Communicating Bad News to Older Patients from the Physician's Point of View: Focus on the Influence of Gender and Length of Work Experience.

BACKGROUND: Communicating bad news is of great interest in the geriatric field, but few works have considered the physician's point of view in this regard. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to explore possible differences related to physicians' gender and work experience in how a terminal diagnosis is disclosed to older patients. METHODS: Study participants were 420 Italian physicians (277 M, 143 F) working in clinical medicine (58.2%), surgery (33.3%), or other medical departments (8.5%). They completed an anonymous multiple-choice questionnaire that investigated various issues associated with communicating bad news to terminally ill older patients. RESULTS: Men had more work experience than women (55.6% vs. 44.8% had worked for ≥23 years) and were more likely to work in surgery departments, while more women worked in clinical medicine. Most physicians declared that terminally ill older patients, if mentally competent, should always (14.4%) or generally (64.3%) be directly and openly informed of their condition. With no difference in gender, length of work experience, or specialty area, 36.9% of physicians thought that this was a human right and 18% that it would improve the patient's quality of life. Where older patients were alone, male physicians were more likely than female (30.2% vs. 8.9%) to always communicate bad news directly to them. More than 70% of physicians, especially those with longer work experience, declared that they always or often took enough time to inform the patient. Female physicians and those working in clinical medicine were more likely to need psychological help when deciding to break bad news, but only a smaller proportion declared to have received it. CONCLUSIONS: Gender and work experience may influence how physicians communicate with patients and how often they seek psychological support.

Parkinson's disease and the non-motor symptoms: hyposmia, weight loss, osteosarcopenia.

Non-motor symptoms (NMSs) are common in Parkinson's disease (PD) and can precede, sometimes for several years. NMSs include, other than gastrointestinal symptoms like constipation and dysphagia, also hyposmia, weight loss and osteosarcopenia. These three NMSs seem to be inter-related and affect patients' health and quality of life. Unfortunately, patients with these symptoms usually are not initially seen by a neurologist, and by the time they are consulted, nearly ~ 80% of the dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra have died. To date, no guidelines exist for screening, assessment and management of NMSs in general. A better understanding of these specific NMSs, likely in the context of others, will make it possible to approach and optimise the treatment of the motor symptoms thereby enhancing the welfare of PD patients. Identifying the NMSs could be very helpful, and among them, hyposmia, weight loss and osteosarcopenia may play an important role in solving the limitations in the diagnosis of PD. A strict collaboration between general practitioners, clinicians, geriatricians and neurologists can be one approach towards the diagnosis of pre-PD. Waiting until the motor symptoms develop and the patient is finally visited by the neurologist could be too late, considering the catastrophic prognosis of the disease.

Dietary strategies for mitigating osteosarcopenia in older adults: a narrative review.

The synchronic loss of bone mineral density and decrease in muscle mass, strength, and function defines the scenario of osteosarcopenia, which is associated with an increased risk of falls and fractures in older adults. An important role in preventing muscle and bone loss is played by nutritional factors, in particular the intake of proteins, calcium, magnesium and vitamin D. This review summarizes the available literature concerning the influence of protein intake and supplementation (vitamin D, Ca, Mg, branched-chain amino acids) on the decline of musculoskeletal integrity in healthy older adults. Furthermore, in this paper, we attempted to give some suggestions to build up adequate nutritional and dietary strategies against the age-related loss of muscle and bone mass.

Pressure pain threshold of the cervico-facial muscles in healthy elderly people: the role of gender, age and dominance.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of age on pressure pain threshold (PPT) of cervico-facial muscles in healthy geriatric subjects and to investigate the role of gender and dominance on nociception. BACKGROUND: Musculo-skeletal pain is common in the elderly, but being subjective, it risks to be underdiagnosed and undertreated. A useful method for assessment of local pain is determining PPT through pressure algometry. Ageing process seems to increase PPTs, but reference values for the assessment of pain in geriatric subjects are lacking. METHODS: In this study, PPTs in temporal muscle, masseter, sternocleidomastoid, occipital and splenius capitis of 97 healthy elderly subjects were measured using Fischer algometer. Participants were divided by age in four classes (years 65-69; 70-74; 75-79; ≥80). RESULTS: Women had lower PPTs in all muscles compared with men. Comparing PPTs obtained from the right and the left side, no significant differences were recorded neither in men nor in women. When dividing subjects by age class and education, in both genders no significant differences were observed in PPTs among the groups, neither in the right nor in the left sides. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the present study reports reference PPT values for the cervico-facial muscles that can be applied to a population of healthy elderly subjects. After 65 years of age, further ageing does not influence PPTs in cervico-facial muscles whereas female gender has lower PPTs.

