and received an average of 3.7±1.7 recommendations. At 3 months, there is an inverse correlation between number and follow-up compliance (r=-0.340, p=0.008), as well as at 6 months (r=-0.352, p=0.006). Between 3 and 6 months, there is a significant increase recommendation number followed (r=0.707, p=0.000). CONCLUSION: at 6 months, 74.3% recommendations were realized, with a significant increase of recommendation number between the 3rd and 6th month. This result is encouraging by showing the benefit of home support in recommendations follow-up.

Comparison of two hospitalization modes in geriatrics either directly via a hotline or after an emergency unit admission.

Hospitalizations via the emergency services of the elderly represent on average 41% of the stays. The family physician is aware of the deleterious effects of using emergency rooms and know that intensive use contributes to the disorganization of these services. The provision of a telephone line, enabling doctors to have direct access to a geriatrician doctor, is a new service allowing, if necessary, direct hospitalization in geriatrics but its interest is still poorly evaluated. METHODS: From June 1st, 2015, to June 1st, 2016, we compared the route of care for inpatients directly in short stays of geriatrics thanks to the hotline (group hotline) versus the route of those passed by emergencies (group EU, emergency unit). RESULTS: 520 patients were included in the study. The duration of stay was shorter during hospitalization via the hotline, 11.6 [95% CI, 10.8-12.3] days in a direct hospitalization versus 14.1 [95% CI, 13.5-14.7] days of a passage through emergencies (p <0.05). Patients who were admitted to the emergency room were more likely to be hospitalized again. Among the 170 patients re-hospitalized, an average duration before re-hospitalization of 29.5 [CI 95%, 23.6-35.4] days was observed in patients hospitalised via the hotline, while those entered by emergencies were hospitalized in 24.1 [95% CI, 20.4-27.8] days (p <0.05). CONCLUSION: This analysis suggests that the intra-hospital course of geriatric patients directly addressed in short stays of geriatrics by direct admission was shorter and more efficient than the course of an intermediate stage in the emergencies. It seems important to discuss the generalization of the hotline device for the functioning of the geriatric pathway.

Predictive performance of four frailty screening tools in community-dwelling elderly.

BACKGROUND: This study compares the performance of four frailty screening tools in predicting relevant adverse outcome (disability, institutionalization and mortality) in community-dwelling elderly. METHODS: Our study involved a secondary analysis of data from the FréLE cohort study. We focused on the following four frailty screening tools: the abbreviated Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (aCGA), the Groningen Frailty Indicator (GFI), the Vulnerable Elders Survey-13 (VES-13) and the Fried scale. We used the Barberger-Gateau scale to assess disability. For comparison, we determined the capacity of these tools to predict the occurrence of disability, institutionalization or death using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. We also determined the threshold at which an optimal balance between sensitivity and specificity was reached. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated to compare the risk of adverse outcome in the frail versus non-frail groups. RESULTS: In total, 1643 participants were included in the mortality analyses; 1224 participants were included in the analyses of the other outcomes (74.5% of the original sample). The mean age was 77.7 years, and 48.1% of the participants were women. The prevalence of frailty in this sample ranged from 15.0% (Fried) to 52.2% (VES-13). According to the Barberger-Gateau scale, 643 (52.5%) participants were fully independent; 392 (32.0%) were mildly disabled; 118 (9.6%) were moderately disabled; and 71 (5.8%) were severely disabled. The tool with the greatest sensitivity for predicting the occurrence of disability, mortality and institutionalization was VES-13, which showed sensitivities of 91.0%, 89.7% and 92.3%, respectively. The values for the area under the curve (AUC) of the four screening tools at the proposed cut-off points ranged from 0.63 to 0.75. The odds (univariate and multivariate analysis) of developing a disability were significantly greater among the elderly identified as being frail by all four tools. CONCLUSION: The multivariate analyses showed that the VES-13 may predict the occurrence of disability, mortality and institutionalization. However, the AUC analysis showed that even this tool did not have good discriminatory ability. These findings suggest that despite the high number of frailty screening tools described in the literature, there is still a need for a screening tool with high predictive performance.

Interest of a medical surgical geriatric unit in a district hospital: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Orthogeriatric units have shown through several studies their effectiveness on reducing the morbidity and mortality after hip fracture. What about other emergency surgeries at the elderly? We evaluated the results of a small medical surgical geriatric unit (UMCG) for all the not sheduled surgeries. METHODS: A retrospective sudy has been done, analyzing management of patients over 75 years after an emergency surgery, between 1st January 2013 and 15 February 2014 for the surgical unit, and between 15 February 2014 and 15 April 2014 for the UMCG. 3-month mortality, 6-month mortality and the main early complications were compared between the two groups, by a multivariated analysis fitting on the data on patient characteristics. RESULTS: 3-month mortality was significantly lower in the UMCG group (odds ratio 0.07 [95%IC: 0.004-0.48]; p=0.02), while the patients in this unit were more likely with dementia, with fall antecedent and with more comorbidity. 6-month mortality as well was lower in the UMCG group (0.10 [0.02-0.36]; p=0.001). CONCLUSION: Management of not sheduled surgeries at the elderly in specific surgical geriatric unit is associated in a statistically significant reduction of 3-month mortality and 6-month mortality.

