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| 2. |
- Kapun, Martin, et al.
(författare)
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Genomic analysis of european drosophila melanogaster populations reveals longitudinal structure, continent-wide selection, and previously unknown DNA viruses
- 2020
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Ingår i: Molecular biology and evolution. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0737-4038 .- 1537-1719. ; 37:9, s. 2661-2678
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Genetic variation is the fuel of evolution, with standing genetic variation especially important for short-term evolution and local adaptation. To date, studies of spatiotemporal patterns of genetic variation in natural populations have been challenging, as comprehensive sampling is logistically difficult, and sequencing of entire populations costly. Here, we address these issues using a collaborative approach, sequencing 48 pooled population samples from 32 locations, and perform the first continent-wide genomic analysis of genetic variation in European Drosophila melanogaster. Our analyses uncover longitudinal population structure, provide evidence for continent-wide selective sweeps, identify candidate genes for local climate adaptation, and document clines in chromosomal inversion and transposable element frequencies. We also characterize variation among populations in the composition of the fly microbiome, and identify five new DNA viruses in our samples.
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| 3. |
- Sartelli, Massimo, et al.
(författare)
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Ten golden rules for optimal antibiotic use in hospital settings: the WARNING call to action
- 2023
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Ingår i: WORLD JOURNAL OF EMERGENCY SURGERY. - 1749-7922. ; 18:1
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Antibiotics are recognized widely for their benefits when used appropriately. However, they are often used inappropriately despite the importance of responsible use within good clinical practice. Effective antibiotic treatment is an essential component of universal healthcare, and it is a global responsibility to ensure appropriate use. Currently, pharmaceutical companies have little incentive to develop new antibiotics due to scientific, regulatory, and financial barriers, further emphasizing the importance of appropriate antibiotic use. To address this issue, the Global Alliance for Infections in Surgery established an international multidisciplinary task force of 295 experts from 115 countries with different backgrounds. The task force developed a position statement called WARNING (Worldwide Antimicrobial Resistance National/International Network Group) aimed at raising awareness of antimicrobial resistance and improving antibiotic prescribing practices worldwide. The statement outlined is 10 axioms, or "golden rules," for the appropriate use of antibiotics that all healthcare workers should consistently adhere in clinical practice.
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| 9. |
- Palmer, K, et al.
(författare)
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The potential long-term impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on patients with non-communicable diseases in Europe: consequences for healthy ageing
- 2020
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Ingår i: Aging clinical and experimental research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1720-8319. ; 3332:47, s. 1189-1194
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic have focused on containing SARS-CoV-2 infection and identifying treatment strategies. While controlling this communicable disease is of utmost importance, the long-term effect on individuals with non-communicable diseases (NCD) is significant. Although certain NCDs appear to increase the severity of COVID-19 and mortality risk, SARS-CoV-2 infection in survivors with NCDs may also affect the progression of their pre-existing clinical conditions. Infection containment measures will have substantial short- and long-term consequences; social distancing and quarantine restrictions will reduce physical activity and increase other unhealthy lifestyles, thus increasing NCD risk factors and worsening clinical symptoms. Vitamin D levels might decrease and there might be a rise in mental health disorders. Many countries have made changes to routine management of NCD patients, e.g., cancelling non-urgent outpatient visits, which will have important implications for NCD management, diagnosis of new-onset NCDs, medication adherence, and NCD progression. We may have opportunities to learn from this unprecedented crisis on how to leverage healthcare technologies and improve procedures to optimize healthcare service provision. This article discusses how the COVID-19 outbreak and related infection control measures could hit the most frail individuals, worsening the condition of NCD patients, while further jeopardizing the sustainability of the healthcare systems. We suggest ways to define an integrated strategy that could involve both public institutional entities and the private sector to safeguard frail individuals and mitigate the impact of the outbreak.
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| 10. |
- Poscia, A., et al.