Enhancing awareness to mitigate the risk of HIV/AIDS in older adults.

HIV is often assumed to only affect younger people, and many older people do not realize that they might risk acquiring the virus. Given that sexual transmission is by far the most common way to contract HIV around the world, health care professionals do not usually pay enough attention to the possibility of HIV/AIDS in older adults, based on the common conviction that they no longer have any sexual desires and that they are sexually inactive. Nevertheless, the sexual behavior of older people is likely to change over time, as aging baby boomers progress into their 60s and 70s, meeting the criteria for "successful aging", and not conforming to the stereotype of "sexless elderly". Hence the urgent need to awareness is that HIV remains as a major health threat even in advanced age. Prompt diagnosis and treatment are especially crucial in older adults because of their general frailty and high comorbidity levels. This article reviews recent literature concerning HIV/AIDS in older adults, as regard the related epidemiological, clinical and public health issues, with a view to suggesting how the rising rate of HIV transmission in this age group might be mitigated, and shows the main points that HCP should tackle to identify older people at risk of HIV infection. In summary, there is a pressing need to develop effective prevention schemes and to adapt clinical and programmatic approaches to improve the survival of older people with HIV.

Trunk and lower limb fat mass evaluated by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in a 20- to 80-year-old healthy Italian population.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Global fat mass distribution seems to correlate with different levels of cardio-metabolic risk; centrally distributed fat carries a high risk of cardiovascular disease, while lower limb adiposity may have a protective effect against insulin resistance. Reference data regarding body composition have already been published for the Italian population; the aim of this study was to add reference values for trunk and lower limb fat mass, and their ratio (TLR), developing percentile distributions for age brackets between 20 and 80 years. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of a multicenter, cross-sectional study was conducted and 1,570 healthy Italian adults (1,241 females and 329 males) were selected. The regional fat mass, measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry total body scan, was analyzed and the TLR was calculated. RESULTS: In both genders we observed higher trunk fat mass values in older subjects against a smaller difference in BMI values. The leg fat mass was higher in old men, while it was similar in women at different ages. The TLR values in older subjects doubled those of younger subjects in both genders (62% in males and 71% in females). CONCLUSIONS: The identified ranges for trunk, leg fat mass, and TLR may be used as reference values to describe the global fat mass distribution in healthy individuals and to identify states of altered body fat distribution.

Seek and ye shall find: a case of Q fever in an elderly woman.

This case report concerns an elderly woman referred with a 6-month history of rising and falling fever in the range 38-40°C. She was examined repeatedly by her family doctor and given various antibiotic treatments before being hospitalized in our geriatric unit. Laboratory tests and microbiological studies led to a diagnosis of chronic Q fever, a zoonosis caused by Coxiella burnetii, a Gram-negative obligate intracellular coccobacillus; humans usually become infected by inhaling infectious airborne particles. The diagnosis of Q fever relies on serology with enzyme immunoassay (EIA). The main feature of Q fever is its clinical polymorphism: clinical signs may be aspecific and, in chronic cases, patients often do not recall having had the acute infection. As the most frequent and severe manifestation of Q fever is endocarditis, severe consequences may ensue. In our patient, broad-spectrum antibiotics were given before the serology results were available and rapid clinical improvement was achieved. This unusual disease should therefore also be considered in differential diagnosis of fever in the elderly, and age should not be considered as a contraindication for not performing all studies, because timely and adequate treatment is important partly to preserve elderly patients' self-sufficiency and to prevent them from becoming bedridden.

