scholarly journals How Do Community-Dwelling Persons with Alzheimer Disease Fall Falls in the FINALEX Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niko M. Perttila ◽  
Hannareeta Öhman ◽  
Timo E. Strandberg ◽  
Hannu Kautiainen ◽  
Minna Raivio ◽  
...  

Background: People with dementia are at high risk for falls. However, little is known of the features causing falls in Alzheimer disease (AD). Our aim was to investigate how participants with AD fall. Methods: In the FINALEX (Finnish Alzheimer Disease Exercise Trial) study, participants’ (n = 194) falls were followed up for 1 year by diaries kept by their spouses. Results: The most common reason for falls (n = 355) was stumbling (n = 61). Of the falls, 123 led to injuries, 50 to emergency department visits, and 13 to fractures. The participants without falls (n = 103) were younger and had milder dementia than those with 1 (n = 34) or ≥2 falls (n = 57). Participants with a Mini Mental State Examination score of around 10 points were most prone to fall. In adjusted regression models, good nutritional status, good physical functioning, and use of antihypertensive medication (incident rate ratio [IRR] 0.68, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.54–0.85) protected against falls, whereas fall history (IRR 2.71, 95% CI 2.13–3.44), osteoarthritis, diabetes mellitus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, higher number of drugs, drugs with anticholinergic properties, psychotropics, and opioids (IRR 4.27, 95% CI 2.92–6.24) were risk factors for falls. Conclusions: Our study provides a detailed account on how and why people with AD fall, suggesting several risk and protective factors.

BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. e038415
Author(s):  
Jennifer Johnston ◽  
Jo Longman ◽  
Dan Ewald ◽  
Jonathan King ◽  
Sumon Das ◽  
...  

IntroductionThe proportion of potentially preventable hospitalisations (PPH) which are actually preventable is unknown, and little is understood about the factors associated with individual preventable PPH. The Diagnosing Potentially Preventable Hospitalisations (DaPPHne) Study aimed to determine the proportion of PPH for chronic conditions which are preventable and identify factors associated with chronic PPH classified as preventable.SettingThree hospitals in NSW, Australia.ParticipantsCommunity-dwelling patients with unplanned hospital admissions between November 2014 and June 2017 for congestive heart failure (CHF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes complications or angina pectoris. Data were collected from patients, their general practitioners (GPs) and hospital records.Outcome measuresAssessments of the preventability of each admission by an Expert Panel.Results323 admissions were assessed for preventability: 46% (148/323) were assessed as preventable, 30% (98/323) as not preventable and 24% (77/323) as unclassifiable. Statistically significant differences in proportions preventable were found between the three study sites (29%; 47%; 58%; p≤0.001) and by primary discharge diagnosis (p≤0.001).Significant predictors of an admission being classified as preventable were: study site; final principal diagnosis of CHF; fewer diagnoses on discharge; shorter hospital stay; GP diagnosis of COPD; GP consultation in the last 12 months; not having had a doctor help make the decision to go to hospital; not arriving by ambulance; patient living alone; having someone help with medications and requiring help with daily tasks.ConclusionsThat less than half the chronic PPH were assessed as preventable, and the range of factors associated with preventability, including site and discharge diagnosis, are important considerations in the validity of PPH as an indicator. Opportunities for interventions to reduce chronic PPH include targeting patients with CHF and COPD, and the provision of social welfare and support services for patients living alone and those requiring help with daily tasks and medication management.


2005 ◽  
Vol 11 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 86-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Th Vontetsianos ◽  
P Giovas ◽  
Th Katsaras ◽  
A Rigopoulou ◽  
G Mpirmpa ◽  
...  

Eighteen well motivated patients with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, who had had at least four hospitalizations during the previous two years, were included in a home-based telemedicine study. A visiting nurse was equipped with a case containing a laptop computer and a number of medical devices, including an electrocardiogram recorder, spirometer, oximeter and blood pressure monitor. It also contained a videoconference camera, for realtime audiovisual connection with the hospital using the patient's TV set. A single ISDN line (128 kbit/s) was installed in each house before the study began. After nine months, there was a decrease in hospitalizations, emergency department visits and use of health services. The patient's disease knowledge and self-management also improved. It seems likely that adopting telemedicine in everyday clinical practice could substantially improve the care of chronically ill patients.


2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 1701567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Rose ◽  
Laura Istanboulian ◽  
Lise Carriere ◽  
Anna Thomas ◽  
Han-Byul Lee ◽  
...  

