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BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Frail elderly people often suffer from a combination of unintentional weight loss and/or low body mass index, as well as a low physical activity level. No studies have investigated the effect of physical training alone or in combination with nutritional intervention on aerobic capacity in frail elderly people. The aim of this pilot study was to determine if a physical training program can affect aerobic capacity in frail elderly people. METHODS: Ninety-six community-dwelling frail elderly people (58 women) were included in the study. Subjects were randomized to four different groups: i) physical training program (aerobic, muscle strength, balance), ii) a nutritional intervention program (individually targeted advice and group sessions), iii) a combination of these interventions, and iv) a control group. At baseline, subjects were screened for aerobic capacity, leg muscle strength, spirometry, heart disease and cardiovascular drugs. Aerobic capacity and leg muscle strength were analyzed immediately after the 3-month intervention period (1st follow-up), and after another 6 months (2nd follow-up). RESULTS: Subjects mean age was 83 years. The mean compliance rate with the physical training program was 65%. There were no observed effects on aerobic capacity measured as maximal workload, or work time, with or without beta-receptor blockade. Subjects in the training groups without lung disease significantly increased maximal work time when compared with subjects with lung disease. Physical training significantly increased lower extremity muscle strength compared with nutrition alone at the 1st follow-up. No serious adverse events occurred during assessment or physical training. CONCLUSIONS: Further studies with larger sample sizes and a more specific aerobic component in the training program are necessary before any further conclusions can be drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: There is a great need to evaluate renal function regularly in elderly people. This study aimed at analyzing renal function in stable, community-dwelling elderly people of 75 years and over, to compare measured and predicted glomerular filtration rates (GFR) and to develop an accurate prediction equation for this age group. METHODS: Forty-five ambulatory elderly people in stable health in ordinary living were randomly selected into four age-classes, aged 75-95. Demographic data, personal activities of daily living, continuous drug prescriptions, body composition, blood pressure and blood chemistry were analysed. GFR was measured as Iohexol clearance based on three timepoints 3, 4 and 7 hours after Iohexol injection. RESULTS: Mean GFR was well preserved in all four ageclasses. The GFR range was 18-83 mL/min and declined with age. The Cockcroft-Gault prediction equation systematically underestimated measured GFR. A new 'GFRA' prediction equation is presented, based on the inverse of serum cystatin C and independent of gender, body surface area, body weight, lean body mass or serum creatinine. The proposed equation underestimated measured GFR with a mean of only 0.1 mL/min, had better precision compared with the Cockcroft-Gault equation, and was evaluated by the method of cross-validation. CONCLUSIONS: GFR exhibits extensive heterogeneity in frail, communitydwelling elderly people. The proposed GFRA was clearly more precise than the Cockcroft-Gault prediction equation in the study group. However, it needs to be validated in a larger population of elderly subjects, including more individuals in stable health with substantially reduced renal function in whom GFR is measured by a reference method with adequate sampling time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: There are few studies published that combine the interventions of physical training and nutrition. The aim of the present study was to describe the impact of a physical and nutritional intervention program for frail community- dwelling elderly people over the age of 75. METHODS: Ninety-six community-dwelling elderly people (58 women) were randomized to four different groups: i) a physical training program (aerobic, muscle strength, balance), ii) a nutritional intervention program (individually targeted advice and group sessions), iii) a combination of these interventions, and iv) a control group. At baseline subjects were screened for physical performance such as muscle strength, balance, mobility and activities of daily living, as well as nutritional aspects such as energy intake, body weight and fat-free mass. These measurements were repeated immediately after the intervention, which lasted for 12 weeks, and after another 6 months. RESULTS: The intention-to-treat analysis indicated significant improvements in lower- extremity muscle strength in both training groups compared with the nutrition group at 1st follow-up. There were small significant changes for some of the balance measurements in the training group without nutrition treatment. The nutrition intervention did not show any significant results. