Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
-
To identify factors associated with satisfaction with care for healthcare proxies (HCPs) of nursing home (NH) residents with advanced dementia. ⋯ Better communication, greater resident comfort, no tube feeding, and care in a specialized dementia unit are modifiable factors that may improve satisfaction with care in advanced dementia.
-
Patients aged 65 and older account for 39% of ambulatory visits to internal medicine physicians. This article describes the progress made in training internal medicine residents to care for older Americans. Program directors in internal medicine residency programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education were surveyed in the spring of 2005. ⋯ Training was most often offered in a block format. The mean number of physician faculty per residency program dedicated to teaching geriatric medicine was 3.5 full-time equivalents (FTEs) (range 0-50), compared with a mean of 2.2 FTE faculty in 2002 (P
-
Delirium is a common postoperative complication in older adults associated with adverse events including functional decline, longer lengths of stay, and risk of institutionalization. The purpose of this article is to systematically review preoperative risk factors associated with delirium following noncardiac surgery. A medical literature search was conducted using several bibliographic databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane, PsychInfo), supplemented by a manual search of the references of retrieved articles. ⋯ Missing data and measurement differences did not allow for inferences to be made about other risk factors. Effect-size pooling supports the concept that delirium is a heterogeneous disorder with multiple risk factors. More research is needed to better identify patients at risk for postoperative delirium and to develop preventive strategies.
-
To quantify the burden of bathing disability over time; to determine whether the burden of bathing disability differs according to age, sex, and physical frailty; and to evaluate the relationship between disability in bathing and disability in other essential activities of daily living (ADLs). ⋯ Disability in bathing may serve as a sentinel event in the disabling process. Given the recurrent nature of bathing disability, programs designed to enhance independent bathing will need to focus not only on the prevention of bathing disability, but also on the restoration and maintenance of independent bathing in older persons who become disabled.