(författare)
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Methodological issues in the observational studies conducted in older population : a narrative review
- 2017
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Ingår i: Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Public Health. - 2282-2305 .- 2282-0930. ; 14:2
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: Well-conducted observational studies may represent valuable tools for getting insight to disease etiology, detecting the effect of age-related changes, and providing an important perspective on health risk factors and disabilities in an aging population. Nevertheless, this kind of research poses several challenges for researchers. The main aim of this narrative review was to address the potential methodological issues in performing the observational studies in the elderly, the factors that influence their participation, and the possible solutions for overcoming the barriers to research in this population.Methods: Comprehensive search for the papers published in the period from January 1st 1980 until 31st July 2016 in English or Italian was conducted through MEDLINE, Scopus and Web of Science electronic databases. Findings from the included papers were finally summarized.Results: In cohort studies, the following barriers were addressed: sample size calculation, ascertainment of the target population, frequency of data collection, exposure determination, multifactorial loss to follow-up (drop-outs), cognitive impairment, definition of confounders, and ethical aspects. Case-control studies were reported to be prone to the issues like ascertainment of cases and controls, willingness to participate, data accuracy, recall bias, issues related to patients' multimorbidity, and cognitive impairment.Conclusions: Important factors to consider in research in elderly people include: precise definition of the study population, well conducted recruitment process, engagement with family and home care staff, cognitive impairment assessment and the consequent relevant ethical and legal issues, relief of participant burden in order to minimize withdrawal, and engagement with the media.
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| 13. |
- van Lier, LI, et al.
(författare)
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Predictors of Societal Costs of Older Care-Dependent Adults Living in the Community in 11 European Countries
- 2019
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Ingår i: Health services insights. - : SAGE Publications. - 1178-6329. ; 12, s. 1178632918820947-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The objective was to identify predictors of societal costs covering formal and informal care utilization by older home care clients in 11 European countries. Methods: Societal costs of 1907 older clients receiving home care for 12 months from the Aged in Home care (AdHoc) study were estimated using the InterRAI Minimum Data Set for Home Care’s (MDS-HC) resource use items. Predictors (medical, functional, and psychosocial domains) of societal costs were identified by performing univariate and multivariate generalized linear model analyses. Results: Mean societal costs per participant were €36 442, ranging from €14 865 in Denmark to €78 836 in the United Kingdom. In the final multivariate model, country, being married, activities of daily living (ADL) dependency, cognitive impairment, limitations of going out, oral conditions, number of medications, arthritis, and cerebro vascular accident (CVA) were significantly associated with societal costs. Conclusions: Of the predictors, ADL dependency and limitations of going out may be modifiable. Developing interventions targeted at improving these conditions may create opportunities to curtail societal costs.
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| 21. |
- Ammenwerth, Elske, et al.
(författare)
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International Comparison of Six Basic eHealth Indicators Across 14 Countries: An eHealth Benchmarking Study
- 2020
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Ingår i: Methods of Information in Medicine. - : Georg Thieme Verlag KG. - 0026-1270 .- 2511-705X. ; 59:S2, s. e46-e63
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Many countries adopt eHealth applications to support patient-centered care. Through information exchange, these eHealth applications may overcome institutional data silos and support holistic and ubiquitous (regional or national) information logistics. Available eHealth indicators mostly describe usage and acceptance of eHealth in a country. The eHealth indicators focusing on the cross-institutional availability of patient-related information for health care professionals, patients, and care givers are rare. Objectives This study aims to present eHealth indicators on cross-institutional availability of relevant patient data for health care professionals, as well as for patients and their caregivers across 14 countries (Argentina, Australia, Austria, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong as a special administrative region of China, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, South Korea, Sweden, Turkey, and the United States) to compare our indicators and the resulting data for the examined countries with other eHealth benchmarks and to extend and explore changes to a comparable survey in 2017. We defined "availability of patient data" as the ability to access data in and to add data to the patient record in the respective country. Methods The invited experts from each of the 14 countries provided the indicator data for their country to reflect the situation on August 1, 2019, as date of reference. Overall, 60 items were aggregated to six eHealth indicators. Results Availability of patient-related information varies strongly by country. Health care professionals can access patients most relevant cross-institutional health record data fully in only four countries. Patients and their caregivers can access their health record data fully in only two countries. Patients are able to fully add relevant data only in one country. Finland showed the best outcome of all eHealth indicators, followed by South Korea, Japan, and Sweden. Conclusion Advancement in eHealth depends on contextual factors such as health care organization, national health politics, privacy laws, and health care financing. Improvements in eHealth indicators are thus often slow. However, our survey shows that some countries were able to improve on at least some indicators between 2017 and 2019. We anticipate further improvements in the future.