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows the positive effect on lower-extremity muscle strength directly after the intervention. Balance training most probably needs to be more individualized in order to be effective for frail elderly people. Further studies are needed, with larger sample sizes, to investigate the effects of these types of interventions before any further conclusions can be drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of treatment with a portable device called Stimulo on range of motion, muscle strength and spasticity in the ankle joint and its effect on walking ability, balance, activities of daily living (ADL) and health-related quality of life in stroke patients. DESIGN: A randomized controlled pilot study. SETTING: A research centre. SUBJECTS: Ambulatory or partly ambulatory chronic stroke patients with remaining spasticity and/or decreased range of motion in the hemiparetic leg/ankle. Interventions: Standardized and individualized programme including active and passive range of motion of the ankle with a portable device (Stimulo), performed three times a week for 30 min, over a six-week period. MAIN MEASURES: Range of motion, muscle strength, spasticity, gait variables, balance, ADL and health-related quality of life. RESULTS: Eighteen subjects were included in the study with a mean age of 75 years. The compliance rate was 94-99%. There were no significant differences between the groups. CONCLUSION: The study showed no significant effect of an ankle-exercise intervention programme with Stimulo. Further studies with a larger sample size are of importance before any further conclusions can be drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The case of a female patient showing aggressive, compulsive, destructive behaviour, ritualistic faecal smearing, and hyperactivity is presented. The behaviour is long standing, therapy-resistant, and its aetiology is unknown, although it is seemingly associated with chromosomal abnormalities secondary to abnormal plasma factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept frail elderly has been used to highlight the biological, rather than chronological, age. International and national bodies recommend that individuals over age 70 who visit healthcare facilities should be screened for frailty. There are important objections to the concept. Diagnostics: 'Frailty' is used for several completely different types of health problems. There are no useful biomarkers, but more than 60 different published rating methods for frailty, where different methods provide very different prevalence of frailty and also do not identify the same groups of elderly people. There is significant overlap between Clinical Frailty Scale- scores and activity of daily living (ADL)-scores. There is no gold standard method against which published frailty rating scales can be validated. It is unclear when, where and how often screening for frailty should occur in healthcare. Treatment: The evidence for treatment of frailty is very weak. A recent systematic overview found that the 21 included randomised, controlled studies (RCTs) were very heterogeneous as regards inclusion/exclusion criteria, how the condition of frailty was defined, what treatment was given and what health outcomes were assessed. In addition, there are often problems with the quality of the studies. The lack of a clear definition and evidence-based treatment of frailty means that it is inappropriate to introduce assessments of frailty in individual elderly patients in health care., (copyright: © 2022 Akner et al.)

'Undernutrition state' (UNS) is an ominous condition, in particular when associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In this review we discuss pathophysiological mechanisms and how UNS is defined and diagnosed. It seems unlikely that COPD-patients with established UNS have similar potential of reversibility (treatability) upon nutrition interventions as patients at a risk of developing such a condition, i.e. patients with low energy/nutrient intake, since pathophysiological, biochemical and metabolic conditions may differ substantially. We summarize the results of 7 of 17 published randomized controlled trials of nutritional supplementation in COPD-patients with defined UNS in the latest Cochrane review (2012). We thus excluded 10 of 17 trials included in review (2012), mostly because those studies also included patients with 'risk of' UNS. The seven included trials exhibit extensive heterogeneity for all studied variables. Most studies did not show beneficial effects of nutritional supplementation, although some reported minor increase in body weight and physical function of unclear clinical relevance. In contrast to the Cochrane review we conclude that it is difficult to draw firm conclusions regarding the effect of nutritional supplements in patients with COPD and UNS. Improved knowledge in this area is of utmost importance and some factors which should be considered in future studies are suggested., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The international trend »value-based care« (VbC) started with a book by Porter and Olmsted Teisberg in 2006 followed by Porter's 7-point proposal for value-based reform of health care in 2009. VbC may have relevance for delimited, procedure-related health problems with a foreseeable course of development. Most health problems in health care, however, do not involve such delimited problems. VbC is probably not suited as a steering model for chronic health conditions or for multiple health problems. VbC is being rapidly introduced to steer health care without scientific evidence.

