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Background: It is well established that individual medications that affect the central nervous system (CNS) increase falls risk in older adults. However, less is known about risks associated with taking multiple CNS-active medications.Methods: Employing a new user design, we used data from the Adult Changes in Thought study, a prospective cohort of community-dwelling people aged 65 and older without dementia. We created a time-varying composite measure of CNS-active medication exposure from electronic pharmacy fill data and categorized into mutually exclusive categories: current (within prior 30 days), recent (31-90 days), past (91-365 days), or nonuse (no exposure in prior year). We calculated standardized daily dose and identified new initiation. Cox proportional hazards models examined the associations between exposures and the outcome of fall-related injury identified from health plan electronic databases.Results: Two thousand five hundred ninety-five people had 624 fall-related injuries over 15,531 person-years of follow-up. Relative to nonuse, fall-related injury risk was significantly greater for current use of CNS-active medication (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.95; 95% CI = 1.57-2.42), but not for recent or past use. Among current users, increased risk was noted with all doses. Risk was increased for new initiation compared with no current use (HR = 2.81; 95% CI = 2.09-3.78). Post hoc analyses revealed that risk was especially elevated with new initiation of opioids.Conclusions: We found that current use, especially new initiation, of CNS-active medications was associated with fall-related injury in community-dwelling older adults. Increased risk was noted with all dose categories. Risk was particularly increased with new initiation of opioids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. We sought to examine whether frailty is associated with dementia, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and non-AD dementia risk. Methods. This is a prospective population-based cohort derived from an integrated health maintenance organization. The sample consisted of 2,619 participants aged 65 and older without dementia at baseline followed from 1994 to 2010. Frailty was defined as having at least 3 of the following criteria: weakness (grip strength), slowness (walking speed), weight loss, low physical activity, and self-reported exhaustion. Follow-up occurred every 2 years to identify incident dementia, possible or probable AD, and non-AD dementia using standard research criteria. Covariates came from self-report and study measures. We used adjusted Cox proportional hazards models to examine the association between frailty and each outcome. Results. Over a mean follow-up of 6.5 years, 521 participants developed dementia (of which 448 developed AD). In the model adjusted for age, sex, education, and race, the hazard ratio for frailty was 1.78 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.32–2.40). In the fully adjusted models, the hazard ratio for frailty was 1.20 for all-cause dementia (95% CI 0.85–1.69), 1.08 for AD (95% CI 0.74–1.57), and 2.57 for non-AD dementia (95% CI 1.08–6.11). For all-cause dementia, we found an interaction between baseline cognitive score and frailty (p = .02); hazard ratio for frailty was 1.78 for those with higher global cognition (95% CI 1.14–2.78) and 0.79 for those with lower global cognition (95% CI 0.50–1.26). Conclusion. Frailty was associated with dementia when adjusting only for demographic variables but not in the fully adjusted model. Frailty was associated with higher risk of developing non-AD dementia but not AD. Although frailty was not associated with all-cause dementia in the entire sample, an association did exist in participants with higher cognitive scores. Mechanisms underlying these associations remain to be elucidated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background. Inflammatory biomarkers have shown consistent associations with disability and frailty in older adults. Statin medications may reduce the incidence the frailty because of their anti-inflammatory effects. This study examines associations between current use, duration, and potency of statin medications and incident frailty in initially nonfrail women 65 years old or older. Methods. The authors conducted a prospective analysis of data from the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study (WHI-OS) conducted at 40 clinical centers in the United States. Eligible women were nonfrail and 65-79 years old at baseline 01 = 25,378). Current statin use at baseline was ascertained through direct inspection of medicine containers during clinic visits. Frailty was ascertained through self-reported indicators and physical measurements at baseline and 3-year clinic contacts. Components of frailty included self-reported low physical function, exhaustion, low physical activity, and unintended weight loss. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to adjust for covariates predicting incident frailty. Results. Among the 25,378 eligible women, 3453 (13.6%) developed frailty by the 3-year follow-up contact. Current statin use had no association with incident frailty (multivariate-adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.00; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.85-1.16). Duration and potency of statin use were also not significantly associated with incident frailty. Among low potency statin users, longer duration of use was associated with reduced risk of frailty (p for trend = .02). A similar pattern of results was observed when frailty was studied in the absence of intervening, incident cardiovascular events. Conclusions. Overall, incidence of frailty was similar in current statin users and nonusers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study on adverse drug events (ADE) in elderly patients who are hospitalized. Method used in conducting the study; Correlation between patients experiencing ADE and their Mini-Mental State Examination score; Association of ADE with the number of inpatient medications and admission cognitive status.

