Oral Health as a Risk Factor for Alzheimer Disease.

In patients with Alzheimer's disease pathophysiological changes of the brain that initiate the onset of Alzheimer's disease include accumulation of amyloid-ß plaques and phosphorylation of tau-tangles. A rather recently considered risk factor for the onset of Alzheimer's disease is poor oral health. The aim of this systematic review of the literature was to assess the potential association(s) of oral health as a risk factor for the onset of Alzheimer's disease. After a systematic search of Pubmed, Embase and Web of Science. A total of 1962 studies were assessed, of which 17 studies demonstrated possible associations between oral health diseases and Alzheimer's disease. 4 theories could be distinguished that describe the possible links between oral health and the development or onset of Alzheimer's disease; 1) role of pathogens, 2) role of inflammatory mediators, 3) role of APOE alleles and 4) role of Aß peptide. The main common denominator of all the theories is the neuroinflammation due to poor oral health. Yet, there is insufficient evidence to prove a link due to the diversity of the designs used and the quality of the study design of the included studies. Therefore, further research is needed to find causal links between oral health and neuroinflammation that possibly can lead to the onset of Alzheimer's disease with the future intention to prevent cognitive decline by better dental care.

Preferences about Future Alzheimer's Disease Treatments Elicited through an Online Survey Using the Threshold Technique.

BACKGROUND: Treatments aiming at slowing down the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) may soon become available. However, information about the risks that people are willing to accept in order to delay the progression of the disease is limited. OBJECTIVE: To determine the trade-offs that individuals are willing to make between the benefits and risks of hypothetical treatments for AD, and the extent to which these trade-offs depend on individuals' characteristics and beliefs about medicines. DESIGN: Online, cross-sectional survey study. SETTING: Population in the UK. Public link to the survey available at the websites of Alzheimer's Research UK and Join Dementia Research. PARTICIPANTS: Everyone self-reported ≥18 years old was eligible to participate. A total of 4384 people entered the survey and 3658 completed it. MEASUREMENTS: The maximum acceptable risks (MARs) of participants for moderate and severe adverse events in exchange for a 2-year delay in disease progression. The risks were expressed on ordinal scales, from <10% to ≥50%, above a pre-existing risk of 30% for moderate adverse events and 10% for severe adverse events. We obtained the population median MARs using log-normal survival models and quantified the effects of individuals' characteristics and beliefs about medicines in terms of acceleration factors. RESULTS: For the moderate adverse events, 26% of the participants had a MAR ≥50%, followed by 25% of the participants with a MAR of 10 to <20%, giving an estimated median MAR of 25.4% (95% confidence interval [CI] 24.5 to 26.3). For the severe adverse events, 43% of the participants had a MAR <10%, followed by 25% of the participants with a MAR of 10 to <20%, resulting in an estimated median MAR of 12.1% (95%CI 11.6 to 12.5). Factors that were associated with the individuals' MARs for one or both adverse events were age, gender, educational level, living alone, and beliefs about medicines. Whether or not individuals were living with memory problems or had experience as a caregiver had no effect on the MARs for any of the adverse events. CONCLUSION: Trade-offs between benefits and risks of AD treatments are heterogeneous and influenced by individuals' characteristics and beliefs about medicines. This heterogeneity should be acknowledged during the medicinal product decision-making in order to fulfil the needs of the various subpopulations.

Risk of Four Geriatric Syndromes: A Comparison of Mental Health Care and General Hospital Inpatients.

An observational, cross-sectional study is conducted to compare elevated risk scores of four geriatric syndromes (falls, malnutrition, physical impairment, delirium) in older hospitalized psychiatric patients (n=178) with patients hospitalized in a general hospital (n=687). The median age of all patients was 78 years (IQR 73.3-83.3), 53% were female. After correction for age and gender, we found significantly more often an elevated risk in the mental health care group, compared to the general hospital group of falls (Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.75; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.18-2.57), malnutrition (OR = 4.12; 95% CI 2.67-6.36) and delirium (OR = 6.45; 95% CI 4.23-9.85). The risk on physical impairment was not statistically significantly different in both groups (OR = 1.36; 95% CI .90-2.07). Older mental health care patients have a higher risk to develop geriatric syndromes compared to general hospital patients with the same age and gender, which might be explained by a higher level of frailty.

