Age and ageing
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Comparative Study
Analgesic prescribing patterns in Norwegian nursing homes from 2000 to 2011: trend analyses of four data samples.
the analgesic drug use has been reported to increase in general in nursing home patients. However, there is insufficient evidence in terms of what agents are used, variations of use over time and to whom these drugs are prescribed. ⋯ the analgesic drug prescription increased significantly from 2000 to 2011, especially the use of paracetamol and strong opioids. We also highlight a possible change from under-prescription of analgesic medication in people with dementia, to an equal amount compared with patients without cognitive impairment.
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reliable delirium risk stratification will aid recognition, anticipation and prevention and will facilitate targeting of resources in clinical practice as well as identification of at-risk patients for research. Delirium risk scores have been derived for acute medicine, but none has been prospectively validated in external cohorts. We therefore aimed to determine the reliability of externally derived risk scores in a consecutive cohort of older acute medicine patients. ⋯ externally derived delirium risk scores performed well in our independent acute medicine population with reliability unaffected by simplification and might therefore facilitate targeting of multicomponent interventions in routine clinical practice.
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Editorial Comment
Pain management in long-term care: are we finally on the right track?
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The James Lind Alliance (JLA) created an approach to elicit the views of those under-represented in research priority exercises. Building on this, the JLA Dementia Priority Setting Partnership was set up as an independent and evidence-based project to identify and prioritise unanswered questions ('uncertainties') about prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care relating to dementia. ⋯ The long (146 questions) and top 10 lists of dementia research priorities provide a focus for researchers, funders and commissioners. They highlight a need for more research into care for people with dementia and carers, and a need for high-quality effectiveness trials in all aspects of dementia research.