Drug-related problems in older people after hospital discharge and interventions to reduce them.

Age Ageing. 2010 Jul;39(4):430-8

Authors: Garcia-Caballos M, Ramos-Diaz F, Jimenez-Moleon JJ, Bueno-Cavanillas A

Drug-related problems in older people during care transitions have become a major public health problem since they threaten patient safety. The objective of our paper is to investigate the extent and frequency of drug-related problems (discontinuity, adherence, errors, interactions and adverse events) after hospital discharge and the efficacy of interventions intended to reduce them. We included 20 studies in the review. All of them underlined the high frequency and complexity of drug-related problems in older people after hospital discharge. Interventions proposed to improve care transitions led to diverse and sometimes contradictory results, but the findings suggested that combining hospital discharge measures with home follow-up strategies is of value. We conclude that it is not possible to estimate the frequency of drug-related problem through a review of selected articles or to evaluate the efficacy of the proposed interventions. More research is needed in this field to reduce uncertainty and generate evidence-based recommendations for physicians.

PMID: 20497947 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Predicting the onset of delirium in the post-operative patient.

Age Ageing. 2009 Jul;38(4):368-73

Authors: Noimark D

The number of people over 65 is increasing and those over 65 requiring surgery will likewise increase. Post-operative delirium (POD) affects up to 47% of patients undergoing surgery and is more prevalent in older people. Importantly, POD is associated with increased morbidity, mortality, length of stay and care home placement. There is evidence that specialist geriatrician input reduces POD but to be cost effective, needs to target patients with increased risk for POD. Many factors have been associated with increased risk of POD, including age, cognitive impairment, gender, depression, alcohol, drug use, smoking, co-morbidity, functional status, ASA score and pre-operative biochemical and haematological abnormalities. This article reviews the literature associated with the above factors, considers frailty as a factor and also suggests that POD may be associated with rapidity of onset and severity of the insult to the patient.

PMID: 19297372 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

The course of delirium in acute stroke.

Age Ageing. 2009 Jul;38(4):385-9

Authors: McManus J, Pathansali R, Hassan H, Ouldred E, Cooper D, Stewart R, Macdonald A, Jackson S

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: several studies have assessed delirium post-stroke but conflicting results have been obtained. Also, the natural history and outcome of delirium post-stroke need to be fully elucidated. METHODOLOGY: eligible stroke patients were assessed for delirium on admission and for four consecutive weeks using the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM). Risk factors for delirium were recorded. Our outcome measures were length of stay, inpatient mortality and discharge destination. RESULTS: of 110 eligible patients, 82 were recruited over 7 months. Delirium was detected in 23 patients (28%); 21 of these were delirious on their first assessment. Sixty-nine per cent of patients who had four weekly assessments were delirious at 4 weeks. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed, and two models were identified. With unsafe swallow in the analysis, delirium was associated with an unsafe swallow on admission (OR 28.4, P<0.001), Barthel score < 10 (OR 32.1, P = 0.004) and poor vision pre-stroke (OR 110.8, P = 0.01). With unsafe swallow removed from the analysis, delirium was associated with an admission C-reactive protein (CRP) > 5 mg/l (OR 10.2, P = 0.009), Barthel score < 10 (OR 46.5, P = 0.001) and poor vision pre-stroke (OR 85.2, P = 0.01). Delirious patients had a higher mortality (30.4% vs. 1.7%, P<0.001), longer length of stay (62.2 vs. 28.9 days, P<0.001) and increased risk of institutionalisation (43.7 vs. 5.2%, OR 14, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: delirium is common post-stroke. Most cases develop at stroke onset and remain delirious for an appreciable period. Delirium onset is associated with stroke severity (low admission Barthel), unsafe swallow on admission, poor vision pre-stroke and a raised admission CRP. Delirium is a marker of poor prognosis.

PMID: 19383773 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Non-pharmacological interventions in the prevention of delirium.

