ADMA and NT pro-BNP are associated with overall mortality in elderly.

BACKGROUND: Increased asymmetrical dimethylarginine (ADMA) and NT pro-BNP concentrations have been associated with mortality in patients with cardiovascular (CV) disease and the general population. The use of these prognostic markers in an older population is not established yet. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prognostic value of age, sex, BMI, co-medication and CV laboratory risk markers in geriatric care patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this prospective observational single-centre cohort study data of long-term geriatric care patients were collected. Blood samples were collected between 14.09.2009 and 16.12.2009, and mortality was recorded up to 90 months. ADMA, its symmetric isomer SDMA, L-arginine, NT pro-BNP and CRP were determined at study entry. Simple associations of risk factors for survival period were explored by Spearman correlation coefficient. Significant univariate predictors for survival period were used in the Cox proportional hazard model. RESULTS: A total of 481 patients were screened, and data from 449 patients were analysed. A total of 381 patients died during the observation period. Full data sets from 344 patients were used for Cox regression analysis. Male sex, older age, lower BMI, use of neuroleptic medicine, peripheral artery disease, and elevated plasma concentrations of ADMA, NT pro-BNP, and CRP were significant predictors of mortality. CONCLUSION: The concentration of ADMA and NT pro-BNP may be used as an early risk marker for overall mortality in geriatric care. Neuroleptic medicine is associated with increased mortality in this population.

Effects of an enhanced iron dense foods offering in the daily meals served in geriatric institutions on measures of iron deficiency anemia.

BACKGROUND: Iron deficiency is one of the most common causes of anemia in geriatric patients. Although the oral iron intake is often inadequate, the potential of iron dense foods in the daily meals of geriatric institutions is rarely considered. To test during a 1- year span whether an improved frequency of iron dense foods in the daily meals has an impact on the oral iron intake, the hemoglobin concentration and anemia prevalence of institutionalized geriatric patients. A parallel, open, pre-and post-oral nutrition intervention study. Two geriatric hospitals participated as intervention centers and one as comparison center. METHODS: In the two intervention centers, a menu plan adapted with iron dense foods was applied. In the comparison center the regular meals provisions was continued. At months 1, 6 and 12 of the intervention time the routine blood-parameter hemoglobin was taken from the geriatric hospital's medical report. Component analysis assessed the nutrient density of the offered meals. 2-day-weighing records realized at month 1 and 6 of intervention-time assessed the iron intake. Ninety-nine geriatric patients in the intervention centers and 37 in the comparison center. All of them had multiple chronic diseases and an average age of 84 years. With the non-parametric Friedmann-Test for repeated measurements, we establish differences within the groups. With the Mann-Whitney-U-Test, we establish differences between the groups. For dichotomous variables, the chi-square-test was used. A p-value of< 0.05 was considered statistically significant for all analyses. RESULTS: In the intervention centers the iron intake (p < 0.001) and the hemoglobin concentration (p = 0.002) improved significantly (p < 0.001). As in the comparison center the frequency of meat and sausage offerings was twice as much as recommended also the hemoglobin concentration improved (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Geriatric patients with anemia or low hemoglobin level benefit optimally from a diet rich in iron dense foods. Enhanced access to such can indeed correct iron deficiency anemia. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The ethics committee of the Municipality of Vienna ( EK-13-043-0513 ) approved the study.

Prevalence and incidence of venous thromboembolism in geriatric patients admitted to long-term care hospitals.

The risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) increases with age. However, the risk of VTE in the setting of long-term care hospitals is understudied. Our objective was to provide data on the prevalence and incidence of VTE in older adults admitted to long-term care hospitals. In this retrospective cohort study, we collected data about chronically ill and multimorbid patients aged 65 years and older from two long-term care hospitals. The primary endpoint of this study was the lifetime prevalence of VTE, and the secondary endpoint was VTE incidence during residency in long-term care hospitals. We analysed data from 1148 patients with a mean age of 84.1 ± 7.9 years, of whom 74.2% were women. The lifetime prevalence of VTE at baseline was 9.6% (95% CI 7.9-11.4). Cumulative incidence of VTE at 1, 2, and 3 years from baseline was estimated at 3.5% (95% CI 2.5-4.7), 4.2% (95% CI 3.1-5.5), and 5.4% (95% CI 4.1-7.0), respectively. Overall, the incidence rate of VTE in our study was 2.82 (95% CI 2.18-3.66) per 100 person-years. The study indicated a considerably high lifetime prevalence and incidence of VTE during residence in long-term care hospital settings, requiring further evaluation in larger prospective studies.

The Urgent Need for Nutritional Medical Care in Geriatric Patients-Malnutrition in Nursing Homes.

Patients aged 65 and over who are accommodated in hospitals and nursing homes are at high risk of malnutrition and often show signs of it. The future relevance of this problem becomes clear, especially in view of the demographic development of the coming years and decades. In this study, the correlation between malnutrition, hypoalbuminemia, anemia, elevated CRP, and low transferrin levels, as well as mortality in seniors between 65 and 100 years, should be revealed. Therefore, the prevalence of disease-specific malnutrition (DRM), according to the criteria of the guidelines of the German Society of Nutritional Medicine (DGEM), and the prevalence of hypoalbuminemia were presented based on the data of 120 residents who were inpatients in a large Viennese nursing home between 01/2017 and 08/2020. Moreover, 86 of the inpatient residents were women and 34 were men, with a mean age of 84 years (SD: 8.7). In this examination, more than one-third of nursing home residents were malnourished. More than half of the residents were found to have low serum albumin or low transferrin saturation. However, no correlation between elevated CRP, low transferrin, or low serum albumin values and malnutrition could be established. Residents with low serum albumin or low transferrin levels, however, had a higher mortality rate. This study supports the urgent relevance of closer and individually personalized medical nutritional interventions, especially concerning hypoalbuminemic seniors aged 65 years and older.

Epidemiology, risk profile, management, and outcome in geriatric patients with atrial fibrillation in two long-term care hospitals.

Aim of this study was investigate the prevalence and incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) and to describe the clinical characteristics, risk profiles, and types of anticoagulant therapy for stroke prevention and the clinical outcomes in persons admitted to a long-term care hospital. We conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from the electronic medical records of patients aged 65 years or older living in two long-term care hospitals between January 1, 2014 and October 31, 2017. Overall data from 1148 patients (mean age 84.1 ± 7.9 years, 74.2% women) were analyzed. At baseline, the median CHA2DS2-VASc score was 4 (IQR 3-5) and the HAS-BLED score 2 (IQR 2-3). We observed patients over a median period of 3.7 years. The point prevalence of AF was 29.6% (95% CI 25.8-33.7) on January 1, 2014. The 1-year cumulative incidence of de novo AF was 4.0% (2.8-5.6). Oral anticoagulants were prescribed in 48% of patients with AF. The cumulative incidence at 1 year for a composite outcome of TIA, stroke, or systemic arterial embolism was 0.6% (0.1-3.1) and 1.7% (0.5-4.6) and for bleeding 2.6% (0.9-6.2) and 1.8% (0.5-4.8) in patients with AF and oral anticoagulants or no oral anticoagulants, respectively. In long-term care hospital patients, we observed a high burden of AF. However, only about half of patients with AF received oral anticoagulation for stroke prevention.

Treatment decisions in end-stage COPD: who decides how? A cross-sectional survey of different medical specialties.