Competences of internal medicine specialists for the management of patients with multimorbidity. EFIM multimorbidity working group position paper.

Patients with multimorbidity increasingly impact healthcare systems, both in primary care and in hospitals. This is particularly true in Internal Medicine. This population associates with higher mortality rates, polypharmacy, hospital readmissions, post-discharge syndrome, anxiety, depression, accelerated age-related functional decline, and development of geriatric syndromes, amongst others. Internists and Hospitalists, in one of their roles as Generalists, are increasingly asked to attend to these patients, both in their own Departments as well as in surgical areas. The management of polypathology and multimorbidity, however, is often complex, and requires specific clinical skills and corresponding experience. In addition, patients' needs, health-care environment, and routines have changed, so emerging and re-emerging specific competences and approaches are required to offer the best coordinated, continuous, and comprehensive integrated care to these populations, to achieve optimal health outcomes and satisfaction of patients, their relatives, and staff. This position paper proposes a set of emerging and re-emerging competences for internal medicine specialists, which are needed to optimally address multimorbidity now and in the future.

Interaction between geriatric syndromes in predicting three months mortality risk.

OBJECTIVES: Capturing frailty using a quick tool has proven to be challenging. We hypothesise that this is due to the complex interactions between frailty domains. We aimed to identify these interactions and assess whether adding interactions between domains improves mortality predictability. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, we selected all patients aged 70 or older who were admitted to one Dutch hospital between April 2015 and April 2016. Patient characteristics, frailty screening (using VMS (Safety Management System), a screening tool used in Dutch hospital care), length of stay, and mortality within three months were retrospectively collected from electronic medical records. To identify predictive interactions between the frailty domains, we constructed a classification tree with mortality as the outcome using five variables: the four VMS-domains (delirium risk, fall risk, malnutrition, physical impairment) and their sum. To determine if any domain interactions were predictive for three-month mortality, we performed a multivariable logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: We included 4,478 patients. (median age: 79 years; maximum age: 101 years; 44.8% male) The highest risk for three-month mortality included patients that were physically impaired and malnourished (23% (95%-CI 19.0-27.4%)). Subgroups had comparable three-month mortality risks based on different domains: malnutrition without physical impairment (15.2% (96%-CI 12.4-18.6%)) and physical impairment and delirium risk without malnutrition (16.3% (95%-CI 13.7-19.2%)). DISCUSSION: We showed that taking interactions between domains into account improves the predictability of three-month mortality risk. Therefore, when screening for frailty, simply adding up domains with a cut-off score results in loss of valuable information.

Predictive value of selected geriatric parameters for postoperative outcomes in older patients with rectal cancer - A multicenter cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: Older patients have a higher risk for complications after rectal cancer surgery. Although screening for geriatric impairments may improve risk prediction in this group, it has not been studied previously. METHODS: We retrospectively investigated patients ≥70 years with elective surgery for non-metastatic rectal cancer between 2014 and 2018 in nine Dutch hospitals. The predictive value of six geriatric parameters in combination with standard preoperative predictors was studied for postoperative complications, delirium, and length of stay (LOS) using logistic regression analyses. The geriatric parameters included the four VMS-questionnaire items pertaining to functional impairment, fall risk, delirium risk, and malnutrition, as well as mobility problems and polypharmacy. Standard predictors included age, sex, body mass index, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA)-classification, comorbidities, tumor stage, and neoadjuvant therapy. Changes in model performance were evaluated by comparing Area Under the Curve (AUC) of the regression models with and without geriatric parameters. RESULTS: We included 575 patients (median age 75 years; 32% female). None of the geriatric parameters improved risk prediction for complications or LOS. The addition of delirium risk to the standard preoperative prediction model improved model performance for predicting postoperative delirium (AUC 0.75 vs 0.65, p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Geriatric parameters did not improve risk prediction for postoperative complications or LOS in older patients with rectal cancer. Delirium risk screening using the VMS-questionnaire improved risk prediction for delirium. Older patients undergoing rectal cancer surgery are a pre-selected group with few impairments. Geriatric screening may have additional value earlier in the care pathway before treatment decisions are made.