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| 22. |
- Calderón-Larrañaga, Amaia, et al.
(författare)
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Multimorbidity and functional impairment-bidirectional interplay, synergistic effects and common pathways
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Internal Medicine. - : Wiley. - 0954-6820 .- 1365-2796. ; 285:3, s. 255-271
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- This review discusses the interplay between multimorbidity (i.e. co-occurrence of more than one chronic health condition in an individual) and functional impairment (i.e. limitations in mobility, strength or cognition that may eventually hamper a person's ability to perform everyday tasks). On the one hand, diseases belonging to common patterns of multimorbidity may interact, curtailing compensatory mechanisms and resulting in physical and cognitive decline. On the other hand, physical and cognitive impairment impact the severity and burden of multimorbidity, contributing to the establishment of a vicious circle. The circle may be further exacerbated by people's reduced ability to cope with treatment and care burden and physicians' fragmented view of health problems, which cause suboptimal use of health services and reduced quality of life and survival. Thus, the synergistic effects of medical diagnoses and functional status in adults, particularly older adults, emerge as central to assessing their health and care needs. Furthermore, common pathways seem to underlie multimorbidity, functional impairment and their interplay. For example, older age, obesity, involuntary weight loss and sedentarism can accelerate damage accumulation in organs and physiological systems by fostering inflammatory status. Inappropriate use or overuse of specific medications and drug-drug and drug-disease interactions also contribute to the bidirectional association between multimorbidity and functional impairment. Additionally, psychosocial factors such as low socioeconomic status and the direct or indirect effects of negative life events, weak social networks and an external locus of control may underlie the complex interactions between multimorbidity, functional decline and negative outcomes. Identifying modifiable risk factors and pathways common to multimorbidity and functional impairment could aid in the design of interventions to delay, prevent or alleviate age-related health deterioration; this review provides an overview of knowledge gaps and future directions.
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| 23. |
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| 24. |
- Carfi, A., et al.
(författare)
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Bone mineral density in adults with Down syndrome
- 2017
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Ingår i: Osteoporosis International. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0937-941X .- 1433-2965. ; 28:10, s. 2929-2934
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- SummaryThis study analyzed data of bone mineral density (BMD) from a large cohort of adults with Down syndrome (DS). BMD was found to decrease with age more rapidly in these subjects than in the general population, exposing adults with DS to an increased risk of osteoporosis and bone fracture.IntroductionDown syndrome (DS) in adulthood presents with a high prevalence of osteoporosis. However, in DS, bone mineral density (BMD) can be underestimated due to short stature. Furthermore, the rate of age-related decline in BMD and its association with gender in DS has been rarely evaluated or compared with the general population. The present study is aimed at assessing the variation of BMD with age and gender in a sample of adults with DS and to compare these data with those of the general population, after adjusting for anthropometric differences.MethodsAdults with DS, aged 18 or older, were assessed dual-energy-X-ray-absorptiometry (DXA) at the femoral neck and at the lumbar spine. They were compared with the general population enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2009-2010 dataset. Bone mineral apparent density (BMAD) was calculated for each individual.ResultsDXA was evaluated in 234 subjects with DS (mean age 36.93 +/- 11.83 years, ranging from 20 to 69 years; 50.4% females). In the lumbar spine both mean BMD (DS 0.880 +/- 0.141 vs. NHANES 1.062 +/- 0.167, p < 0.001) and BMAD (DS 0.138 +/- 0.020 vs. NHANES 0.152 +/- 0.020, p < 0.001) were significantly lower in the DS sample than in the NAHNES cohort. The same trend was observed at the femoral neck in both BMD (DS 0.658 +/- 0.128 vs. NHANES 0.835 +/- 0.137, p < 0.001) and BMAD (DS 0.151 +/- 0.030 vs. NHANES 0.159 +/- 0.028, p < 0.001). Age was associated with lower femoral neck BMAD in both samples; importantly, this association was significantly stronger in the DS sample. In the lumbar spine region, no significant association between BMAD and age could be observed in both samples.ConclusionsAdults with DS have lower bone mineral density compared to the general population and they experience a steeper decline with age. Early screening programs are needed in DS population.