Age Ageing. 2009 Jul;38(4):374-9

Authors: Tabet N, Howard R

Delirium is a serious and common disorder especially among older people on inpatients units. Numerous modifiable or manageable delirium risk factors have been identified. As a result, there is now a widespread notion that many cases of delirium can be prevented. In this review, published data evaluating non-pharmacological interventions for delirium prevention were assessed in relation to their efficacy. Currently, most published studies are based on direct targeting of risk factors and/or introduction of educational programmes to increase staff knowledge and awareness. However, there continues to be a dearth of randomised controlled trials evaluating non-pharmacological interventions, partly because of the inherent difficulties associated with delirium research in general and with the evaluation of non-pharmacological interventions in particular. Instead, many of the available studies have been observational or non-randomised in nature. Nevertheless, the majority of these support a role for non-pharmacological interventions in delirium prevention. While more research is certainly needed, the majority of available data are based on best practice protocols, guidelines and interventions. Hence, a consistent and concerted effort is now justified to introduce non-pharmacological prevention strategies across units to help tackle the increasingly prevalent delirium among older people.

PMID: 19460856 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Heyde syndrome: a common diagnosis in older patients with severe aortic stenosis.

Age Ageing. 2009 May;38(3):267-70; discussion 251

Authors: Massyn MW, Khan SA

Heyde syndrome is a triad of aortic stenosis, an acquired coagulopathy and anaemia due to bleeding from intestinal angiodysplasia. The evidence that aortic stenosis is the root cause of this coagulopathy is compelling. Resolution of anaemia usually follows aortic valve replacement. This article discusses studies linking aortic stenosis with other conditions in the triad as well as diagnosis and management of this complex pathology.

PMID: 19276092 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Persistent delirium in older hospital patients: a systematic review of frequency and prognosis.

Age Ageing. 2009 Jan;38(1):19-26

Authors: Cole MG, Ciampi A, Belzile E, Zhong L

BACKGROUND: one explanation for the poor prognosis of delirium among older hospital patients may be that many of these patients do not recover from delirium. We sought to determine the frequency and prognosis of persistent delirium (PerD) in older hospital patients by systematically reviewing original research on this topic. METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched for potentially relevant articles. The bibliographies of relevant articles were searched for additional references. Eighteen reports (involving 1,322 patients with delirium) met the following seven inclusion criteria: original research published in English or French, prospective study design, study population of at least 20 hospital patients, patients aged 50 years or more, follow-up of at least 1 week, acceptable definition of delirium at enrollment and included at least one assessment for PerD at discharge or later. The methods of each study were assessed according to the six criteria for prognostic studies described by the Evidence-Based Medicine Working Group. Information about the sample origin and size, age, proportion with dementia, criteria for delirium, timing of follow-up assessments, criteria for PerD, proportion with PerD and prognosis of PerD was systematically abstracted from each report, tabulated and combined using standard meta-analysis techniques. RESULTS: the combined proportions with PerD at discharge, 1, 3 and 6 months were 44.7% (95% CI 26.8%, 63.7%), 32.8% (95% CI 18.4%, 47.2%), 25.6% (95% CI 7.9%, 43.4%) and 21% (95% CI 1.4%, 40.6%), respectively. The outcomes (mortality, nursing home placement, function, cognition) of patients with PerD were consistently worse than the outcomes of patients who had recovered from delirium. CONCLUSION: PerD in older hospital patients is frequent, appears to be associated with adverse outcomes and may account for the poor prognosis of delirium in this population. These findings have potentially important implications for clinical practice and research.

PMID: 19017678 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies using the STRATIFY tool for prediction of falls in hospital patients: how well does it work?