Taste loss in the elderly: epidemiology, causes and consequences.

Taste disorders are common among older people and may have serious consequences on their health status: each of the five main flavors (salty, sweet, sour, bitter and umami) has a specific function and a declining taste acuity or taste loss predisposes the elderly to a higher risk of developing certain diseases. Taste disorders often go unrecognized or underestimated in elderly people, however, and there is little medical literature on this issue. This study focused on analyzing the existing literature, paying particular attention to the causes of taste disorders in the elderly and their potential consequences. The most common causes of taste disorders are drug use (21.7%), zinc deficiency (14.5%) and oral and systemic diseases (7.4% and 6.4%, respectively). All these factors can have a negative effect on gustatory system deficiencies due to physiological changes associated with aging. Elderly people are liable to have several chronic diseases and to routinely need multiple medications, and this carries a particular risk of taste disorders or severe loss of the ability to taste the five basic flavors. It is noteworthy that the most useful drugs for treating chronic diseases typical of the elderly are also a potential cause of taste disorders, so periodically reviewing pharmacological therapies is not just a matter of good clinical practice, but also helps to prevent or contain taste disorders. Assessing gustatory function should be a part of any comprehensive geriatric assessment, especially in elderly hospital outpatients or inpatients, or institutionalized cases, with severe conditions that require multiple pharmacological therapies, as well as in elderly patients who are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition, with a view to limiting the modifiable causes of taste disorders.

Diagnosis of chronic mesenteric ischemia in older patients: a structured review.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Chronic mesenteric ischemia in older patients is a challenge for the physician because it coincides with a vague and non-specific clinical presentation with abdominal pain. It can frequently cause diagnostic errors and lead to legal consequences. The aim of this work was to evaluate the literature on chronic mesenteric ischemia and focus on the limited data concerning the geriatric population. METHODS: This research focused on observational studies, randomized controlled trials, and clinical reports (excluding case reports and reviews) dealing with patients at least 65 years old with a clinical or instrumental diagnosis of chronic intestinal ischemia, published between 2000 and 2010. The search was conducted in PubMed using the following key words: chronic ischemic splanchnic disease, chronic mesenteric ischemia, angina abdominis, chronic abdominal angina, intestinal ischemia. RESULTS: We selected 925 articles with the key words as follows: chronic mesenteric ischemia in 355 cases; chronic ischemic splanchnic disease in 46; angina abdominis in 4; abdominal angina in 242; and chronic intestinal ischemia in 278. We then excluded articles judged scarcely pertinent, case reports, reviews, works concentrating only on diagnostic, methodological, instrumental and surgical approaches, and articles based on animal or experimental models. This selection left us with 13 articles (after excluding duplicates), only three of which were considered valid for our purposes. CONCLUSIONS: Our review indicates that there is a shortage of useful literature on chronic intestinal ischemic disease diagnosed in the older adults, and the appropriate geriatric management of these patients is consequently not well established.

The importance of sexual health in the elderly: breaking down barriers and taboos.

Aging-related physical changes do not necessarily lead to a decline in sexual functioning: good physical and mental health, a positive attitude toward sex in later life, and access to a healthy partner are associated with continued sexual activity, and regular sexual expression is associated with good physical and mental health. However, it is usually assumed that older adults do not have sexual desires, and elderly people often find it difficult to discuss this topic with their doctor. There are many potential barriers concerning sexuality in older age: the lack of a healthy sexual partner, depression, the monotony of a repetitive sexual relationship, a spouse's physical unattractiveness, hormone variability, and illness and/or iatrogenic factors. Adaptive coping strategies can considerably mitigate the impact of such factors, however, and one way of contributing to breaking down barriers and taboos is undoubtedly to ensure that physicians are willing to discuss their patients' sexual history. The aim of this review was to explore the barriers and taboos to sexual expression in seniors, to propose strategies to foster this aspect of their lives, and to help physicians investigate the sexual history of their elderly patients.

