Search

The use of semirigid rod penile prosthesis for the management of erectile dysfunction was first described over 85 years ago. Since then, there have been numerous design advancements leading to improved overall durability, concealability, rigidity, and natural feel. However, the inflatable penile prosthesis (IPP) still has a higher patient satisfaction rate and is currently the most commonly inserted prostheses in the United States. There are still certain situations and conditions where the simplicity of a rod may be preferred over an IPP. A pair of semirigid rods has been shown to have less risk of malfunction and need for revision surgery. In addition, patients with poor manual dexterity, those undergoing a salvage for infection prosthesis and those with a prolonged (> 48 h) priapic episode may be better served with a rod than an IPP. Finally, in patients compromised by infection or priapism, the rods can later successfully be exchanged for an IPP with potentially longer, wider cylinders with resultant greater patient satisfaction., (© 2020. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

Objectives: Community-living older Medicare and Medicaid enrollees ("dual-enrollees") have high care needs and commonly receive paid and unpaid long-term services and supports (LTSS) to help with routine activities. Little is known about whether receiving paid help or individuals' state and neighborhood environmental context ("LTSS environment") relates to dual-enrollees' care experiences., Methods: We examine a sample of n = 979 community-dwelling dual-enrollees with disabilities from 2011 to 2015 National Health and Aging Trends Study, linked to measures of neighborhood disadvantage and state Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) generosity. Logistic regression models stratified by dementia status assess associations between paid help and: (a) adverse consequences due to unmet care needs, and (b) participation restrictions in valued activities, among dual-enrollees with and without dementia, adjusting for individual and LTSS environmental characteristics., Results: Use of paid help was greater for those with (versus without) dementia (46.9% vs. 37.8%). Neighborhood disadvantage was associated with greater use of paid help among dual-enrollees living with dementia. High state Medicaid HCBS generosity was associated with the use of paid help, regardless of dementia status. Dual-enrollees with dementia receiving paid help had higher odds of experiencing adverse consequences due to unmet need (adjusted odds ratio = 2.05; 95% confidence interval 1.16-3.61; p = .02)-no significant associations were observed for participation restrictions. Use of paid help and LTSS environment were not significantly associated with care experiences for dual-enrollees without dementia., Discussion: Findings highlight the complexities of caring for dual-enrollees, particularly those with dementia, and emphasize the need to strengthen the delivery of paid care with considerations for the LTSS environment., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objectives: To examine social and physical environmental fall-risk factors in a nationally representative sample of community-living older adults overall and by racial group. Methods: We used data from the 2015 and 2016 rounds of the National Health and Aging Trends Study ( n = 5581) linked to census tract measures from the American Community Survey. Recurrent falls are defined as 2+ self-reported falls over 12 months. Results: Older adults with recurrent falls were more likely to have lower education, lower income, financial hardship, live in homes with disorder and disrepair and in neighborhoods without sidewalks, with high social deprivation, and in nonmetropolitan counties. Home disrepair, lack of sidewalks, and residence in a nonmetropolitan county were important fall-risk factors among White older adults only. Financial hardship was an important risk factor among Black older adults. Discussion: Environmental factors are associated with recurrent falls among older Americans and should be incorporated into fall-risk profiles and prevention efforts.