Decision-making for gastrostomy after 70 years old: a prospective study about 26 patients.

Management of undernutrition is based on young adults analysis. However, enteral nutrition is mainly discussed in the elderly. The aim of this study was to analyse factors related to laying gastrostomy, in geriatrics. A prospective, descriptive study, was conducted in the Loire department, from 2014 to 2016, in geriatric and palliative units. All patients over 70 years who had a theorical indication of gastrostomy were included. Decision-making process was analyzed from data affecting the reflection. Patients were followed for three months. Twenty-six patients were included with an average of 81 years old. They were frailty with a low mean serum albumin (29.2 g/L), an undernutrition (85%), an extended bedridden (73%), a medical history of aspiration pneumonia (46%) and with pressure ulcers (27%). The main diagnoses were strokes (38%) and dementia (23%). After a singular decision-making, only 15% received a gastrostomy. At three months, 69.2% of patients had died. Patients over 70 years old, with a vital prognosis at short term, are not good candidates for gastrostomy. In geriatrics, decision-making for gastrostomy laying is complex because managed by contradictory recommendations. It requires a global assessment to identify risk situations. The early detection of undernutrition is the key to successful management, for patients requiring gastrostomy.

[Study of patients benefiting from a geriatric oncology assessment]. / État des lieux des patients bénéficiant d'un avis oncogériatrique.

A retrospective study carried out in 2014 focused on the 124 geriatric oncology consultations carried out at Saint-Étienne university hospital. The opinion of the geriatric oncologist was evidently incorporated into the treatment plan, with requests for early assessments. The geriatric oncologist often recommended a specific curative treatment and the majority of assessments were followed up by the oncologist. The benefit of the liaison between the oncologist and gerontologist with regard to the patient's care was clearly demonstrated.

Evaluation of the quality of medical certificates in the context of the opening of a measure of legal protection for adults over 60 years of age.

In France between 700,000 and 800,000 people will be covered by legal protection. The opening of any measure is conditioned by a detailed medical certificate. It is drawn up by a doctor registered on the list drawn up by the public prosecutor. No specific training is required. A single piece of legislation frames the content of the certificates. We therefore investigated whether the medical certificates currently produced were in compliance with the code of civil procedure. 111 medical certificates collected and anonymized by the tribunal d'instance of Saint-Étienne, from 4 January to 3 April 2016. The certificates concerned applications for the opening of legal protection for adults over 60 years of age. 57% of detailed medical certificates satisfied the requirements of article 1219 of the code of civil procedure, with no difference between requests for curatorship and guardianship. 76% of adults had cognitive impairment, 14% had a psychiatric disability, and 10% had a functional disability. 72% medical certificates proposed a guardianship measure, 21% a reinforced curatorship and 7% a simple curatorship. The circumstances justifying the opening of a measure of protection and the way of life of the adult were respectively found in 32% and 83% of the certificates. In 49% of the cases, the doctors dispensed the majority of hearing with the judge and the right to vote was retained in 10% of the adults subject to a guardianship application. The study showed a deficiency in the application of article 1219 of the code of civil procedure but also in the information that was requested. The drafting of the detailed medical certificate requires specific medical and legal knowledge. This raises the question of the training of doctors on the list of public prosecutors. Like the medical assessment carried out in the context of the assessment of bodily injury, the detailed medical certificate must become a real expertise carried out by doctors trained in this exercise.

[Identifying frailty and the importance of personalised support]. / Repérage de la fragilité et importance de l'accompagnement personnalisé.

Over recent years, many hospitals have been looking to promote optimum ageing by developing a strategy for identifying frailty in elderly people. This raises the question of prevention in the field of ageing and the capacities to change behaviour which is harmful to health at any age. Early and long-term support is essential.

[Impact of occupational therapy on the experience of carers]. / Impact d'une prise en charge ergothérapeutique sur le ressenti des aidants.

A study was carried out in 2014 and 2015 analysing the effects of occupational therapy on the carers of patients with Alzheimer's disease or related conditions. The level of "burden" felt by carers was measured before and after this therapy. The results show a real improvement in the quality of their daily life.

Protective Effect of Long-Term CPAP Therapy on Cognitive Performance in Elderly Patients with Severe OSA: The PROOF Study.

