The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences
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J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. · Jul 2019
Multimorbidity Patterns, Frailty, and Survival in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.
Frailty and multimorbidity are independent prognostic factors for mortality, but their interaction has not been fully explored. We investigated the importance of multimorbidity patterns in older adults with the same level of frailty phenotype. ⋯ Considering both multimorbidity patterns and frailty is important for identifying older adults at greater risk of mortality. Of the five patterns identified, the neuropsychiatric class was associated with lower survival across all frailty levels.
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J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. · May 2019
Does Combined Osteopenia/Osteoporosis and Sarcopenia Confer Greater Risk of Falls and Fracture Than Either Condition Alone in Older Men? The Concord Health and Ageing in Men Project.
It is unclear whether older men with osteopenia/osteoporosis and sarcopenia (so-called osteosarcopenia) are at greater risk of falls and fractures than those with either condition alone. ⋯ Community-dwelling older men with combined osteopenia/osteoporosis and sarcopenia do not have increased falls and fracture risk compared with those with either condition. Further research is required to clarify whether the term "osteosarcopenia" has any meaning above and beyond either term alone and therefore potential clinical utility for falls and fracture prediction.
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J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. · Apr 2019
Quality of Post-Acute Care in Skilled Nursing Facilities That Disproportionately Serve Black and Hispanic Patients.
Understanding and addressing racial and ethnic disparities in the quality of post-acute care in skilled nursing facilities is an important health policy issue, particularly as the Medicare program initiates value-based payments for these institutions. ⋯ Efforts to address disparities should focus attention on institutions that disproportionately serve minority patients and monitor unintended consequences of value-based payments to skilled nursing facilities.
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J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. · Apr 2019
Mortality in Relation to Changes in a Healthy Aging Index: The Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study.
Baseline scores on a Healthy Aging Index (HAI), including five key physiologic domains, strongly predict health outcomes. This study aimed to characterize 9-year changes in a HAI and explore their relationship to subsequent mortality. ⋯ HAI scores tended to increase with advancing age and stratified mortality rates among participants remaining at year 10. The HAI may prove useful to understand changes in health with aging.
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J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. · Jan 2019
Multicenter StudyDevelopment of a Dynamic Multi-Protein Signature of Postoperative Delirium.
Delirium is common, morbid, and costly, yet its biology is poorly understood. We aimed to develop a multi-protein signature of delirium by identifying proteins associated with delirium from unbiased proteomics and combining them with delirium biomarkers identified in our prior work (interleukin [IL]-6 and IL-2). ⋯ The signature of postoperative delirium is dynamic, with some proteins important before surgery (risk markers) and others at the time of delirium (disease markers). Our dynamic, multi-protein signature for delirium improves our understanding of delirium pathophysiology and may identify patients at-risk of this devastating disorder that threatens independence of older adults.