Background/objectives: Hospitalization is common among older adults with disability, many of whom receive help from a caregiver and have dementia. Our objective was to evaluate the association between caregiver factors and risk of hospitalization and whether associations differ by dementia status., Design: Longitudinal observational study., Setting: The 1999 and 2004 National Long-Term Care Survey and the 2011 and 2015 National Health and Aging Trends Study, linked caregiver surveys, and Medicare claims., Participants: A total of 2,589 community-living Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries, aged 65 years or older (mean age = 79 years; 63% women; 31% with dementia), with self-care or mobility disability and their primary family or unpaid caregiver., Measurements: Self-reported characteristics of older adults and their caregivers were assessed from older adult and caregiver survey interviews. Older adult hospitalization over the subsequent 12 months was identified in Medicare claims. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for older adult characteristics and were stratified by dementia status., Results: In this nationally representative cohort, 38% of older adults with disabilities were hospitalized over 12 months following interview. Increased hospitalization risk was associated with having a primary caregiver who helped with healthcare tasks (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 1.22; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.05-1.40), reported physical strain (aHR = 1.21; 95% CI = 1.04-1.42), and provided more than 40 hours of care weekly (aHR = 1.26; 95% CI = 1.04-1.54 vs ≤20 hours). Having a caregiver who had helped for 4 years or longer (vs <1 year) was associated with 38% lower risk of hospitalization (aHR = 0.62; 95% CI = 0.49-0.79). Older adults with and without dementia had similar rates of hospitalization (39.5% vs 37.3%; P = .4), and caregiving factors were similarly associated with hospitalization regardless of older adults' dementia status., Conclusion: Select caregiving characteristics are associated with hospitalization risk among older adults with disability. Hospitalization risk reduction strategies may benefit from understanding and addressing caregiving circumstances., (© 2020 The American Geriatrics Society.)

Objectives: To assess two models for the prediction of health utilization and functions using standardized in-person assessments of frailty and administrative claims-based geriatric risk measures among Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries aged 65 years and above. Methods: Outcomes of hospitalizations, death, and functional help were investigated for participants in the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study. For each outcome, multivariable logistic regression model was used to investigate claims-based geriatric risk and survey-based frailty. Results: Both claims-based and survey-based models showed moderate discrimination. The c-statistic of the standardized frailty models ranged from 0.67 (for any hospitalization) to 0.84 (for any IADL [instrumental activities of daily living] help). Models using administrative data ranged from 0.71 (for any hospitalization) to 0.81 (for any IADL help). Discussion: Models based on existing administrative data appear to be as discriminate as survey-based models. Health care providers and insurance plans can effectively apply existing data resources to help identify high-risk individuals for potential care management interventions.

Background: Identifying factors that affect variation in health care spending among older adults with disability may reveal opportunities to better address their care needs while offsetting excess spending., Objective: To quantify differences in total Medicare spending among older adults with disability by whether they experience negative consequences due to inadequate support with household activities, mobility, or self-care., Design: Observational study of in-person interviews and linked Medicare claims., Setting: United States, 2015., Participants: 3716 community-living older adults who participated in the 2015 NHATS (National Health and Aging Trends Study) and survived for 12 months., Measurements: Total Medicare spending by spending quartile in multivariable regression models that adjusted for individual characteristics., Results: Negative consequences were experienced by 18.3% of participants with disability in household activities, 25.6% with mobility disability, and 20.0% with self-care disability. Median Medicare spending was higher for those who experienced negative consequences due to household ($4866 vs. $4095), mobility ($7266 vs. $4115), and self-care ($10 935 vs. $4436) disability versus those who did not. In regression-adjusted analyses, median spending did not differ appreciably for participants who experienced negative consequences in household activities ($338 [95% CI, -$768 to $1444]), but was higher for those with mobility ($2309 [CI, $208 to $4409]) and self-care ($3187 [CI, $432 to $5942]) disability. In the bottom-spending quartile, differences were observed for self-care only ($1460 [CI, $358 to $2561]). No differences were observed in the top quartile., Limitation: This observational study could not establish causality., Conclusion: Inadequate support for mobility and self-care is associated with higher Medicare spending, especially in the middle and lower ends of the spending distribution. Better support for the care needs of older adults with disability could offset some Medicare spending., Primary Funding Source: The Commonwealth Fund.

Issue: Older adults' needs have evolved and are no longer met by the Medicare program. With the recent passage of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA), Medicare Advantage (MA) plans can now provide beneficiaries with nonmedical benefits, such as long-term services and supports (LTSS), which Medicare does not cover., Goal: To examine the use of LTSS among Medicare beneficiaries age 65 and older living in the community and explore differences by age, income, and other variables., Methods: Descriptive analyses of the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), 2015., Findings and Conclusions: Two-thirds of older adults living in the community use some degree of LTSS. Reliance on assistive devices and environmental modifications is high; however many adults, particularly dual-eligible beneficiaries, experience adverse consequences of not receiving care. Although the recent policy change allowing MA plans to offer LTSS benefits is an important step toward meeting the medical and nonmedical needs of Medicare beneficiaries, only the one-third of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in MA plans stand to benefit. Accountable care organizations operating in traditional Medicare also should have the increased flexibility to provide nonmedical services.

