Age and ageing
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Access to stroke care in England, Wales and Northern Ireland: the effect of age, gender and weekend admission.
To determine whether access to high-quality stroke care is affected by the age or gender of the patient or by weekend admission. ⋯ There is clear evidence of an age effect on the delivery of stroke care in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, with older patients being less likely to receive care in line with current clinical guidelines. Quality of acute care is also less good for patients admitted at weekends. No systematic evidence for sexism was identified.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
National audit of continence care for older people: management of faecal incontinence.
Faecal incontinence in older people is associated with considerable morbidity but is amenable to successful management. Quality standards in this area were previously subject to a pilot audit in primary, secondary care and care homes to allow providers to compare the care delivered by their service to others and to monitor the development of integrated continence services as set out in the National Service Framework for Older People. This study reports the results of the national audit. ⋯ The results of this audit indicate that the requirement for integrated continence services contained within the National Service Framework for Older People has not yet been met. Basic assessment and care by the professionals directly looking after older persons is often lacking. There is an urgent need to re-establish the fundamentals of continence care into the daily practice of medical and nursing staff, and undoubtedly, action needs to be taken with regard to the establishment of truly integrated, quality services in this neglected area of practice.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
The role of selective decontamination of the digestive tract in acute stroke.
following a stroke, morbidity and mortality is high, with aspiration pneumonia being a common complication. ⋯ high carriage of and colonisation by AGNB was found within this study, which was reduced by the addition of SDD. Although SDD reduced the presence of both organisms and documented episodes of pneumonia, mortality remained unchanged.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Older stroke patients in Europe: stroke care and determinants of outcome.
in order to implement cost-effective stroke services for older patients, it is necessary to identify how stroke care is currently provided for these patients and how provision relates to outcome. ⋯ stroke care varies considerably across European centres, with older people more likely to gain access to organised stroke care in many centres but less likely to receive diagnostic investigations, therapy input and outpatient review. Where there is evidence of age discrimination for access to stroke services, guidelines need to be adopted to ensure patients of all ages receive optimal evidence-based stroke care at all stages of their illness.