Background: This study was aimed to determine whether incident dementia and HbA1c levels are associated with increased rates of potentially preventable hospitalizations (PPHs) in persons with diabetes.Method: A total of 565 adults aged 65+ ever treated for diabetes were enrolled from Adult Changes in Thought study. PPHs were from principal discharge diagnoses and included diabetes PPH (dPPH), respiratory PPH (rPPH), urinovolemic PPH (uPPH), cardiovascular PPH, and other PPH. Poisson generalized estimating equations estimated rate ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the associations between dementia or HbA1c measures and rate of PPHs.Results: A total of 562 individuals contributed 3 602 dementia-free years, and 132 individuals contributed 511 dementia follow-up years. One hundred twenty-eight (23%) dementia-free individuals had 210 PPH admissions and a crude rate of 58 per 1 000 person-years, while 55 (42%) individuals with dementia had 93 PPH admissions and a crude rate of 182 per 1 000 person-years. The adjusted RR (95% CI) comparing rates between dementia and dementia-free groups were 2.27 (1.60, 3.21) for overall PPH; 5.90 (2.70, 12.88) for dPPH; 5.17 (2.49, 10.73) for uPPH; and 2.01 (1.06, 3.83) for rPPH. Compared with HbA1c of 7%-8% and adjusted for dementia, the RR (95% CI) for overall PPH was 1.43 (1.00, 2.06) for >8% HbA1c and 1.18 (0.85, 1.65) for <7% HbA1c. The uPPH RR was also increased, comparing >8% and <7% HbA1c levels.Conclusion: Incident dementia is associated with higher rates of PPHs among people with diabetes, especially PPHs due to diabetes, urinary tract infection (UTI), and dehydration. Potential evidence suggested that HbA1c levels of >8% versus lower levels are associated with higher rates of overall PPHs and UTI- and dehydration-related PPHs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background impairments in neurotransmitter pathways put Parkinson's disease (PD) patients at risk for drug–disease interactions and adverse medication events. Objective to determine the prevalence and risk factors for potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) prescriptions, as defined by the 2015 Beers List, in PD. Methods cross-sectional analysis was conducted on 2014 Medicare beneficiaries with PD who had parts A, B and D coverage. The prevalence of PIM prescriptions for older adults was determined overall, and specifically for medications that can exacerbate motor symptoms or cognitive impairment in PD. Logistic regression models were constructed to determine the association between age, sex, race, geography and poverty with PIM prescriptions. Results the final sample included 458,086 beneficiaries. In 2014, 35.8% of beneficiaries with PD filled a prescription for at least one PIM for older adults. In total, 8.7% of beneficiaries received a PIM that could exacerbate motor symptoms and 29.0% received a PIM that could worsen cognitive impairment. After adjustment, in all models, beneficiaries who were younger, female, white, urban-dwelling and eligible for Medicaid benefits were more likely to receive a PIM. Conclusion PIM prescriptions are not uncommon in PD, particularly for medications that can exacerbate cognitive impairment. Future research will examine underlying drivers of sex and other disparities in PIM prescribing. Additional studies are needed to understand the impact of PIMs on disease symptoms, healthcare utilisation and patient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The association between glucose levels and incident frailty in older persons remains unclear. We examined the extent to which higher glucose levels in older adults with and without diabetes are related to risk of frailty.Methods: The data are from the Adult Changes in Thought study. We identified 1,848 individuals aged 65+ without dementia for whom glucose levels from laboratory measurements of glucose and glycated hemoglobin were available. Physical frailty using modified Fried's criteria was determined from biennial assessments. Frailty hazard was modeled as a function of time-varying measures of diabetes and average glucose levels using Cox regression.Results: A total of 578 incident frailty cases (94 with diabetes, 484 without) occurred during a median follow-up of 4.8 years. The adjusted hazard ratio for frailty comparing those with and without diabetes was 1.52 (95% confidence interval = 1.19-1.94). In participants without diabetes, modeling suggested elevated frailty risk with greater average glucose levels (p = .019); for example, a glucose level of 110mg/dL compared with 100mg/dL yielded a hazard ratio of 1.32 (95% confidence interval = 1.09-1.59). In participants with diabetes, glucose levels less than 160mg/dL and greater than 180mg/dL were related to increased risk of frailty (p = .001).Conclusion: Higher glucose levels may be a risk factor for frailty in older adults without diabetes. The apparent U-shape association between glucose levels and frailty in people with diabetes is consistent with the literature on glycemia and mortality and deserves further examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose of the Study: Postmenopausal osteoporosis can impact quality-of-life even prefracture. To determine whether osteoporosis should be a greater concern in women Veterans versus non-Veterans, we compared fracture rates and bone mineral density (BMD) for Veterans and non-Veterans using Women's Health Initiative data. Design and Methods: In this cohort study, participants were women aged 50-79 years. Outcomes were hip, central body, and limb fractures occurring during up to 19 years of follow-up and hip, spine, and whole body BMD collected three times over a 6-year period in a participant subsample. Covariates comprised risk factors for fracture, including fall history and other components of the World Health Organization Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX). Cox Proportional Hazards models were used to examine fracture rates for Veterans compared with non-Veterans. Results: Of 161,808 women, 145,521 self-identified as Veteran (n = 3,719) or non-Veteran (n = 141,802). Baseline FRAX scores showed that Veterans had higher 10-year probabilities for any major fracture (13.3 vs 10.2; p < .01) and hip fracture (4.1 vs 2.2; p < .01) compared with non-Veterans. The age-adjusted rate of hip fracture per 1,000 person-years for Veterans was 3.3 versus 2.4 for non-Veterans (p < .01). After adjustment, the hazards ratio for hip fracture was 1.24 (95% confidence interval 1.03-1.49) for Veterans versus non-Veterans. Hazards ratios at other anatomic sites did not differ by Veteran status. Mean BMD at baseline and at Years 3 and 6 also did not differ by Veteran status at any site. Implications: Women Veterans had an increased hip fracture rate not explained by differences in well-recognized fracture risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose of the Study: To compare the prevalence and cardiometabolic health impact of sleep disturbance among postmenopausal Veteran and non-Veteran participants in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI). Design and Methods: The prevalence of five categories of sleep disturbance--medication/alcohol use for sleep; risk for insomnia; risk for sleep disordered breathing [SDB]; risk for comorbid insomnia and SDB (insomnia + SDB); and aberrant sleep duration [SLD]--was compared in 3,707 Veterans and 141,354 non-Veterans using logistic or multinomial regression. Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the association of sleep disturbance and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) and Type 2 diabetes in Veterans and non-Veterans. Results: Women Veterans were more likely to have high risk for insomnia + SDB relative to non-Veteran participants. However, prevalence of other forms of sleep disturbance was similar across groups. Baseline sleep disturbance was not differentially associated with cardiometabolic health outcomes in Veteran versus non-Veteran women. Risks for SDB and insomnia + SDB were both linked to heightened risk of CVD and diabetes; SLD was consistently linked with greater risk of CVD and diabetes in non-Veterans but less strongly and consistently in Veterans. Implications: Efforts to identify and treat sleep disturbances in postmenopausal women are needed and may positively contribute to the attenuation of cardiometabolic morbidity risk. Increased awareness of women Veterans' vulnerability to postmenopausal insomnia + SDB may be particularly important for health care providers who treat this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite wide-spread use of antihypertensives in older adults, the literature is unclear about their association with incident recurrent falls over time.Methods: Health, Aging and Body Composition study participants (n = 2,948) who were well functioning at baseline (1997) were followed to Year 7 (2004). The main outcome was recurrent falls (≥2) in the ensuing 12 months. Antihypertensive use was examined as: (a) any versus none, (b) long- versus short-term (≥2 vs <2 years), and by (c) summated standardized daily dose (SDD; 1 = maximum recommended daily dose for one antihypertensive), and (d) subclass.Results: Controlling for potential demographic, health status/behavior and access to care confounders, we found no increase in risk of recurrent falls in antihypertensive users compared to nonusers (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.13; 95% CI = 0.88-1.46), or those taking higher SDDs or for longer durations. Only those using a loop diuretic were found to have a modest increased risk of recurrent falls (AOR = 1.50; 95% CI = 1.11-2.03).Conclusions: Antihypertensive use overall was not statistically significantly associated with recurrent falls after adjusting for important confounders. Loop diuretic use may be associated with recurrent falls and needs further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Medication use is a potentially reversible cause of urinary incontinence (UI). The objective of this longitudinal cohort study was to evaluate whether self-reported UI in community-dwelling older women is associated with the use of different classes of antihypertensive agents. Methods. The sample consisted of 959 black and white women aged 72–81 years without baseline (Year 1) UI from the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study. Use of any antihypertensive from 10 drug classes (ie, alpha blockers [central], alpha blockers [peripheral], angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin-II receptor blockers, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, diuretics [loop], diuretics [potassium-sparing], diuretics [thiazide], and vasodilators) was determined during Year 3 in-person interviews. The number of unique antihypertensive agents used and the standardized daily dosage were also examined. Self-reported UI, operationally defined as leaking urine at least weekly during the previous 12 months, was assessed at Year 4 visits. Results. A total of 197 women (20.5%) reported UI at Year 4. Although any antihypertensive use, number of agents used, and standardized daily dosage at Year 3 were not associated with UI at Year 4, use of one particular drug class—peripheral alpha blockers (ie, doxazosin, prazosin, and terazosin)—was associated with fourfold greater odds of UI (adjusted odds ratio = 4.47; 95% confidence interval = 1.79–11.21; p = .0014). Further, in post hoc analyses, these odds nearly doubled in those also taking loop diuretics (adjusted odds ratio = 8.81; 95% confidence interval = 1.78–43.53; p = .0076). Conclusion. In community-dwelling older women, peripheral alpha blocker use was associated with UI, and the odds nearly doubled when used with loop diuretics. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Presents a study that described resident outcomes of Medicaid-funded community residential care. Assessment of aged resident satisfaction; Demographic characteristics at enrollment; Assistance with activities of daily living at enrollment.