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| 31. |
- Giovannini, Silvia, et al.
(författare)
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Polypharmacy in Home Care in Europe : Cross-Sectional Data from the IBenC Study
- 2018
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Ingår i: Drugs & Aging. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1170-229X .- 1179-1969. ; 35:2, s. 145-152
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Home care (HC) patients are characterized by a high level of complexity, which is reflected by the prevalence of multimorbidity and the correlated high drug consumption. This study assesses prevalence and factors associated with polypharmacy in a sample of HC patients in Europe. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional analysis on 1873 HC patients from six European countries participating in the Identifying best practices for care-dependent elderly by Benchmarking Costs and outcomes of community care (IBenC) project. Data were collected using the interResident Assessment Instrument (interRAI) instrument for HC. Polypharmacy status was categorized into three groups: non-polypharmacy (0-4 drugs), polypharmacy (5-9 drugs), and excessive polypharmacy (C10 drugs). Multinomial logistic regressions were used to identify variables associated with polypharmacy and excessive polypharmacy. Results Polypharmacy was observed in 730 (39.0%) HC patients and excessive polypharmacy in 433 (23.1%). As compared with non-polypharmacy, excessive polypharmacy was directly associated with chronic disease but also with female sex (odds ratio [OR] 1.58; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.17-2.13), pain (OR 1.51; 95% CI 1.15-1.98), dyspnea (OR 1.37; 95% CI 1.01-1.89), and falls (OR 1.55; 95% CI 1.01-2.40). An inverse association with excessive polypharmacy was shown for age (OR 0.69; 95% CI 0.56-0.83). Conclusions Polypharmacy and excessive polypharmacy are common among HC patients in Europe. Factors associated with polypharmacy status include not only co-morbidity but also specific symptoms and age.
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| 32. |
- Joling, Karlijn J., et al.
(författare)
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Quality indicators for community care for older people : A systematic review
- 2018
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 13:1
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Health care systems that succeed in preventing long term care and hospital admissions of frail older people may substantially save on their public spending. The key might be found in high-quality care in the community. Quality Indicators (QIs) of a sufficient methodological level are a prerequisite to monitor, compare, and improve care quality. This systematic review identified existing QIs for community care for older people and assessed their methodological quality.Methods Relevant studies were identified by searches in electronic reference databases and selected by two reviewers independently. Eligible publications described the development or application of QIs to assess the quality of community care for older people. Information about the QIs, the study sample, and specific setting was extracted. The methodological quality of the QI sets was assessed with the Appraisal of Indicators through Research and Evaluation (AIRE) instrument. A score of 50% or higher on a domain was considered to indicate high methodological quality. Results Searches resulted in 25 included articles, describing 17 QI sets with 567 QIs. Most indicators referred to care processes (80%) and measured clinical issues (63%), mainly about follow-up, monitoring, examinations and treatment. About two-third of the QIs focussed on specific disease groups. The methodological quality of the indicator sets varied considerably. The highest overall level was achieved on the domain 'Additional evidence, formulation and usage' (51%), followed by 'Scientific evidence' (39%) and 'Stakeholder involvement' (28%).Conclusion A substantial number of QIs is available to assess the quality of community care for older people. However, generic QIs, measuring care outcomes and non-clinical aspects are relatively scarce and most QI sets do not meet standards of high methodological quality. This study can support policy makers and clinicians to navigate through a large number of QIs and select QIs for their purposes.
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| 35. |
- Marengoni, A, et al.