Outcomes of surgical treatment of non-metastatic gastric cancer in patients aged 70 and older: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

The optimal surgical treatment strategy for gastric cancer in older patients needs to be carefully evaluated due to increased vulnerability of older patients. We performed a database search for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies that included patients ≥70 years with potentially resectable stage I-III gastric cancer. Postoperative and survival outcomes were compared between groups undergoing 1) gastrectomy vs conservative treatment (best supportive care or non-operative treatment), 2) minimally invasive (MIG) vs open gastrectomy (OG), or 3) extended vs limited lymphadenectomy. When possible, results were pooled using risk ratios (RR). Thirty-one studies were included. Six retrospective studies compared overall survival (OS) between gastrectomy (N = 2332) and conservative treatment (N = 246). Longer OS was reported in the gastrectomy group in all studies, but study quality was low and meta-analysis was not feasible. Eighteen cohort studies compared MIG (N = 3626) and OG (N = 5193). MIG was associated with fewer complications (pooled RR 0.68, 95% confidence interval 0.54-0.84). OS was not different between the groups. Two RCTs and five cohort studies compared outcomes between extended (N = 709) and limited lymphadenectomy (N = 1323). Complication rates were comparable between the groups. Two cohort studies found longer OS or cancer-specific survival after extended lymphadenectomy. No quality of life (QoL) or functional outcomes were reported. In older patients with gastric cancer, there is low-quality evidence for better OS after gastrectomy vs conservative treatment. Compared to OG, MIG was associated with less postoperative morbidity. The evidence to support extended lymphadenectomy is limited. QoL and functional outcomes should be addressed in future studies.

Preoperative physical performance as predictor of postoperative outcomes in patients aged 65 and older scheduled for major abdominal cancer surgery: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Abdominal cancer surgery is associated with considerable morbidity in older patients. Assessment of preoperative physical status is therefore essential. The aim of this review was to describe and compare the objective physical tests that are currently used in abdominal cancer surgery in the older patient population with regard to postoperative outcomes. METHODS: Medline, Embase, CINAHL and Web of Science were searched until 31 December 2020. Non-interventional cohort studies were eligible if they included patients ≥65 years undergoing abdominal cancer surgery, reported results on objective preoperative physical assessment such as Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (CPET), field walk tests or muscle strength, and on postoperative outcomes. RESULTS: 23 publications were included (10 CPET, 13 non-CPET including Timed Up & Go, grip strength, 6-minute walking test (6MWT) and incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT)). Meta-analysis was precluded due to heterogeneity between study cohorts, different cut-off points, and inconsistent reporting of outcomes. In CPET studies, ventilatory anaerobic threshold and minute ventilation/carbon dioxide production gradient were associated with adverse outcomes. ISWT and 6MWT predicted outcomes in two studies. Tests addressing muscle strength and function were of limited value. No study compared different physical tests. DISCUSSION: CPET has the ability to predict adverse postoperative outcomes, but it is time-consuming and requires expert assessment. ISWT or 6MWT might be a feasible alternative to estimate aerobic capacity. Muscle strength and function tests currently have limited value in risk prediction. Future research should compare the predictive value of different physical instruments with regard to postoperative outcomes in older surgical patients.