Background and Aim: Hip fracture is a leading cause of mortality, morbidity, and disability in older people. The aim of the present study was to prospectively assess the development of physical performance in patients with hip fracture after surgery., Setting: Prospective, observational study in a Swedish university hospital., Methods: Assessment of 102 consecutive patients (65 females), with a mean age of 82 years (range 35-98) without specific inclusion or exclusion criteria. Seven physical functions were assessed using the following 4 measuring methods and 3 rating scales at baseline 7 to 10 days after surgery and follow-up after 4 months (F4): 10-m habitual walking speed (HWS), timed up and go (TUG), 30-second chair stand test (CST), handgrip strength (HGS), Berg balance scale (BBS), functional ambulation category (FAC), and general mobility., Results: The 47% dropout patients were significantly older and more often lived alone or in nursing homes and used indoor walking aids. At baseline, the mean HWS was 0.4/0.5 (females/males) m/s; TUG 53/30 s; CST 4/5 kg, and HGS 17.4/31.2 kg. The medians of BBS and FAC were 20/20 and 4/4, respectively. There were significant mean improvements at F4 for all 4 measured functions, except for HGS in males but for neither of the rating scales. There was a large heterogeneity in all assessed variables, both at baseline and regarding change at 4 months. Therefore, the mean/median results are depicted in figures, showing all individual results at baseline and F4, compared to reference values and discussed in relation to degree of improvement., Conclusion: The observed large heterogeneity at baseline as well as F4 makes it essentially meaningless to report means and median data of functional assessment of patients with hip fracture. There is a strong need for individualization in both health analysis and how the treatment program is targeted, carried through, and evaluated over time in patients with hip fracture.

Objectives: To analyse the effect of nutritional intervention and physical training on energy intake, resting metabolic rate (RMR) and body composition in the frail elderly., Design: Open, randomised, controlled pilot treatment study., Setting: Community-based research centre., Participants: Ninety-six community-dwelling frail elderly people aged 75 and older, 40% men., Intervention: Four treatment arms: i) individual nutritional advice and group sessions on nutrition for the elderly, ii) physical training 2 x 45 minutes per week for 3 months, iii) combined nutritional and physical intervention and iv) control group., Measurements: The outcomes were energy intake (4-day food diary); resting metabolic rate (indirect calorimetry) and body composition (anthropometry) performed at baseline, after 3 months' intervention (completed by 79 individuals), and as a follow-up at 9 months (completed by 64 individuals)., Results: The training group showed a significantly increased RMR at 3 months. Otherwise, there were no observed differences within or between the four groups. There was no correlation over time between energy intake, RMR and fat free mass. The participants with a low energy intake who managed to increase their energy intake during the study ('responders') had a statistically significantly lower BMI (21 vs. 24) and a lower fat percentage (23 vs. 30) at baseline than the 'non-responders'. The 'non-responders' showed a small but statistically significant decrease in body fat percentage at F1, and in body weight, BMI and FFM at 9 months (F3)., Conclusion: Individual nutrition counselling and physical exercise had no effect on energy intake, RMR or fat free mass in community-dwelling frail elderly people aged 75 and older. Interventions in frail elderly people should be targeted according to the needs of the individual patients. The issues of randomisation, targeting and responders in are problematised and discussed.