Age Ageing. 2008 Nov;37(6):621-7

Authors: Oliver D, Papaioannou A, Giangregorio L, Thabane L, Reizgys K, Foster G

BACKGROUND: STRATIFY is a prediction tool developed for use in for hospital inpatients, using a 0-5 score to predict patients who will fall. It has been widely used as part of hospital fall prevention plans, but it is not clear how good its operational utility is in a variety of settings. OBJECTIVES: (i) to describe the predictive validity of STRATIFY for identifying hospital inpatients who will fall via systematic review and descriptive analysis, based on its use in several prospective cohort studies of hospital inpatients; (ii) to describe the predictive validity of STRATIFY among inpatients in geriatric rehabilitation via meta-analysis and (iii) in turn, to help practitioners and institutions wishing to implement interventions to prevent in-hospital falls. METHODS: a systematic literature review of prospective validation studies of STRATIFY for falls prediction in hospital inpatients. For inclusion, studies must report prospective validation cohorts, with sufficient data for calculation of sensitivity (SENS), specificity (SPEC), negative and positive predictive value (NPV and PPV), total predictive accuracy (TPA) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). We performed meta-analysis using precision-weighted fixed- and random-effects models using studies that evaluated STRATIFY among geriatric rehabilitation inpatients. MEASUREMENTS: key features of the patient population, setting, study design and numbers of falls/fallers were abstracted. SENS, SPEC, PPV, NPV, TPA and 95% CI were reported for each cohort. Pooled values and chi-squared test for homogeneity were reported for a meta-analysis of studies conducted in geriatric rehabilitation settings. RESULTS: forty-one papers were identified by the search, with eight ultimately eligible for inclusion in the systematic review and four for inclusion in the meta-analysis. The predictive validity of STRATIFY, using a random-effects model, for the four studies involving geriatric patients was as follows: SENS 67.2 (95% CI 60.8, 73.6), SPEC 51.2 (95% CI 43.0, 59.3), PPV 23.1 (95% CI 14.9, 31.2), NPV 86.5 (95% CI 78.4, 94.6). The Q((3)) test for homogeneity was not significant for SENS at P = 0.36, but it was significant at P < 0.01 for SPEC, PPV and NPV. TPA across all four studies varied from 43.2 to 60.0. CONCLUSION: the current study reveals a relatively high NPV and low PPV and TPA for the STRATIFY instrument, suggesting that it may not be optimal for identifying high-risk individuals for fall prevention. Further, the study demonstrates that population and setting affect STRATIFY performance.

PMID: 18829693 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

The effect of bedrails on falls and injury: a systematic review of clinical studies.

Age Ageing. 2008 Jul;37(4):368-78

Authors: Healey F, Oliver D, Milne A, Connelly JB

BACKGROUND: around one-fourth of all falls in healthcare settings are falls from bed. The role of bedrails in falls prevention is controversial, with a prevailing orthodoxy that bedrails are harmful and ineffective. OBJECTIVE: to summarise and critically evaluate evidence on the effect of bedrails on falls and injury DESIGN: systematic literature review using the principles of QuoRoM guidance. Setting and SUBJECTS: adult healthcare settings Review METHODS: using the keyword, bedrail, and synonyms, databases were searched from 1980 to June 2007 for direct injury from bedrails or where falls, injury from falls, or any other effects were related to bedrail use. RESULTS: 472 papers were located; 24 met the criteria. Three bedrail reduction studies identified significant increases in falls or multiple falls, and one found that despite a significant decrease in falls in the discontinue-bedrails group, this group remained significantly more likely to fall than the continue-bedrails group; one case-control study found patients who had their bedrails raised significantly less likely to fall; one retrospective survey identified a significantly lower rate of injury and head injury in falls with bedrails up. Twelve papers described direct injury from bedrails. DISCUSSION: it is difficult to perform conventional clinical trials of an intervention already embedded in practice, and all included studies had methodological limitations. However, this review concludes that serious direct injury from bedrails is usually related to use of outmoded designs and incorrect assembly rather than being inherent, and bedrails do not appear to increase the risk of falls or injury from falls.

PMID: 18495686 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]