OBJECTIVE: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA) leads to a deterioration in cognitive functions, with regard to memory and executive functions. However, few studies have investigated the impact of treatment on these cognitive functions in elderly subjects. METHODS: The study was conducted in a large cohort of subjects aged 65 years or older (the PROOF cohort). Subjects were not diagnosed or treated for OSA. Subjects underwent a polygraphic recording. Cognitive performance was assessed in all OSA subjects at baseline and 10 years later, whether or not they were receiving continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. RESULTS: A group of 126 patients were analyzed. Only 26% of them were treated, with therapy initiated at the discretion of the primary care physician. Among treated subjects, self-reported compliance with therapy was good (> 6 h/night on average), and 66% of them reported an improvement in their quality of life. Patients receiving CPAP treatment had a higher apneahypopnea index (p = 0.006), a higher oxygen desaturation index (p < 0.001), and experienced more pronounced daytime repercussions (p = 0.004). These patients showed a statistically significant improvement in mental agility (similarities test; p < 0.0001) and memory performance (Grober and Buschke delayed free recall; p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: CPAP treatment is associated with the maintenance of memory performance over time.

General management of nonagenarian patients: a review of the literature.

The number of nonagenarian people in the world is steadily growing. This phenomenon will increase in future years: in 2050, world population prospects estimate 71.16 million people aged 90 years or older. The two main causes of death among people aged 85 years or more in Europe in 2003 were cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and cancers. However, the elderly are often excluded from clinical trials; they are underrepresented in clinical registries and especially nonagenarians. Care (medical, surgical, oncology) of these very elderly is currently insufficiently based on scientific recommendations. For the physician, the choice to treat or not to treat very elderly patients (for fear of side effects) is difficult. Oncology is particularly affected by this problem. Here we review these different fields of internal medicine management of nonagenarian patients with a special focus on oncology and on comprehensive geriatric assessment as a base for all care decision taking.

[Epidemiology, morbidity, mortality, cost to society and the individual, and main causes for falls]. / Épidéémiologie, morbidité, mortalité, coût pour la société et pour l'individu, principales causes de la chute.

Falls are the leading cause of accidental death among the elderly, accounting for about 12 000 deaths per year. The risk of falls increases with age: one-third of subjects over 65 years old living in the community and half of those over 85 fall at least once a year. Despite their frequency, falls should not be trivialized, as they are associated with significant morbidity and care expenditure: 10% of falls have severe traumatic consequences, and30 % of hospital admissions for traumatic injury among elderly individuals are due to falls. Even when they have no physical repercussions, falls can have psychological effects (anxiety while walking, fear of falling), and can be complicated by a psychomotor disadaptation syndrome with voluntary restriction of activities of daily living in 30% of cases. Risk factors for falls are numerous, and falls are rarely due a single, precise reason. Recurrent falls are associated with balance and gait impairment and decreased muscle strength, sometimes due to a latent pathological condition. Factors that may favor falls in the home must be taken into account through targeted prevention actions. Among institutionalized populations, the risk of falls increases with the severity of dementia, the use of certain drugs (particularly psycho tropics) and the existence of wasting, which leads to a decline in quadriceps strength. About 1.5% of all health expenditure is related to falls. The majority of these costs are due to hospitalization, fractures of the proximal femur being the most costly complication. In recent years, thanks to the prevention of both osteoporosis and falls, the annual number of hip fractures has been stable at about 79,500 cases per year, standardized hospitalization rates have declined, and the average length of stay has decreased. With the increasing number of elderly people, one priority to reduce healthcare costs is to identify and correct factors of frailty in midlife, using a preventive approach.

Use of calcium supplements, vitamin D supplements and specific osteoporosis drugs among French women aged 75-85 years: patterns of use and associated factors.

