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As the global population becomes older, physicians are increasingly navigating the complexities of geriatric medicine. Older adults often have multiple chronic conditions that require ongoing treatment, which frequently results in [...]

2024 MAR 2 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week -- New research on Mental Health is the subject of a report. According [...]

INTRODUCTION Medicare coverage is available to most persons age 65 or over and to non-elderly disabled individuals who have received Social Security disability insurance (SSDI) payments for at least 2 [...], Using Medicaid Analytic eXtract (MAX) claims files for 1999 and 2001, the authors describe patterns of prescription drug use and expenditures among dually eligible Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries for all Medicaid full dually eligible beneficiaries and three important subgroups: (1) aged, (2) disabled, and (3) full-year nursing home residents. The analyses indicate great variation in use and expenditures across States that cannot be explained through differences in use of cost containment strategies. Further, the findings suggest that Medicare Part D plans may achieve significant savings by providing incentives for greater use of generic drugs.

Hip fracture after falls in elderly people represents an increasing challenge for the health care system worldwide. Approximately 30% of community-residing people aged 65 years or older fall each year, [...], Background and Purpose Previous studies of Timed 'Up & Go' Test (TUG) scores as a predictor of falls were based primarily on retrospective data, and no prospective studies of the TUG for predicting falls in people with hip fracture are available. The purpose of this study was to determine whether TUG scores obtained upon discharge from an acute orthopedic hip fracture unit can predict falls in people with hip fracture during a 6-month follow-up period. Subjects The subjects included in this study were 79 consecutive elderly people who had hip fractures and were able to perform the TUG when discharged directly to their own homes or to assisted living facilities from a specialized acute orthopedic hip fracture unit, with 59 (75%) being able to participate in the follow-up interview. Methods In this prospective study, all subjects were contacted for a 6-month follow-up interview about fails since discharge from the hospital. The score on the TUG performed at discharge (median of 10 days after surgery) was compared with the New Mobility Score, which describes functional level before the fracture and mental status on admission, sex, type of fracture, residence, and walking aids before and after the fracture. All subjects followed a well-defined care plan with multimodal fast-track rehabilitation including an intensive physical therapy program comprising 2 daily sessions; discharge was in accordance with standardized criteria. Analyses and correlations of all variables were examined for prediction of falls, and sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and likelihood ratios were calculated. Falls were classified as 'none' or as '1 or more.' Results Among the 59 subjects in the follow-up group, 19 subjects (32%) experienced 1 or more falls in the period since discharge; 4 of these falls resulted in new hip fractures. The TUG performed at discharge with a cutoff point of 24 seconds was the only parameter that significantly predicted falls during the 6-month follow-up period, with a negative likelihood ratio of 0.1 to be a faller as a nonfaller. Discussion and Conclusion The results suggest that the TUG is a sensitive measure for identifying people with hip fracture at risk for new falls, and it should be part of future outcome measures to decide for whom preventive measures against falls should be instituted.

Preventing falls is very important for older people and for society. Of community-dwelling older people, 30% to 50% fall at least once a year. (1-5) Furthermore, falls are the most [...], Background and Purpose. It is important to determine the effect of adherence to a tai chi program on falls and related functional outcomes in older people. This study examined the effect of a community-based tai chi program on injurious falls, balance, gait, and fear of falling among people aged 65 years and older in Taiwan. Subjects and Methods. In 6 rural villages in Taichung County, 1,200 subjects participated in the initial assessment. During a 1-year intervention period, all study villages were provided with education on fall prevention. Two villages had been provided tai chi exercise (n=472 participants or 'tai chi villagers'), and 4 villages served as control villages (n=728 participants or 'control villagers'). Injurious falls were ascertained by telephone interviews every 3 months over a 2-year study period; additionally, balance, gait, and fear of falling were assessed in 2 follow-up assessments. Results. Eighty-eight subjects, 83 from the tai chi villages and 5 from the control villages, participated and practiced in the tai chi program (the group labeled 'tai chi practitioners'). After the tai chi program, injurious falls among the control villagers significantly declined by 44% (adjusted rate ratio [RR]=0.56; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.36-0.92). Compared with the results for the control villagers, the decline was 31% greater (RR=0.69; 95% CI=0.30-1.56) among the tai chi villagers and 50% greater (RR=0.5; 95% CI=0.11-2.17) among the tai chi practitioners; the results did not reach statistical significance. Furthermore, compared with the scores for the control villagers, the scores for the tai chi practitioners increased by 1.8 points (95% CI=0.2-3.4) on the Tinetti Balance Scale and increased by 0.9 point (95% CI=0.1-1.8) on the Tinetti Gait Scale. No significant changes in the fear of falling were detected among the tai chi practitioners, tai chi villagers, and control villagers. Discussion and Conclusion. Tai chi can prevent a decline in functional balance and gait among older people. However, the reduction in injurious falls attained with tai chi did not reach statistical significance; the statistical inefficiency may have resulted partly from the large decline in injurious falls in control villagers. Finally, the unexpected effect of educational intervention on reducing injurious falls in different settings needs to be further examined. Key Words: Balance, Falls, Fear of falling, Gait, Older people, Tai chi.