Excess mortality in depressive and anxiety disorders: The Lifelines Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: To examine the mortality risk of current and life-time depressive as well as anxiety disorders, whether this risk is moderated by sex or age, and whether this risk can be explained by lifestyle and/or somatic health status. METHODS: A cohort study (Lifelines) including 141,377 participants (18-93 years) which were followed-up regarding mortality for 8.6 years (range 3.0-13.7). Baseline depressive and anxiety disorders according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition criteria were assessed with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview and lifetime diagnoses by self-report. All-cause mortality was retrieved from Statistics Netherlands. Cox-regression was applied to calculate proportional hazard ratios, adjusted for lifestyle (physical activity, alcohol use, smoking, and body mass index) and somatic health status (multimorbidity and frailty) in different models. RESULTS: The mortality rate of depressive and anxiety disorders was conditional upon age but not on sex. Only in people below 60 years, current depressive and anxiety disorders were associated with mortality. Only depressive disorder and panic disorder independently predicted mortality when all mental disorders were included simultaneously in one overall model (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.18 [95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.56-3.05], p < 0.001 and HR = 2.39 [95% CI: 1.15-4.98], p = 0.020). Life-time depressive and anxiety disorders, however, were independent of each other associated with mortality. Associations hardly changed when adjusted for lifestyle characteristics but decreased substantially when adjusted for somatic health status (in particular physical frailty). CONCLUSIONS: In particular, depressive disorder is associated with excess mortality in people below 60 years, independent of their lifestyle. This effect seems partly explained by multimorbidity and frailty, which suggest that chronic disease management of depression-associated somatic morbidity needs to be (further) improved.

Rationale and design of the OPTIMIZE trial: OPen label multicenter randomized trial comparing standard IMmunosuppression with tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil with a low exposure tacrolimus regimen In combination with everolimus in de novo renal transplantation in Elderly patients.

BACKGROUND: In 2019, more than 30 % of all newly transplanted kidney transplant recipients in The Netherlands were above 65 years of age. Elderly patients are less prone to rejection, and death censored graft loss is less frequent compared to younger recipients. Elderly recipients do have increased rates of malignancy and infection-related mortality. Poor kidney transplant function in elderly recipients may be related to both pre-existing (i.e. donor-derived) kidney damage and increased susceptibility to nephrotoxicity of calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs) in kidneys from older donors. Hence, it is pivotal to shift the focus from prevention of rejection to preservation of graft function and prevention of over-immunosuppression in the elderly. The OPTIMIZE study will test the hypothesis that reduced CNI exposure in combination with everolimus will lead to better kidney transplant function, a reduced incidence of complications and improved health-related quality of life for kidney transplant recipients aged 65 years and older, compared to standard immunosuppression. METHODS: This open label, randomized, multicenter clinical trial will include 374 elderly kidney transplant recipients (≥ 65 years) and consists of two strata. Stratum A includes elderly recipients of a kidney from an elderly deceased donor and stratum B includes elderly recipients of a kidney from a living donor or from a deceased donor < 65 years. In each stratum, subjects will be randomized to a standard, tacrolimus-based immunosuppressive regimen with mycophenolate mofetil and glucocorticoids or an adapted immunosuppressive regimen with reduced CNI exposure in combination with everolimus and glucocorticoids. The primary endpoint is 'successful transplantation', defined as survival with a functioning graft and an eGFR ≥ 30 ml/min per 1.73 m2 in stratum A and ≥ 45 ml/min per 1.73 m2 in stratum B, after 2 years, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The OPTIMIZE study will help to determine the optimal immunosuppressive regimen after kidney transplantation for elderly patients and the cost-effectiveness of this regimen. It will also provide deeper insight into immunosenescence and both subjective and objective outcomes after kidney transplantation in elderly recipients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03797196 , registered January 9th, 2019. EudraCT: 2018-003194-10, registered March 19th, 2019.