BACKGROUND: Despite the availability of effective preventive and curative medications for osteoporosis, and guidelines for its diagnosis and management, few individuals are treated for osteoporosis, even among those who have already had a fracture. OBJECTIVES: Our objective was to describe the patterns of use of medication for osteoporosis, i.e., calcium supplements, vitamin D supplements, and specific anti-osteoporotic drugs, such as bisphosphonates, in a large sample of French older women living at home, and to identify individual factors associated with use of these medications overall and in two specific clinical situations. METHODS: Cross-sectional analysis of data from 4,221 women aged 75-85 years who participated in a balance and mobility examination as part of the screening procedure for the Ossébo study, a randomized controlled trial testing the effectiveness of exercise for the prevention of fall-related injuries. Electoral rolls were used to invite women in 16 towns to participate (participation rate 10.3 %). Information collected through questionnaires included current medication use and, in particular, use of osteoporosis medications (specific osteoporosis drugs, calcium and vitamin D supplementation) in the past 6 months, and history of fracture since the age of 50, including fracture locations. Fractures were categorized in three groups: no fracture, major osteoporotic fracture (hip, humerus, wrist, pelvis, and vertebra), and other fracture. RESULTS: Nearly 48 % of the participants reported they did not take calcium or vitamin D supplements or any specific osteoporosis drugs. Of the 2,133 women who reported using osteoporosis medication, 85 % used vitamin D supplements (25 % as the sole medication against this disease), 59 % calcium supplements, and 42 % a specific anti-osteoporotic drug (75 % of them combining it with vitamin D supplementation). The use of any osteoporosis medication was significantly associated (p < 0.001) with a history of a major osteoporotic fracture, lower weight, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) bone-density measurement in the past 5 years, a cancer-screening examination in the past 5 years, and a positive attitude toward medication use in general. Living alone was associated with a lower likelihood of using a specific anti-osteoporotic drug, and a higher education level was associated with a higher likelihood of vitamin D supplementation. Of the 1,553 women who had already had a major osteoporotic fracture, one-third (34.8 %) were not taking any osteoporosis medication. In this subgroup, use of this medication was associated with the same factors as in the overall study population. In particular, neither older age nor a history of falls in the previous 12 months was associated with a higher likelihood of using osteoporosis medication. Among the 909 women who reported using a specific osteoporosis drug, vitamin D use was associated with a higher educational level and a more frequent preventive attitude. CONCLUSION: In France, as in other western countries, women aged 75 years and over are not managed according to guidelines. Further studies should address the barriers encountered in improving quality of care in osteoporosis management.

[The announcement of the diagnosis of cancer: point of view of the general practitioner]. / L'annonce du diagnostic de cancer : point de vue du médecin généraliste.

The announcement of the diagnosis of cancer is difficult for doctors and patients alike. The main objective is the study of announcement's techniques used by physicians to send their patients in cancer centers. The second objective is to analyze encountered difficulties and experience of the announcement of the diagnosis. The final objective would be to provide practical ideas for GPs for a better communication with their patients in this announcement. We have conducted a qualitative study by interviewing fifteen GPs. The fifteen semi-structured interviews have been recorded and transcribed verbatim. A first analysis has been done manually to achieve a set of nodes and then in a second time using N Vivo Software 9. Most of the GPs break the news of cancer with or without pathology. They know the basics of patient-physician communication to promote the patient's expression. Some doctors have a positive experience and claim their role in this announcement. Their negative experience is linked to representations made about the disease and generated feeling. The results of this study show a need of training for physicians in order to acquire know-how and attitude at the time of cancer announcement.

[Refusal of application to care in Alzheimer's disease and related diseases: establishment of a mobile unit hospital extra]. / Refus du recours aux soins dans la maladie d'Alzheimer et les maladies apparentées : place d'une unité mobile extra-hospitalière.

UNLABELLED: Refusal of care and support in these patients with Alzheimer's disease and related illnesses at home is a cause of accelerated loss of autonomy and increases the risk of a crisis with early institutionalization. Factors contributing to the denial of care are poorly understood and very few epidemiological data exist. MATERIALS AND METHODS: we compared age, diagnosis, level of severity of the disease, the type of behavioral, family status of 101 patients living in denial of care and support as seen by a mobile home (group UPEPc) to 136 control patients seen at the memory clinic (group CM). Patients living in denial of care appear to significantly low age [82/80.5, p<0.0001], with more advanced disease [average MMSE 18/22, p<0.0001], the presence family conflicts and behavioral disorders [delirious--hallucination, agitation--aggression, depression, apathy, p<0.05]. CONCLUSION: the profile of patients refusing home care is specific and it is important to educate GPs conditions that favor an obstacle to medicalization. The advantage of a mobile extramural to analyze risk factors for refusal of care and propose alternatives should be further investigated.

[Successful aging: how to improve its occurrence in the elderly?]. / La promotion du bien vieillir et sa représentation par la personne âgée : quels axes de prévention privilégier ?

OBJECTIVES: To assess the seniors' expectations for acceding to successful aging and the impact of preventive actions. METHOD: Descriptive study of a representative sample of healthy pensioners using a 20-item questionnaire exploring the difficulties in daily life, the options chosen to achieve successful aging and the impact of preventive actions. Self-rated health feelings and well-being were assessed by visual analogical scales. RESULTS: The questionnaire was sent to 998 subjects and 651 responses were completed. Mean age of the subjects was 72.9±1.2 years, and 60% were women. Main reported complaints concerned memory loss (20.4%) and mood swings (18.9%). Sleep (82.3%) and physical activity (81.4) were considered as priorities to accede to successful aging. Social activities were significantly more important for subjects with higher educational level than for subjects with lower educational level (p<0.0001). Women and people living alone were more interested in preventive action concerning physical and psychological well-being than men and people living in family (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: A better analysis of the complaints and needs of aging subjects should be useful to ensure successful ageing.