Aging effect on pressure pain thresholds of head and neck muscles.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Aging implies a physiological decline in skeletal muscle mass and strength, pain perception, transmission and processing, causing pain thresholds to increase (presbyalgesia). This study compares the pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) of 18 head and neck muscles in groups of young and elderly subjects. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 40 subjects, selected from a group of 97, referred for dental consultation. The inclusion criterion was subjects' age (from 20 to 30, and over 65 years). Exclusion criteria were all conditions which may alter PPTs. In two groups, A (young subjects; 10 men, 10 women) and B (elderly subjects; 11 men, 9 women) PPTs were evaluated by one calibrated examiner with a Fischer algometer. Data are described with mean values ± standard error and the 95% confidence interval. The Mann-Whitney test was used to compare PPT values between the two groups (α=0.05). RESULTS: There was a significant difference between the PPTs of group A and B, which were higher in the elderly group in all muscles except five. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary data demonstrate that PPTs increase with aging in the muscles examined. Other confirmatory studies with a larger sample size are necessary.

Chronic pain in the elderly with advanced dementia. Are we doing our best for their suffering?

Elderly subjects with advanced dementia are exposed, like all aging individuals, to a wide range of chronic degenerative and progressive medical conditions which can cause pain and discomfort, both physical and psychological. Pain is defined as an unpleasant subjective experience, generally assessed with verbal self-reporting methods. The inability to report pain verbally - a common occurrence in advanced stages of dementia - is widely recognized as the main confounding factor in identifying these patients' pain. As several previous studies on pain assessment in cognitively impaired elderly subjects systematically eliminated non-communicative demented patients, it is hard to estimate the prevalence of their pain. The lack of pain assessment methods which do not rely on self-reporting contributes to under-estimation of the prevalence of pain, particularly among institutionalized patients, the majority of whom suffer from some degree of dementia. Assessing chronic pain in these frail elderly patients requires careful monitoring of any changes in their behavior which may be due to a new source of discomfort, rather than an aggravation of their cognitive impairment. Although some currently available tools for pain assessment in non-verbal older adults seem promising, no single tool has yet been sufficiently validated as reliable for widespread adoption in clinical practice. Prior research has documented a significantly lower prescription of analgesic medications in demented patients than in cognitively intact peers: as untreated or under-treated pain can have adverse physical and psychological consequences, there is an urgent need for appropriate pain assessment methods in elderly patients with advanced dementia, since too many of them continue to suffer needlessly. The purpose of this review is to discuss the main tools developed in the last decade for pain assessment in non-communicative older individuals, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each, and providing a guide for their use in clinical practice, particularly in geriatric settings.

Effects of 21 months of cholinesterase inhibitors on cognitive and functional decline in demented patients.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to assess, in a natural setting, the development of cognitive, behavioral and functional performance of elderly dementia patients treated with cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) during a 21-month follow-up. Another aim was to compare patterns of clinical changes in relation to patients' level of cognitive impairment at the beginning of therapy. METHOD: Of the 1987 elderly demented patients seen at our unit, 143 met the inclusion/ exclusion criteria, were followed for at least 21 months, and were thus included in the study. At baseline and each control point (up to 21 months), patients were scored for Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL). RESULTS: After 21 months' treatment with ChEIs, patients showed a significant reduction in MMSE, ADL and IADL values. The MMSE score decreased by 1.7 points/year (95% CI -2.1; -1.3), irrespective of initial cognitive level, and was lower than that expected in non-treated patients (-3/-4 points/year). CONCLUSION: ChEI therapy is effective in slowing the progression of dementia, even in the long term, irrespective of baseline cognitive level.

Clinical correlation of mesenteric vascular disease in older patients.