Multidisciplinary decision-making in older patients with cancer, does it differ from younger patients?

BACKGROUND: In order to tailor treatment to the individual patient, it is important to take the patients context and preferences into account, especially for older patients. We assessed the quality of information used in the decision-making process in different oncological MDTs and compared this for older (≥70 years) and younger patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional observations of oncological MDTs were performed, using an observation tool in a University Hospital. Primary outcome measures were quality of input of information into the discussion for older and younger patients. Secondary outcomes were the contribution of different team members, discussion time for each case and whether or not a treatment decision was formulated. RESULTS: Five-hundred and three cases were observed. The median patient age was 63 year, 32% were ≥70. In both age groups quality of patient-centered information (psychosocial information and patient's view) was poor. There was no difference in quality of information between older and younger patients, only for comorbidities the quality of information for older patients was better. There was no significant difference in the contributions by team members, discussion time (median 3.54 min) or number of decision reached (87.5%). CONCLUSION: For both age groups, we observed a lack of patient-centered information. The only difference between the age groups was for information on comorbidities. There were also no differences in contributions by different team members, case discussion time or number of decisions. Decision-making in the observed oncological MDTs was mostly based on medical technical information.

Course of frailty stratified by physical and mental multimorbidity patterns: a 5-year follow-up of 92,640 participants of the LifeLines cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The frailty index (FI) is a well-recognized measurement for risk stratification in older people. Among middle-aged and older people, we examined the prospective association between the FI and mortality as well as its course over time in relation to multimorbidity and specific disease clusters. METHODS: A frailty index (FI) was constructed based on either 64 (baseline only) or 35 health deficits (baseline and follow-up) among people aged ≥ 40 years who participated in LifeLines, a prospective population-based cohort living in the Northern Netherlands. Among 92,640 participants, multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were fitted to study the hazard ratio (HR) of the FI at baseline, as well as for 10 chronic disease clusters for all-cause mortality over a 10-year follow-up. Among 55,426 participants, linear regression analyses were applied to study the impact of multimorbidity and of specific chronic disease clusters (independent variables) on the change of frailty over a 5-year follow-up, adjusted for demographic and lifestyle characteristics. RESULTS: The FI predicted mortality independent of multimorbidity and specific disease clusters, with the highest impact in people with either endocrine, lung, or heart diseases. Adjusted for demographic and lifestyle characteristics, all chronic disease clusters remained independently associated with an accelerated increase of frailty over time. CONCLUSIONS: Frailty may be seen as a final common pathway for premature death due to chronic diseases. Our results suggest that initiating frailty prevention at middle age, when the first chronic diseases emerge, might be relevant from a public health perspective.

Recognition of cognitive impairment and depressive symptoms in older patients with heart failure.

INTRODUCTION: Cognitive impairment and depression in patients with heart failure (HF) are common comorbidities and are associated with increased morbidity, readmissions and mortality. Timely recognition of cognitive impairment and depression is important for providing optimal care. The aim of our study was to determine if these disorders were recognised by clinicians and, secondly, if they were associated with hospital admissions and mortality within 6 months' follow-up. METHODS: Patients (aged ≥65 years) diagnosed with HF were included from the cardiology outpatient clinic of Gelre Hospitals. Cognitive status was evaluated with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment test (score ≤22). Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Geriatric Depression Scale (score >5). Patient characteristics were collected from electronic patient files. The clinician was blinded to the tests and asked to assess cognitive status and mood. RESULTS: We included 157 patients. Their median age was 79 years (65-92); 98 (62%) were male. The majority had New York Heart Association functional class II. Cognitive impairment was present in 56 (36%) patients. Depressive symptoms were present in 21 (13%) patients. In 27 of 56 patients (48%) cognitive impairment was not recognised by clinicians. Depressive symptoms were not recognised in 11 of 21 patients (52%). During 6 months' follow-up 24 (15%) patients were readmitted for HF-related reasons and 18 (11%) patients died. There was no difference in readmission and mortality rate between patients with or without cognitive impairment and patients with or without depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: Cognitive impairment and depressive symptoms were infrequently recognised during outpatient clinic visits.