Issue: In addition to medical care, individuals with functional or cognitive impairment often require long-term services and supports (LTSS), which Medicare does not cover. Little is known about the additional out-of-pocket expenses that individuals and their families incur to meet these needs., Goal: To analyze medical and LTSS spending among older Medicare beneficiaries, particularly the costs of assistive devices and personal care and the ways those costs are met., Methods: Descriptive analyses of the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), 2015., Key Findings and Conclusions: Beneficiaries with high LTSS needs have higher Medicare and out-of-pocket spending than those without such needs and are more likely to report that medical care makes up part of their credit card debt. Those with high LTSS needs are also more likely to report trouble paying for food, rent, utilities, medical care, and prescription drugs. Many older Medicare beneficiaries using LTSS are vulnerable to incurring substantial costs. Without an affordable, sustainable financing solution, Medicare beneficiaries with LTSS needs will continue to be at greater risk of delaying necessary care, being placed in a nursing home prematurely, and having to "spend down" into the Medicaid program.

Objectives: To comprehensively examine factors associated with long-term nursing home (NH) entry from 6 domains of older adult and family caregiver risk from nationally representative surveys and develop a prognostic model and a simple scoring system for use in risk stratification., Design: Retrospective observational study., Setting: National Long-Term Care Surveys 1999 and 2004 and National Health and Aging Trends Study 2011 and linked caregiver surveys., Participants: Community-living older adults receiving help with self-care disability and their primary family or unpaid caregiver (N=2,676)., Measurements: Prediction of long-term NH entry (>100 days or ending in death) by 24 months follow up, ascertained from Minimum Data Set assessments and dates of death from Medicare enrollment files. Risk factors were measured from survey responses., Results: In total, 16.1% of older adults entered a NH. Our final model and risk scoring system includes 7 independent risk factors: older adult age (1 point/5 years), living alone (5 points), dementia (3 points), 3 or more of 6 self-care activities (2 points), caregiver age (45-64: 1 point, 65-74: 2 points, ≥75: 4 points), caregiver help with money management (2 points), and caregiver report of moderate (2 points) or high (4 points) strain. Using this model, participants were assigned to risk quintiles. Long-term NH entry was 7.0% in the lowest quintile (0-6 points), 20.4% in the middle 3 quintiles (7-14 points), and 30.9% in the highest quintile (15-22 points). The model was well calibrated and demonstrated moderate discrimination (c-statistic=0.670 in the original data, c-statistic=0.647 in bootstrapped samples, c-statistic=0.652 using the point-scoring system)., Conclusion: We developed a prognostic model and simple scoring system that may be used to stratify risk of long-term NH entry of community-living older adults. Our model may be useful for population health and policy applications., (© 2018, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2018, The American Geriatrics Society.)

Issue: Older adults who reside in communities, as opposed to nursing homes or other residential institutions, are largely dependent on family and unpaid caregivers for assistance with daily activities, like preparing meals or laundry, and self-care tasks like bathing or dressing. For low-income older adults, assistance with such activities, also known as long-term services and supports (LTSS), can also come from Medicaid. These sources of support will be increasingly inadequate as the population ages., Goals: To examine the extent of paid and unpaid personal care assistance used by community-residing people who require LTSS; and to analyze how this differs by demographics and the economic status of Medicare beneficiaries., Methods: Descriptive analyses of the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), 2015., Findings and Conclusions: Medicare beneficiaries needing LTSS rely predominantly on unpaid care. Hours of unpaid care are not substantially lower when paid care is also received. Findings suggest that public financing of LTSS would not replace but rather supplement the contribution of family and unpaid caregivers to support individuals living independently in the community.