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Introduction: The present study was conducted to assess the association of tobacco and alcohol consumption with cardiovascular risk factors among elderly population living at high altitude regions of India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1003 elderly people living in district Nainital, Uttarakhand state, India. Thirty subjects were identified from 30 villages using population proportionate to size sampling methodology. The data on the consumption of tobacco and alcohol, mini nutritional assessment, Barthel activities of daily living scale, height, weight, blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, triglycerides, and total cholesterol was collected. Results: We found that smoking tobacco was associated with high cholesterol, lower body mass index, and low nutritional status (all, P < 0.05). Elderly subjects who consumed alcohol had 1.56 times higher risk of having high fasting blood glucose. Conclusions: Consumption of tobacco and alcohol increased the risk of cardiovascular diseases among elderly subjects. There is a need to improve these modifiable health behaviors through targeted educational and rehabilitation programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Anemia is a major public health problem amongst elderly population in India. Anemia in old age further worsens the age-related decline in functional ability, mobility, fatigue, bone density, and skeletal muscle mass. There is lack of evidence on the prevalence and risk factors of anemia among elderly population. Hence, this study was undertaken. Methodology: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted during the year 2015–2016 in District Nainital, Uttarakhand state, India. A total of 958 subjects were selected from 30 clusters (villages) identified using population proportional to size methodology. Information on sociodemographic profile, nutritional status, body mass index, and dietary intake was obtained. Blood sample was collected from each subject on the filter paper for estimation of hemoglobin (Hb) level using cyanmethemoglobin method. Results: We found that 92.1% of the elderly subjects were anemic. Moderate and severe anemia was found to be significantly higher among female subjects, unemployed, illiterates, subjects using smoke-producing fuel, subjects belonging to lower socioeconomic status, malnourished and underweight subjects, subjects with self-reported hyperacidity, and subjects who had not utilized health facility and had lower iron and vitamin C intake when compared with subjects with mild anemia and normal hemoglobin levels. Conclusion: High prevalence of anemia exists amongst elderly subjects living at high-altitude region of rural Uttarakhand State, India. There is a need to educate the elderly population about the importance of adequate intake of foods rich in iron and vitamin C to reduce the prevalence of anemia among them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Poor dental health status has been suggested to negatively impact the food selection, ultimately leading to malnutrition. Objective: This study was undertaken to assess the association of dental health and nutritional status among elderly subjects in India. Methodology: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted during 2015–2016 in district Nainital, Uttarakhand state, India. A total of 1003 elderly population were enrolled from 30 clusters (villages) identified using population proportionate to size sampling methodology. Information on sociodemographic profile and anthropometric measurements was collected. Body mass index (BMI) and Mini Nutritional Assessment scale (MNA) were calculated for assessment of nutritional status. A trained professional assessed the dental health status through physical examination. Dietary intake data was collected using 24-h dietary recall methodology. Results: We found that the prevalence of complete edentulism was 11%. Use of dentures was reported among only 9.6% subjects who were completely edentulous. Prevalence of underweight as defined by BMI and malnutrition as defined by MNA was higher among subjects with complete loss of teeth complete loss of teeth and chewing problems chewing problems and who did not wear dentures when compared with others. Subjects who wore dentures had significantly lower prevalence of malnutrition when compared with subjects who did not wear dentures. Conclusion: Dental health status was significantly associated with poor nutritional status among elderly subjects in India. There is a need for providing restorative dental healthcare services to elderly population to improve their nutritional status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dyslipidemia is a major contributing determinant in the development of ischemic heart diseases, stroke, and other vascular diseases. It increases the risk of mortality amongst the geriatric population. Aims & Objectives: To assess the prevalence of dyslipidemia in geriatric rural population residing in a hilly district of Uttarakhand state, India. Material & Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted during 2015 - 2016 in District Nainital, Uttarakhand. A list of all villages with their population in the district was developed. From this list, thirty villages were identified using population proportionate to size sampling method. From each village 30 geriatric subjects were selected. A total of 1003 geriatric subjects aged 60 years and above were included in the study. The data was collected on socio demographic profile and lipid profile from all the enrolled subjects. The prevalence of dyslipidemia was assessed using National Cholesterol Education Programme (NCEP) criteria. Result: The overall prevalence of dyslipidemia was 50.6%. A total of 26.3% participants had hypercholesterolemia, 34.2% had hypertriglyceridemia and 23.5% had high LDL levels. The prevalence of dyslipidemia was higher in women compared to men. Conclusion: High prevalence of dyslipidemia was found amongst geriatric rural population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is uncertain how intracranial stenting (ICS) has been adopted nationally during a period characterized by a restrictive payment policy by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, humanitarian device exemption approval by the Food and Drug Administration, and insufficient evidence of effectiveness. We sought to determine the trends in rates of ICS use and associated outcomes in the United States. Methods and Results: From 65 211 328 Medicare Fee‐for‐Service beneficiaries hospitalized between 2006 and 2010 in acute care hospitals in the United States, we included patients with ICD‐9‐CM procedure codes for intracranial angioplasty and stenting, excluding those with a principal discharge diagnosis code of cerebral aneurysm or subarachnoid hemorrhage. We report operative rates per 1 000 000 person‐years and outcomes including 30‐day and 1‐year mortality rates. There were 838 ICS procedures performed among Fee‐for‐Service beneficiaries. The overall hospitalization rate for ICS increased significantly from ≈1 per 1 000 000 person‐years (n=35 procedures) in 2006 to 9 per 1 000 000 person‐years (n=258 procedures) in 2010 (P=0.0090 for trend). Procedure rates were higher in men than in women, and were highest among patients aged 75 to 84 years and lowest among those ≥85 years. The 30‐day mortality rate increased from 2.9% (95% CI, 0.1 to 15.3) to 12.9% (95% CI, 9.0 to 17.6), P=0.1294 for trend, and the 1‐year mortality rate increased from 14.7% (95% CI, 5.0 to 31.1) to 19.5% (95% CI, 14.9 to 24.9), P=0.0101; however, the annual changes were not significant after adjustment. Conclusions: ICS utilization in the United States has modestly increased during a period of inadequate supportive evidence. Humanitarian device exemption and a restrictive payment policy appear to have caused slow adoption of the technology.