INTRODUCTION: End-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with acute respiratory failure are often treated by representatives from different medical specialties. This study investigates if the choice of treatment is influenced by the medical specialty. METHODS: An online cross-sectional survey among four Austrian medical societies was performed, accompanied by a case vignette of a geriatric end-stage COPD patient with acute respiratory failure. Respondents had to choose between noninvasive ventilation (NIV), a conservative treatment attempt (without NIV) and a palliative approach. Ethical considerations and their impact on decision making were also assessed. RESULTS: Responses of 162 physicians (67 from intensive care units (ICUs), 51 from pulmonology or internal departments and 44 from geriatric or palliative care) were included. The decision for NIV (instead of a conservative or palliative approach) was associated with working in an ICU (OR 14.9, 95% CI 1.87-118.8) and in a pulmonology or internal department (OR 9.4, 95% CI 1.14-78.42) compared with working in geriatric or palliative care (Model 1). The decision for palliative care was negatively associated with working in a pulmonology or internal department (OR 0.16, 95% CI 0.05-0.47) and (nonsignificantly) in an ICU (OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.15-1.12) (Model 2). CONCLUSIONS: Department association was shown to be an independent predictor for treatment decisions in end-stage COPD with acute respiratory failure. Further research on these differences and influential factors is necessary.

Definition of efficiency in vacuum therapy--a randomised controlled trial comparing with V.A.C. Therapy.

Redon drains are still used to suction wounds for vacuum sealing. Vacuum-assisted closure (V.A.C.((R)); Kinetic Concepts Inc, San Antonio, TX) is a computer-controlled therapy system for delivering topical negative pressure therapy. The efficiency of V.A.C. in the treatment of pressure ulcers was prospectively studied in a randomised controlled trial in which patients with pressure ulcers were randomly assigned to negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) using either V.A.C. or Redon bottles. The target parameters were absolute and relative proportion of wound area consists of granulation tissue, fibrin and necrosis. Other outcome measures were the number of dressing changes and time invested using each system. The study was terminated after a post hoc analysis after inclusion of ten patients because of the significantly better results when using V.A.C., and the substantially larger care effort needed in the Redon group compared with the V.A.C. group. An increase in surface granulation tissue of 54% was observed in the V.A.C. group, and a reduction in the Redon group (P = 0.001). The Redon group showed an increase in fibrin tissue at the wound base of 21.8%, whereas in the V.A.C group, a 27% reduction was observed (P = 0.035). Necrosis was reduced in the V.A.C. group, but this difference did not reach significance. Redon bottles are not a good alternative for V.A.C. therapy for delivering NPWT.

Optimizing medical care for geriatric patients in Austria: defining a top five list of "Choosing Wisely" recommendations using the Delphi technique.

PURPOSE: Inappropriate use of diagnostic and therapeutic medical procedures is common and potentially harmful for older patients. The Austrian Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology defined a consensus of five recommendations to avoid overuse of medical interventions and to improve care of geriatric patients. METHODS: From an initial pool of 147 reliable recommendations, 20 were chosen by a structured selection process for inclusion in a Delphi process to define a list of five top recommendations for geriatric medicine. 12 experts in the field of geriatric medicine scored the recommendations in two Delphi rounds. RESULTS: The final five recommendations are concerning urinary catheters in elderly patients, percutaneous feeding tubes in patients with advanced dementia, antipsychotics as the first choice to treat behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, and screening for breast, colorectal, prostate, or lung cancer, and the use of antimicrobials to treat asymptomatic bacteriuria. CONCLUSIONS: The selected recommendations have the potential to improve medical care for older patients, to reduce side effects caused by unnecessary medical procedures, and to save costs in the health care system.

The energy intake through regular nontherapeutic meals provision in long-term care: impact on nutritional status and related Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index.