We sought to evaluate the effectiveness of a multi-component, case manager-led exacerbation prevention/management model for reducing emergency department visits. Secondary outcomes included hospitalisation, mortality, health-related quality of life, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) severity, COPD self-efficacy, anxiety and depression.Two-centre randomised controlled trial recruiting patients with ≥2 prognostically important COPD-associated comorbidities. We compared our multi-component intervention including individualised care/action plans and telephone consults (12-weekly then 9-monthly) with usual care (both groups). We used zero-inflated Poisson models to examine emergency department visits and hospitalisation; Cox proportional hazard model for mortality.We randomised 470 participants (236 intervention, 234 control). There were no differences in number of emergency department visits or hospital admissions between groups. We detected difference in emergency department visit risk, for those that visited the emergency department, favouring the intervention (RR 0.74, 95% CI 0.63–0.86). Similarly, risk of hospital admission was lower in the intervention group for those requiring hospital admission (RR 0.69, 95% CI 0.54–0.88). Fewer intervention patients died (21 versus 36) (HR 0.56, 95% CI 0.32–0.95). No differences were detected in other secondary outcomes.Our multi-component, case manager-led exacerbation prevention/management model resulted in no difference in emergency department visits, hospital admissions and other secondary outcomes. Estimated risk of death (intervention) was nearly half that of the control.


2019 ◽  
Vol 98 (5) ◽  
pp. 534-540 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Takeuchi ◽  
K. Matsumoto ◽  
M. Furuta ◽  
S. Fukuyama ◽  
T. Takeshita ◽  
...  

Although they are known to share pathophysiological processes, the relationship between periodontitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is not fully understood. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that periodontitis is associated with a greater risk of development of COPD, when smoking is taken into account. The analysis in a 5-y follow-up population-based cohort study was based on 900 community-dwelling Japanese adults (age: 68.8 ± 6.3 [mean ± SD], 46.0% male) without COPD aged 60 or older with at least 1 tooth. Participants were classified into 3 categories according to baseline periodontitis severity (no/mild, moderate, and severe). COPD was spirometrically determined by a fixed ratio of <0.7 for forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC) and by FEV1/FVC below the lower limit of normal. Poisson regression was used to calculate the relative risk (RR) of developing COPD according to the severity of periodontitis. The population attributable fraction (PAF) was also calculated. During follow-up, 22 (2.4%) subjects developed COPD. Compared with no/mild periodontitis subjects, a significantly increased risk of COPD occurred among severe periodontitis subjects (RR = 3.55; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18 to 10.67), but no significant differences were observed between the no/mild and moderate categories (RR = 1.48; 95% CI, 0.56 to 3.90). After adjustment for potential confounders, including smoking intensity, the relationship between severe periodontitis and risk of COPD remained significant (RR = 3.51; 95% CI, 1.15 to 10.74). Likewise, there was a positive association of periodontitis severity with risk of COPD ( P for trend = 0.043). The PAF for COPD due to periodontitis was 22.6%. These data highlight the potential importance of periodontitis as a risk factor for COPD.


2004 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 427-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Lajoie ◽  
Andrée Laberge ◽  
Germain Lebel ◽  
Louis-Philippe Boulet ◽  
Marie Demers ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND:Asthma education should be offered with priority to populations with the highest asthma-related morbidity. In the present study, the aim was to identify populations with high-morbidity for asthma from the Quebec Health Insurance Board Registry, a large administrative database, to help the Quebec Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Network target its interventions.METHODS:All emergency department (ED) visits for asthma were analyzed over a one-year period, considering individual and medical variables. Age- and sex-adjusted rates, as well as standardized rate ratios related to the overall Quebec rate, among persons zero to four years of age and five to 44 years of age were determined for 15 regions and 163 areas served by Centres Locaux de Services Communautaires (CLSC). The areas with rates 50% to 300% higher (P<0.01) than the provincial rate were defined as high-morbidity areas. Maps of all CLSC areas were generated for the above parameters.RESULTS:There were 102,551 ED visits recorded for asthma, of which more than 40% were revisits. Twenty-one CLSCs and 32 CLSCs were high-morbidity areas for the zero to four years age group and five to 44 years age group, respectively. For the most part, the high-morbidity areas were located in the south-central region of Quebec. Only 47% of asthmatic patients seen in ED had also seen a physician in ambulatory care.CONCLUSION:The data suggest that a significant portion of the population seeking care at the ED is undiagnosed and undertreated. A map of high-morbidity areas that could help target interventions to improve asthma care and outcomes is proposed.


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