The chronic multimorbidity in individual elderly people is rarely documented in its entirety in present medical records, neither as cross-sectional overview nor as longitudinal time-course of various health problems. This obviously hampers an integrated clinical analysis. This work was aimed at evaluating the chronic multimorbidity in individual elderly patients and developing a method to map, quantify and grade the prevalence of the multimorbidity. An explorative study in 70 nursing home residents (55 women), mean age 85 was performed. Information on health problems was obtained through history, clinical examination and medical records. A 19-item multimorbidity matrix that maps, quantifies and grades the chronic morbidity in individual patients is presented. The 70 residents exhibited 275 different health problems; the top 3 items being neuropsychiatric, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal ones. The residents had a mean of 17 different chronic health problems and were prescribed a mean of 6.6 continuous medications per day. There was a significant correlation between the number of continuous drug prescriptions and both quantitative and graded multimorbidity-scores. The presented multimorbidity matrix provides a useful taxonomic overview over the health situation in individual multimorbid elderly and constitutes the basis for ongoing work to develop and renew the electronic health record into an "interactive health analysis system".

Background: In the diseased elderly weight loss and malnutrition are common. It is unclear to what degree this is caused by an elevated resting metabolic rate (RMR), a decreased energy intake or a combination of the two., Objective: To measure RMR and nutrient induced thermogenesis (NIT) in chronically diseased elderly living in a nursing home and test for a correlation with fat free mass (FFM), age, energy intake and activities of daily living (ADL)., Design: Explorative study performed in the residents' own apartments. RMR was measured by indirect calorimetry, and NIT was tested by giving the subjects an oral fluid test meal, then measuring metabolic rate again one hour later. Body composition was measured anthropometrically and FFM was calculated. Energy intake was calculated from a five-day record of weighed food. BMR was calculated using four different prediction equations and compared with measured RMR., Results: RMR was 1,174 kcal/d (29.3 kcal/kg FFM/d). The variation in RMR was significantly related to FFM (p < 0.0001). Energy intake was 1,474 kcal/d, (36.5 kcal/kg FFM/d). The energy intake/RMR ratio, was 1.27, and NIT was 15% (0-33%). NIT was not correlated to any of the parameters tested. The equation of Harris and Benedict underestimated BMR by 4%; the WHO/FAO overestimated BMR by 7%; Schofield and an estimate of 20 kcal/kg/d did not significantly differ from the measured mean., Conclusion: RMR was closely correlated to FFM. Variations in NIT could not be explained by any tested parameters. Predicted BMR differed from measured RMR by less than 8% in all methods, but individual variations were large.

Unlabelled: Studies in Swedish nursing-home patients have shown a high prevalence of protein-energy malnutrition. One potential cause for this may be low food intake., Objective: To examine the intake of energy and nutrients in the residents of a nursing home; to investigate changes in dietary intake and body-weight over time and to analyze two-year-mortality., Design: Explorative study. Five-day weighed assessment of food intake repeated three times during 1.5 years. Analysis of body composition at baseline and recording of body weight every third month. Analysis of two-year mortality., Results: Fifty-two residents had three complete dietary assessments. Mean age 84 +/- 7 years, 79% were female. Mean body weight was stable at 61 kg. Mean energy intake at baseline was 1501 kcal/d (25 kcal/kg/d) and mean protein intake was 53 g/d (0.9 g/kg/d). Mean intake of vitamin D, vitamin E, folic acid, selenium and dietary fibre was less than 60% of recommended. At the second assessment intake of energy and many nutrients was higher than at baseline, but at the third assessment intake had decreased. There was no correlation between energy intake and body weight over time. Two-year mortality was 52%. Male gender and low body-weight constituted an increased risk of mortality. Comparing survivors and non-survivors showed that the mean body weight was 9 kg higher in the survivors throughout the study (p=0.02). This group had a relatively lower fat free mass and higher fat mass than the non-survivors. The difference in body composition was only seen in females, possibly due to the low number of males. The survivors had higher intakes of most nutrients but this reached significance only for a few of them. The non-survivors had significantly higher intakes of sucrose., Conclusion: Intake of energy and many nutrients was low in these nursing-home patients, and decreased further after one year, without any change in body weight. The significant positive relation between energy intake and body weight at group level disappeared when analyzing data at an individual level. Male gender and low body weight were associated with increased risk of mortality.