To investigate how the energy intake of institutionalized long-term-care patients through the regular nontherapeutic meals provision is associated with the nutritional status and the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI). A 9 month longitudinal, observational study. Long-term-care Hospital. 66 long-term-care patients with multiple medical conditions and solely oral food-intake. 47 (71 %) patients, predominantly women (n = 39/47), with a mean age of 83.04 (±9.58) years completed study time and 19 (29 %) deceased. At week 1 and week 36 of observation time energy intake was measured by means of three-days-weighing-records. Body composition was assessed with bioelectrical impedance analysis. Serum albumin, body weight and body height were taken from the medical report. Albumin content, body weight and height were used to calculate the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index: GNRI = [1.489 × albumin (g/L)] + [41.7 × (weight/ideal body weight)]. Energy intake was significantly below 24 kcal/kg body weight per day. The GNRI of the deceased patients was significantly (p = 0.002) lower than the GNRI of the completers. During observation time energy-intake p < 0.001, body fat (p = 0.001) and phase angle (PA) of bio impedance measurement (p = 0.018) and likewise the GNRI (p = 0.021) of the completers decreased significantly. At the beginning and at the end of observation time energy intake correlated significantly with PA (p = 0.028/p < 0.001) and GNRI (p = 0.436/p = 0.004). Also GNRI and PA correlated significantly at the beginning (p = 0.001) and at the end (p < 0.001) of observation time. The energy intake through non therapeutic meals provision was too low for sustaining the nutritional status and likewise the GNRI. The malnourishment and the nutrition related clinical risk of the geriatric patients aggrevated during observation time.

[Cost reduction with project based prescription of generic ACE inhibitors]. / Kostenreduktion durch projektgestützte Verschreibung von ACE-Hemmer Generika.

BACKGROUND: Increasing drug costs are an economic burden for the health insurance system. AIM: The regional drug prescription pattern for ACE inhibitors in the Austrian county Burgenland was compared for patients discharged from hospital and those in primary care. Furthermore, the potential cost reduction by voluntary prescription of cheaper generic drugs was estimated in the project "Bessere Therapie zum besseren Preis". METHODS: Following consensual analysis of the regional cross-sectional study, a cheaper generic of the most cost-intensive class of ACE-inhibitor drugs should be prescribed at internal medicine wards and in primary care. The number of prescriptions for patients from the largest health insurance company BGKK was studied and the costs were calculated. RESULTS: Of the 1347 patients discharged during October 1999 from internal medicine departments of four different hospitals 879 patients received a total of 1440 cardiovascular drugs. The regional prescription pattern at hospitals matched that of physicians in primary care. Between the second quarter of 2000 and 2001, the prescription of ACE inhibitor drugs increased by project advertising from 23,627 packages by 13.1%, and drug costs in this group were reduced by [symbol: see text] 29,778 in this quarter (7.3% of costs). The number of Enalapril prescriptions increased by 33.4% with a percentual portion of generic Enalapril of 57.3%, and in the rest of Austria by 16.9% with 45.0% generics. CONCLUSION: Consensus based projects are appropriate pharmacoeconomic interventions to change prescription patterns, increase the use of drugs and reduce the increasing cost requirements.

Survival of patients discharged after acute myocardial infarction and evidence-based drug therapy.

There is consensus that patients should be treated with antiplatelet agents, beta-blockers, ACE-inhibitors/ARBs, and lipid lowering drugs for secondary prevention after acute myocardial infarction (AMI), but this evidence-based pharmacotherapy is underutilized. A quality improvement program was conducted in the Austrian county of Burgenland to emphasize the importance of cardiovascular drug therapy at hospital discharge in patients with AMI. In this prospective cohort study 250 members of a regional health insurance company, Burgenländische Gebietskrankenkasse (BGKK), with AMI during the year 2003 were identified using BGKK database. Discharge prescriptions and pharmacy reimbursement data of all included patients were determined. Overall prescription rate for patients discharged from hospital after AMI (n = 207) was 86% for platelet aggregation inhibitors, 77% for ACE-inhibitors or ARBs, 72% for beta-blockers, and 68% for a lipid lowering agent including statins. The all-cause mortality rate during a mean follow-up period of 552 days was 20%. Hazard ratio (HR) for death of patients with maximum 2 medications vs. those receiving 3 or 4 medications was 2.23 (95% CI: 1.19-4.18; p = 0.012). These data demonstrate that use of evidence-based drug treatment for prevention of mortality in patients with AMI is associated with risk reduction and survival benefit. Continuous quality improvement initiatives serve to improve outcome after AMI.