[Delirium in the elderly; article for education and training purposes]. / Delier bij ouderen.

In delirium, there is an acute change of consciousness with fluctuations in attention, cognition and perception. Delirium can be provoked by medical conditions, or the use or withdrawal of drugs. Risk factors include older age and cognitive impairment. Delirium is associated with many complications, represents a significant emotional burden for the patient and caretakers, increases length of stay in the hospital, and causes higher health care costs. Non-pharmacological measurements can sometimes prevent delirium, and are essential for its treatment with proven effectiveness. Antipsychotics should be administered only as an exception, not as a rule. Antipsychotics may be of use when the patient puts himself or others in danger, or when he suffers substantially from hallucinations.

Does the Dutch Safety Management Program predict adverse outcomes for older patients in the emergency department?

PURPOSE: Frailty screening in the emergency department may identify frail patients at risk for adverse outcomes. This study investigated if the Dutch Safety Management Program (VMS) screener predicts outcomes in older patients in the emergency department. METHODS: In this prospective cohort study, patients aged 70 years or older presenting to the emergency department were recruited on workdays between 10:00 AM and 7:00 PM from May 2017 until August 2017. Patients were screened in four domains: activities of daily living, malnutrition, risk of delirium, and risk of falling. After 90 days of follow up, mortality, functional decline, living situation, falls, readmission to the emergency department, and readmission to the hospital were recorded. VMS was studied using the total VMS score as a predictor with ROC curve analysis, and using a cut-off point to divide patients into frail and non-frail groups to calculate positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV). RESULTS: A total of 249 patients were included. Higher VMS score was associated with 90-day mortality (AUC 0.65, 95% CI 0.54-0.76) and falling (AUC 0.67, 95% CI 0.56-0.78). VMS frailty predicted mortality (PPV 0.15, NPV 0.94, p = 0.05) and falling (PPV 0.22, NPV 0.92, p = 0.02), but none of the other outcomes. CONCLUSION: In this selected group of patients, higher VMS score was associated with 90-day mortality and falls. The low positive predictive value shows that the VMS screener is unsuitable for identifying high-risk patients in the ED. The high negative predictive value indicates that the screener can identify patients not at risk for adverse medical outcomes. This could be useful to determine which patients should undergo additional screening.

Multiple chronic conditions: the need for integrated secondary care.

Current hospital-level care is "mostly disease-specific and monodisciplinary-oriented". These three case reports show different journeys that patients with multiple chronic conditions experienced in Dutch secondary outpatient care, and aim to demonstrate why an integrated care approach might be beneficial for this group of patients.

Secondary care experiences of patients with multiple chronic conditions.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate patients' experiences, beliefs and understandings of the current secondary care of patients with multiple chronic conditions (MCC) in the Netherlands. METHODS: A qualitative, interpretative description design was used. We conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews with patients with MCC, who visited at least two physicians in Gelre Hospitals for at least two appointments in the previous year. After eight interviews data saturation was achieved. RESULTS: Being a patient with MCC in the hospital can be complex and keeping an overview required effort, according to the participants. Most participants would appreciate more coordination and communication. However, the exact needs seemed to differ. The multiple visits transformed them into experienced patients: based on their experiences and observations they developed strategies to sustain themselves in the hospital. Different types of communication (an important, overarching theme) evoked specific feelings and expectations that were important for the patients' care experiences as well. CONCLUSION: An overview of patient care seems an essential element for a more coordinated, individualised approach to care. Future research might focus on ways to engage both healthcare professionals and patients in the improvement of care. It could aim to find ways to create an overview and coordination, and define responsibilities, but also to clarify which groups of patients need assistance. It might also investigate the effect of good and clear communication on reducing obstacles that patients perceive when dealing with healthcare situations. Overall, also in the future, patients' care experiences could play an important role in determining the direction of new interventions.

