Relation between drug therapy-based comorbidity indices, Charlson's comorbidity index, polypharmacy and mortality in three samples of older adults.

BACKGROUND: Comorbidity indexes were designed in order to measure how the disease burden of a patient is related to different clinical outcomes such as mortality, especially in older and intensively treated people. Charlson's Comorbidity Index (CCI) is the most widely used rating system, based on diagnoses, but when this information is not available therapy-based comorbidity indices (TBCI) are an alternative: among them, Drug Derived Complexity Index (DDCI), Medicines Comorbidity Index (MCI), and Chronic Disease Score (CDS) are available. AIMS: This study assessed the predictive power for 1-year mortality of these comorbidity indices and polypharmacy. METHODS: Survival analysis and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis were conducted on three Italian cohorts: 2,389 nursing home residents (Korian), 4,765 and 633 older adults admitted acutely to geriatric or internal medicine wards (REPOSI and ELICADHE). RESULTS: Cox's regression indicated that the highest levels of the CCI are associated with an increment of 1-year mortality risk as compared to null score for all the three samples. DDCI and excessive polypharmacy gave similar results but MCI and CDS were not always statistically significant. The predictive power with the ROC curve of each comorbidity index was poor and similar in all settings. CONCLUSION: On the whole, comorbidity indices did not perform well in our three settings, although the highest level of each index was associated with higher mortality.

Drug prescriptions in nursing home residents: an Italian multicenter observational study.

PURPOSE: Pharmacoepidemiological studies aimed to distinguish drug use in nursing home (NH) residents with and without dementia could be useful to target specific interventions to improve prescribing. This multicenter retrospective study aimed (i) to describe drug therapy in a large sample of NH residents according to the diagnosis of dementia, and (ii) to record the most frequent potentially severe drug-drug interactions. METHODS: This study was conducted in a sample of Italian long-term care NHs. Drug prescription information, diseases, and socio-demographic characteristics of NH residents were collected at three different times during 2018. RESULTS: The mean number of drugs was significantly higher in NH residents without dementia than in those with (p = 0.05). Antipsychotics, laxatives, benzodiazepines, antiplatelets, and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) were most commonly prescribed in patients with dementia, and PPIs, benzodiazepines, and laxatives in those without. The prevalence of patients with potentially severe drug-drug interactions was higher among those without dementia, 1216 (64.7%) and 518 (74.2%, p < 0.0001). There were significant differences between the mean numbers of drugs prescribed in individual NH after adjusting the analysis for age, sex, and mean Charlson index, the estimated mean number of drugs prescribed (± standard error) ranging from 5.1 (± 0.3) to 9.3 (± 0.3) in patients with dementia (p < 0.0001) and from 6.0 (± 0.7) to 10.9 (± 0.50) in those without dementia (p < 0.0001). Chronic use of psychotropic drugs was common in NH residents with and without dementia. CONCLUSIONS: The wide variability between NHs in drug prescriptions and potentially inappropriate prescribing suggests the need to recommend a standardized approach to medication review of psychotropic drugs, antiulcer, laxatives, and antiplatelets in this complex and vulnerable population.

[Effects of alpha-calcidiol (1 alpha-hydroxy-cholecalciferol) on the serum levels of osteocalcin in involutional osteoporosis]. / Effetti dell'alfa-calcidolo (1 alpha-idrossi-colecalciferolo) sui livelli sierici di osteocalcina nell'osteoporosi involutiva.

We have examined the effects of 1 alpha-hydroxycolecalciferol (1 alpha) (1.5 micrograms for 5 days) on serum osteocalcin (OC) and other parameters of bone and mineral metabolism in 20 osteoporotic women and 11 age-matched normal women. After 1 alpha administration, a statistically significant (p less than 0.01) increase of serum OC, calcium and phosphate and urinary calcium and hydroxyproline was observed. In contrast, alkaline phosphatase was unchanged. There was no significant difference between normal and osteoporotic women in the changes of any of the parameters we monitored. In particular, OC increased in a comparable way in both groups. Thus, by means of an index that reflects the global activity of the skeleton, we could not find any apparent defect of osteoblastic responsiveness to the drug in osteoporotic subjects.

[Clinical efficacy of treatment with salmon calcitonin, administered intranasally for 1 year, in stabilized postmenopausal osteoporosis]. / Efficacia clinica di un trattamento con calcitonina di salmone, somministrata per via endonasale per un anno, nell'osteoporosi postmenopausale stabilizzata.

Several controlled clinical studies have confirmed the rationale of calcitonin therapy in postmenopausal osteoporosis. However, administration by injection and side-effects reduced patient compliance and flexibility of dosage. Recently, evidence has been given that an intranasal spray may provide an effective alternative administration route for calcitonin. Forty women with established postmenopausal osteoporosis (at least on vertebral crush fracture) divided into three groups, entered and completed a one-year controlled study on the effects of treatment with synthetic salmon calcitonin nasal spray on bone mass and mineral metabolism. The first group (n = 20) received a daily treatment with 100 I.U. of salmon calcitonin (sCT) nasal spray; the second group (n = 10) received 100 I.U. of sCT by subcutaneous injection every second day; the control group (n = 10) received an oral calcium supplement, 1 g per day. Bone mineral content (BMC), evaluated by dual photon absorptiometry, was measured at the distal radius before and after 6 and 12 months of treatment. Every three months, throughout the year, an evaluation of some parameters of bone remodeling was made. BMC increased (p less than 0.01) in the treatment groups, whereas at the end of treatment, a decrease (p less than 0.05) was observed in the control group. Biochemical estimates of bone resorption, such as urinary hydroxyproline excretion showed a significant decrease in the calcitonin groups. No changes in markers of bone formation, serum alkaline phosphatase and osteocalcin were observed in all patients. This study demonstrates that one-year treatment with sCT nasal spray is able to increase bone mass in osteoporotic patients without important local side-effects.