Mesenteric vascular obstruction is difficult to characterize, since it may produce differing acute or chronic clinical pictures and various organic symptoms, such as ischemic colitis and abdominal angina. The diagnosis of chronic mesenteric ischemia (CMI) is thus still mainly based on historic diagnostic criteria drawn up before non-invasive radiological imaging of the mesenteric vessels became widespread, and before the current demographic developments leading to a rise in the number of older patients with multiple pathologies. With this premise, we studied the clinical condition of 85 patients aged over 65 years of age, submitted to angio-CT scan for reasons other than neoplastic and general pathologies which may cause alterations in mesenteric blood flow, and without the typical symptoms of acute intestinal ischemia. Of these, 34 patients presented occlusion of at least one mesenteric vessel and 13 were affected by multivessel injury. Compared with controls, patients with mesenteric artery disease had lower BMI (24.9+/-3.3 vs 26.8+/-4.5) and longer hospital stays (14 vs 6 days), and were more frequently affected by vasculopathies in other districts (97.1% vs 80.4%), but the only bowel symptom present was diarrhea (21.2% vs 5.9%). These patients also took more benzodiazepines and acetylsalicylic acid. The results of stepwise logistic analysis of length of hospital stay, vasculopathies, diarrhea, and use of benzodiazepines yielded a predictive model with an AUC (area under the curve) of 0.81. Our data show that some features characterizing CMI in the geriatric population differ from those of the general population.

Predictors of low bone mineral density in elderly males with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: the role of body mass index.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between nutritional indices (Body mass index (BMI), serum albumin), sarcopenia, bone mineral density (BMD) and the severity of their pulmonary obstruction in elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). METHODS: The method involved was a prospective transversal study; 82 males >65 years old, 41 stable patients with COPD and 41 healthy elderly individuals (controls). All subjects underwent spirometry, biochemical analyses and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. The significance of the differences between mean values and prevalence rates was tested. The relationships between BMD and independent predictors were analysed by multiple linear regressions. Logistic regression models were applied on dichotomised variables. RESULTS: In patients with COPD, the prevalence of osteoporosis was higher in subjects with sarcopenia (46% vs. 0%; p < 0.05) and with BMI < 25.1 kg/m(2) (58% vs. 15%; p < 0.02). Multiple regression analysis indicated that BMI, appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASMM), albumin, and forced expiration volume after 1 s (FEV1) explained the 70% of BMD variability at the hip and 56% at the spine. Logistic regression showed that a BMI < 25.1 kg/m(2) was independently associated with osteoporosis risk (OR = 10.0; 95%CI 1.3-76); no independent effect emerged for FEV1% (

Ischemic colitis in the elderly: predictors of the disease and prognostic factors to negative outcome.

OBJECTIVE: Ischemic colitis (IC) poses a challenge for physicians, especially in elderly patients. The aim of this study was to identify predictors of the disease and to assess the factors predicting its evolution in elderly people. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective study was undertaken in patients with IC admitted to Padua General Hospital between 2003 and 2008. Only patients with biopsy-proven IC were considered. Fifty control subjects were randomly selected from those seen at our units for acute geriatric disease during the same interval. Patients with IC were classified as having either a positive or negative outcome. RESULTS: A total of 46 patients were considered. The risk factors for IC identified from univariate analysis were analyzed in a multivariate logistic regression model and constipation [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 4.8; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1-20.1], vasculopathy (OR 4.9; 95% CI 1.4-16.6), hepatitis C virus (HCV) (OR 9.9; 95% CI 1.1-92.9) and cancer (OR 7.5; 95% CI 2.1-26.9) confirmed their independent significance as risk factors. Hematochezia was predictive of a positive outcome (OR 0.07; 95% CI 0.02-0.40), while cancer (OR 3.2; 95% CI 1.2-11.9), HCV positivity (OR 9.6; 95% CI 1.6-56.5), signs of peritonism (OR 4.7; 95% CI 1.2-18.4), localization in the right colon (OR 5.75; 95% CI 1.5-21.9) and increased levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and urea were independently predictive of a negative outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Elderly patients with IC are characterized by significant comorbidities. The absence of hematochezia and the presence of a concomitant malignancy, HCV, a marked increase in urea and LDH and disease involving only the right colon are factors that may predict a negative outcome in elderly patients.

The impact of aging on pressure pain thresholds: are men less sensitive than women also in older age?