Study protocol: a randomised controlled trial on the clinical effects of levothyroxine treatment for subclinical hypothyroidism in people aged 80 years and over.

BACKGROUND: Subclinical hypothyroidism is common in older people and its contribution to health and disease needs to be elucidated further. Observational and clinical trial data on the clinical effects of subclinical hypothyroidism in persons aged 80 years and over is inconclusive, with some studies suggesting harm and some suggesting benefits, translating into equipoise whether levothyroxine therapy provides clinical benefits. This manuscript describes the study protocol for the Institute for Evidence-Based Medicine in Old Age (IEMO) 80-plus thyroid trial to generate the necessary evidence base. METHODS: The IEMO 80-plus thyroid trial was explicitly designed as an ancillary experiment to the Thyroid hormone Replacement for Untreated older adults with Subclinical hypothyroidism randomised placebo controlled Trial (TRUST) with a near identical protocol and shared research infrastructure. Outcomes will be presented separately for the IEMO and TRUST 80-plus groups, as well as a pre-planned combined analysis of the 145 participants included in the IEMO trial and the 146 participants from the TRUST thyroid trial aged 80 years and over. The IEMO 80-plus thyroid trial is a multi-centre randomised double-blind placebo-controlled parallel group trial of levothyroxine treatment in community-dwelling participants aged 80 years and over with persistent subclinical hypothyroidism (TSH ≥4.6 and ≤ 19.9 mU/L and fT4 within laboratory reference ranges). Participants are randomised to levothyroxine 25 or 50 micrograms daily or matching placebo with dose titrations according to TSH levels, for a minimum follow-up of one and a maximum of three years. Primary study endpoints: hypothyroid physical symptoms and tiredness on the thyroid-related quality of life patient-reported outcome (ThyPRO) at one year. Secondary endpoints: generic quality of life, executive cognitive function, handgrip strength, functional ability, blood pressure, weight, body mass index, and mortality. Adverse events will be recorded with specific interest on cardiovascular endpoints such as atrial fibrillation and heart failure. DISCUSSION: The combined analysis of participants in the IEMO 80-plus thyroid trial with the participants aged over 80 in the TRUST trial will provide the largest experimental evidence base on multimodal effects of levothyroxine treatment in 80-plus persons to date. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Nederlands (Dutch) Trial Register: NTR3851 (12-02-2013), EudraCT: 2012-004160-22 (17-02-2013), ABR-41259.058.13 (12-02-2013).

Evaluation and reporting of quality of life outcomes in phase III chemotherapy trials for poor prognosis malignancies.

BACKGROUND: Quality of life (QoL) should be included in trials where treatment is expected to have a limited impact on long-term survival. We set out to determine whether phase III chemotherapy trials addressing solid malignancies with a poor prognosis include QoL as a study objective and to assess the extent to which these data have been published. METHODS: We performed a search of the National Institutes of Health clinical trial registry website to identify phase III chemotherapy trials for poor prognosis solid malignancies. The retrieved protocols were subsequently reviewed, to assess whether QoL was included as an outcome measure. Subsequently, a Medline, Embase and world-wide-web search was performed to identify any full text publication or conference abstract regarding the outcome of trials including QoL, which were then reviewed to determine whether and to what extend quality of life results were included. RESULTS: For the 201 included studies, we found that 57 % of trials did not include QoL as a study objective. Of the remaining trials, 50 % have not reported the QoL results in a full text publication, or presented these only as a single sentence statement. CONCLUSION: Evaluation and publication of QoL results of phase III chemotherapy trials for poor prognosis solid malignancies remains limited. This must be improved in order to provide patients suffering from these malignancies with adequate information regarding the benefits and risks of the treatment in terms of both prolongation and quality of life.