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Introduction: The prevalence of age-related physiological impairments and conditions may influence clinical practice protocols on care delivery, risk assessment and current facilities. We aimed to characterise the acutely admitted geriatric patient using medical records and comprehensive assessments performed within 24 hours of admission., Methods: Patients aged ≥ 65 years were included from the acute ward at Bispebjerg Hospital, Denmark, (n = 1,071). Body composition was investigated using bioelectrical impedance analyses. Physical function was assessed using handgrip strength and sit-to-stand ability. Cognitive impairment and malnutrition were assessed using questionnaires. Self-reported fall incidents within the year leading up to the admission were obtained. Clinical information was obtained from medical records., Results: Severe comorbidity and polypharmacy were present in 58% and 73% of the cohort, respectively, with men showing a higher prevalence of severe comorbidity. Moderate-to-severe cognitive impairment and risk of severe malnourishment were present in 27% of the patients. Low muscle mass and muscle strength were present in 33% and 47% of the patients, respectively, and low muscle strength was more prevalent in men than women. More than 50% of the patients had fallen within the past year., Conclusions: Along with highly prevalent multimorbidity and polypharmacy, we demonstrate that a substantial number of patients are cognitively and functionally impaired, are malnourished and have low muscle mass. Thus, they are at high risk of falls and deconditioning during hospitalisation., Funding: This work was supported by funding from the Novo Nordisk Foundation; grant number NNF18OC0052826., Trial Registration: Not relevant., (Published under Open Access CC-BY-NC-BD 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)

Aim: To investigate the effects of a comprehensive medication review intervention on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and clinical outcomes in geriatric outpatients exposed to polypharmacy., Methods: Pragmatic, nonblinded, randomized clinical trial with follow-up after 4 and 13 months. Participants were geriatric outpatients taking ≥9 medicines. The intervention was an additional consultation with a physician focusing on reviewing medication, informing patients about their medicines and increasing cross-sectoral communication as supplement to and compared with usual care. The primary outcome was change in HRQoL after 4 months measured with the EuroQoL 5-dimension 5-level (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaire. Secondary outcomes were HRQoL after 13 months, mortality, admissions, falls and number of medicines after 4 and 13 months., Results: Of 785 eligible patients, 408 were included (age: mean 80.6 [standard deviation 7.22] years; number of medicines: median 12 [interquartile range 10-14]; females 71%). After 4 months, the adjusted between-group difference in EQ-5D-5L index score was 0.066 in favour of the medication consultation (95% confidence interval 0.01 to 0.12, P = .02). After 4 months, two (1%) participants had died in the medication-consultation group and nine (4%) in the usual-care group (log-rank test, P = .045). The medication consultation reduced the number of medicines by 2.0 (15.8%) after 4 months and 1.3 (10.7%) after 13 months. There were no statistically significant differences in mortality or HRQoL after 13 months, and no differences in falls or admissions., Conclusions: An additional consultation with medication review and increased communication as supplement to usual geriatric outpatient care improved HRQoL and reduced mortality after 4 months., (© 2022 The Authors. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Pharmacological Society.)