PURPOSE: Men have generally demonstrated higher pressure pain thresholds (PPT) than women. However, the possible impact of aging on the gender differences in pain perception has not been fully evaluated. In this study, we aimed to investigate the gender differences in PPT over the life course, in young, middle-aged and older adults. METHODS: This cross-sectional study involved 355 pain-free healthy individuals aged 19-95 years, divided into < 45, 45-64 and ≥ 65 years age groups. PPT were measured using Fisher's algometer. Data on anthropometry, formal education and occupation were collected for each participant, and a multidimensional geriatric assessment was performed in older individuals. RESULTS: Lower PPT values were observed in old vs young adults (21.8 ± 8.7 N/cm2 vs 59.5 ± 31.6, p < 0.0001) and in women vs men (16.3 ± 6.1 vs 42.8 ± 19.6 N/cm2, p = 0.0003). A significant interaction emerged between age and sex in influencing PPT (pinteraction = 0.03). Although women had lower mean PPT values than men in all age groups, such gender difference diminished with aging, from 42.8 ± 19.6 vs 59.5 ± 31.6 N/cm2 (p = 0.001) to 16.3 ± 6.1 vs 21.8 ± 8.7 vs N/cm2 (p = 0.003) in younger and older women vs men, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Female gender and older age are associated with lower PPT, but such gender difference seems to decrease with aging.

Resting energy expenditure and body composition in bedridden institutionalized elderly women with advanced-stage pressure sores.

BACKGROUND: Our study investigated nutritional status, body composition, and resting energy expenditure (REE) in elderly patients with advanced-stage pressure sores (PS), in addition to researching any hypermetabolic condition and its relationship with PS size. METHODS: The study involved 52 institutionalized bedridden elderly women (aged 83.7 +/- 6.3 years), divided into two groups: 23 with advanced-stage (stage 3 and 4) PS and 29 without PS. Albumin, prealbumin, and retinol-binding protein were measured in all patients, and fat-free mass (FFM) and fat mass (FM) were obtained by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). REE was measured by indirect calorimetry and predicted with the Harris-Benedict formula. PS area and volume were also measured. RESULTS: The elderly women with and without PS were comparable in age, FFM, and FM. Mean albumin, prealbumin, and retinol-binding protein values were lower in cases with PS. Unadjusted mean REE was significantly higher in patients with PS (1212.3 +/- 236.7 vs 1085.5 +/- 161.3 kcal/d; p <.05), even after adjusting for FFM or expressed per kilogram of body weight (25.8 +/- 6.7 vs 21.1 +/- 4.0 kcal/d/kg; p <.01). Hypermetabolism, i.e., a measured REE > 110% of the predicted REE, was seen in 74% of patients with PS and 38% of controls. The difference between measured and predicted REE (DeltaREE) correlated with PS volume (r = 0.58; p <.01), but not with area. CONCLUSION: Advanced-stage PS in elderly women are associated with a hypermetabolic state that is influenced by the volume of the PS.

Clinical and prognostic aspects of gastric carcinoma in the elderly.

The aim of the present study was to analyze the influence of various factors on the prognosis for elderly patients with gastric carcinoma. Forty-eight patients aged > or =65 years admitted to Padova General Hospital were divided into two groups by age (<75 or >75 years). They all had a histologically confirmed diagnosis of gastric adenocarcinoma. Information on their clinicopathological characteristics was collected from the Padova Hospital medical records. On univariate analysis, significant prognostic factors in the two age groups were gender, stage, histotype (Lauren's intestinal type), Charlson index, and type of surgery (curative resection, palliative resection, and no surgery). On multivariate analysis, independent prognostic factors were the Charlson index, tumor stage, and age group. The 52-month survival rate was 72.7% for females and 12.5% for males for patients > or =75 years (P = 0.01), while for the whole series of patients it was 67.5% for females and 29.9% for males (P = 0.003). The 17-month survival rate was 55.6% for surgically treated patients and 0% for the untreated cases in stage 4 (P = 0.03). Gastric cancer should be treated with conventional surgery even in the very elderly, since the survival rate for this age group does not differ significantly from the figures for younger patients.