Pharmacologic treatment of seniors with schizophrenia represents a special challenge for mental health providers. Older patients often are more sensitive to antipsychotics' side effects, and although the new atypical antipsychotics [...]

Vast improvements in medicine and science have enabled Americans to enjoy longer and longer lives; however, this increased longevity is a double-edged sword. Many older Americans already suffer from physical [...]

ATLANTA -- The 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) shows moderate overall effectiveness for preventing invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) caused by PCV13 vaccine serotypes in adults aged 65 years and older, [...]

Depression is one of the most important psychiatric disorders of older people, although it has been reported to be less prevalent in this age group than in younger groups.[1,2] Between [...]

'Even during record-breaking heat last summer, my dad refused to use his air conditioner, even after I reminded him that a man his age (87) died from heatstroke three blocks [...]

For years, the accepted maxim among physicians who treat elderly patients has been that hypothyroidism is more common in patients over the age of 65 than in younger patients and [...]

The diagnosis of asthma in older persons may be complicated by a number of factors, including atypical presentations and comorbid conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and congestive heart [...]

Despite guidelines suggesting the prostate-specific antigen test (PSA) does elderly patients more harm than good, US physicians routinely perform PSA screenings on men older than 70. Researchers examined 2003 US [...]

I have been intrigued by two news items this week. A high percentage of the elderly in hospital suffer from malnutrition because nurses do not have the time to feed [...]

The risks of high blood pressure, heart disease, arthritis, and diabetes increase with age. So do the number of medications that Americans use to treat these conditions. An estimated 25 [...]

Warfarin treatment increases the risk of osteoporotic fracture in elderly men, US researchers have found. They concluded that GPs should monitor the bone health of elderly patients on the drug. [...]

What do disabled parking placards, courthouse elevators and medical marijuana have to do with each other? Quite a bit, says the Supreme Court, which this week told a lower court [...]

71% of US adults over age 50 use some kind of alternative medicine such as herbal medicine, a new study has found. While previous research has been limited, this appears [...]

As people age, they may become more dependent on public transportation, but if vision loss is part of the problem, negotiating a public transit system can be just as hard [...]

A retrospective cohort study examined the prescription claims of 765,423 subjects aged 65 and older in the database of a national pharmaceutical benefit manger. Psychotropic drugs and neuromuscular agents were [...]

Medicare prescription drug card discounts officially got under way in early June, only to see Republican lawmakers lash out at Democrats for trying to politicize the program before the fall [...]

Elderly patients in pain led New York City pharmacist Michael Migliore to a new perspective on Western health care and a whole new career based on the Eastern treatment modality [...]

Some Missouri state officials and advocacy groups for the elderly say large generic drugmakers are not participating in the state's prescription drug program. This could lead to higher drug costs [...]

NEW ORLEANS -- Even in patients older than 80 years, treating hypertension is beneficial, according to Dr. Norman M. Kaplan. He pointed to a recent metaanalysis of data from randomized, [...]