(författare)
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Improving Public Awareness of Multimorbidity
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. - : Elsevier BV. - 1538-9375 .- 1525-8610. ; 18:5, s. 372-373
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 39. |
- Onder, Graziano, et al.
(författare)
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Deprescribing in Nursing Home Residents on Polypharmacy : Incidence and Associated Factors
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. - : Elsevier BV. - 1525-8610 .- 1538-9375. ; 20:9, s. 1116-1120
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: To assess 1-year incidence and factors related to deprescribing in nursing home (NH) residents in Europe. Design: Longitudinal multicenter cohort study based on data from the Services and Health for Elderly in Long TERm care (SHELTER) study. Setting: NHs in Europe and Israel. Participants: 1843 NH residents on polypharmacy. Methods: Polypharmacy was defined as the concurrent use of 5 or more medications. Deprescribing was defined as a reduction in the number of medications used over the study period. Residents were followed for 12 months. Results: Residents in the study sample were using a mean number of 8.6 (standard deviation 2.9) medications at the baseline assessment. Deprescribing was observed in 658 residents (35.7%). Cognitive impairment (mild/moderate impairment vs intact, odds ratio [OR] 1.41, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11-1.79; severe impairment vs intact, OR 1.60, 95% CI 1.23-2.09), presence of the geriatrician within the facility staff (OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.15-1.72), and number of medications used at baseline (OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.06-1.14) were associated with higher probabilities of deprescribing. In contrast, female gender (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.61-0.96), heart failure (OR 0.69, 95% CI 0.53-0.89), and cancer (OR 0.64, 95% CI 0.45-0.90) were associated with a lower probability of deprescribing. Conclusions and Implications: Deprescribing is common in NH residents on polypharmacy, and it is associated with individual and organizational factors. More evidence is needed on deprescribing, and clear strategies on how to withdraw medications should be defined in the future.
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| 42. |
- Palmer, K., et al.
(författare)
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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANAEMIA AND FRAILTY : A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS OF OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES
- 2018
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Ingår i: The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1279-7707 .- 1760-4788. ; 22:8, s. 965-974
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: There is increasing evidence that frailty may play a role in chronic diseases, but the associations with specific chronic disorders are still unclear. Objectives: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis assessing the association of anaemia and frailty in observational studies. Methods: The review was performed according to PRISMA guidelines. We searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase from 01/01/2002-10/09/2017. Pooled estimates were obtained through random effect models and Mantel-Haenszel weighting. Homogeneity was assessed with the I2 statistic. Publication bias was assessed with Egger's and Begg's tests. Results: Nineteen studies were included; two longitudinal, seventeen cross-sectional. All studies except three reported an association between anaemia and frailty. The pooled prevalence of prefrailty in individuals with anaemia was 49% (95% CI=38-59%; I2=89.96%) and 24% (95% CI=17-31%; I2= 94.78%) for frailty. Persons with anaemia had more than a twofold odds of frailty (pooled OR=2.24 95% CI=1.53-3.30; I2=91.8%). Only two studies longitudinally examined the association between anaemia and frailty, producing conflicting results. Conclusions: Frailty and prefrailty are common in anaemic persons. Older persons with anaemia have more than a two-fold increased odds of frailty. These results may have clinical implications, as they identify the need to assess frailty in anaemic people and investigate any potential negative effects associated with the co-occurrence of both conditions. Longitudinal research that examines temporal changes in anaemia and effect of treatment are needed to further clarify the relationship between anaemia and frailty.
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| 49. |
- Vetrano, DL, et al.
(författare)
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Frailty detection among primary care older patients through the Primary Care Frailty Index (PC-FI)
- 2023
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Ingår i: Scientific reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 13:1, s. 3543-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The prompt identification of frailty in primary care is the first step to offer personalized care to older individuals. We aimed to detect and quantify frailty among primary care older patients, by developing and validating a primary care frailty index (PC-FI) based on routinely collected health records and providing sex-specific frailty charts. The PC-FI was developed using data from 308,280 primary care patients ≥ 60 years old part of the Health Search Database (HSD) in Italy (baseline 2013–2019) and validated in the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K; baseline 2001–2004), a well-characterized population-based cohort including 3363 individuals ≥ 60 years old. Potential health deficits part of the PC-FI were identified through ICD-9, ATC, and exemption codes and selected through an optimization algorithm (i.e., genetic algorithm), using all-cause mortality as the main outcome for the PC-FI development. The PC-FI association at 1, 3 and 5 years, and discriminative ability for mortality and hospitalization were tested in Cox models. The convergent validity with frailty-related measures was verified in SNAC-K. The following cut-offs were used to define absent, mild, moderate and severe frailty: < 0.07, 0.07–0.14, 0.14–0.21, and ≥ 0.21. Mean age of HSD and SNAC-K participants was 71.0 years (55.4% females). The PC-FI included 25 health deficits and showed an independent association with mortality (hazard ratio range 2.03–2.27; p < 0.05) and hospitalization (hazard ratio range 1.25–1.64; p < 0.05) and a fair-to-good discriminative ability (c-statistics range 0.74–0.84 for mortality and 0.59–0.69 for hospitalization). In HSD 34.2%, 10.9% and 3.8% were deemed mildly, moderately, and severely frail, respectively. In the SNAC-K cohort, the associations between PC-FI and mortality and hospitalization were stronger than in the HSD and PC-FI scores were associated with physical frailty (odds ratio 4.25 for each 0.1 increase; p < 0.05; area under the curve 0.84), poor physical performance, disability, injurious falls, and dementia. Almost 15% of primary care patients ≥ 60 years old are affected by moderate or severe frailty in Italy. We propose a reliable, automated, and easily implementable frailty index that can be used to screen the primary care population for frailty.
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| 50. |
- Vetrano, DL, et al.
(författare)
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Frailty detection among primary care older patients through the Primary Care Frailty Index (PC-FI)
- 2023
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Ingår i: Scientific reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 13:1, s. 3543-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The prompt identification of frailty in primary care is the first step to offer personalized care to older individuals. We aimed to detect and quantify frailty among primary care older patients, by developing and validating a primary care frailty index (PC-FI) based on routinely collected health records and providing sex-specific frailty charts. The PC-FI was developed using data from 308,280 primary care patients ≥ 60 years old part of the Health Search Database (HSD) in Italy (baseline 2013–2019) and validated in the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K; baseline 2001–2004), a well-characterized population-based cohort including 3363 individuals ≥ 60 years old. Potential health deficits part of the PC-FI were identified through ICD-9, ATC, and exemption codes and selected through an optimization algorithm (i.e., genetic algorithm), using all-cause mortality as the main outcome for the PC-FI development. The PC-FI association at 1, 3 and 5 years, and discriminative ability for mortality and hospitalization were tested in Cox models. The convergent validity with frailty-related measures was verified in SNAC-K. The following cut-offs were used to define absent, mild, moderate and severe frailty: < 0.07, 0.07–0.14, 0.14–0.21, and ≥ 0.21. Mean age of HSD and SNAC-K participants was 71.0 years (55.4% females). The PC-FI included 25 health deficits and showed an independent association with mortality (hazard ratio range 2.03–2.27; p < 0.05) and hospitalization (hazard ratio range 1.25–1.64; p < 0.05) and a fair-to-good discriminative ability (c-statistics range 0.74–0.84 for mortality and 0.59–0.69 for hospitalization). In HSD 34.2%, 10.9% and 3.8% were deemed mildly, moderately, and severely frail, respectively. In the SNAC-K cohort, the associations between PC-FI and mortality and hospitalization were stronger than in the HSD and PC-FI scores were associated with physical frailty (odds ratio 4.25 for each 0.1 increase; p < 0.05; area under the curve 0.84), poor physical performance, disability, injurious falls, and dementia. Almost 15% of primary care patients ≥ 60 years old are affected by moderate or severe frailty in Italy. We propose a reliable, automated, and easily implementable frailty index that can be used to screen the primary care population for frailty.
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