Background/Aims: Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in dementia pose great challenges for residents and staff in nursing homes. The Targeted Interdisciplinary Model for Evaluation and Treatment of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms (TIME) has recently in a randomized controlled trial demonstrated reductions in NPS. We explored the participating staff's experiences with the model and how it meets the challenges when dealing with the complexity of NPS.
Methods: Three to six months after the end of the intervention, we interviewed 32 of the caregivers, leaders, and physicians participating in the trial, in five focus groups. We used thematic content analysis.
Results: The analysis yielded two main themes: (1) a systematic reflection method enhanced learning at work; (2) the structure of the approach helped staff to cope with NPS in residents with dementia.
Conclusion: TIME shifts the way of learning for the staff from a traditional to a more innovative and reflection-based learning through a process of learning how to learn at work. The staff's experienced increased coping in their approach to complex problems. Our results emphasise the importance of a structured and biopsychosocial approach to NPS in clinical practice. Future research should explore models for integrating situated learning in daily routines in nursing homes. 相似文献
Human immunodeficiency virus–associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (HIV-PAH) is important to recognize given its association with significant morbidity and mortality. With the introduction of antiretroviral therapy, the focus of disease management has largely shifted from treating immunodeficiency-related opportunistic infections to managing chronic cardiopulmonary complications. Symptoms are nonspecific, and a high index of clinical suspicion is needed to avoid significant delay in the diagnosis of HIV-PAH. Although several viral proteins have been implicated in the pathogenesis of HIV-PAH, the exact mechanism remains uncertain. Further studies are needed to elucidate precise pathogenic mechanisms, early diagnostic tools, and novel therapeutic targets to improve prognosis of this severe complication. 相似文献
To examine the change in physical functional status among persons living with HIV (PLWH) in nursing homes (NHs) and how change varies with age and dementia.
Design
Retrospective cohort study.
Setting
NHs in 14 states in the United States.
Participants
PLWH who were admitted to NHs between 2001 and 2010 and had stays of ≥90 days (N = 3550).
Measurements
We linked Medicaid Analytic eXtract (MAX) and Minimum Data Set (MDS) data for NH residents in the sampled states and years and used them to determine HIV infection. The main outcome was improvement in physical functional status, defined as a decrease of at least 4 points in the activities of daily living (ADL) score within 90 days of NH admission. Independent variables of interest were age and dementia (Alzheimer's disease or other dementia). Multivariate logistic regression was used, adjusting for individual-level covariates.
Results
The average age on NH admission of PLWH was 58. Dementia prevalence ranged from 14.5% in the youngest age group (age <40 years) to 38.9% in the oldest group (age ≥70 years). Overall, 44% of the PLWH experienced ADL improvement in NHs. Controlling for covariates, dementia was related to a significantly lower likelihood of ADL improvement among PLWH in the oldest age group only: the adjusted probability of improvement was 40.6% among those without dementia and 29.3% among those with dementia (P < .01).
Conclusions/relevance
PLWH, especially younger persons, may be able to improve their ADL function after being admitted into NHs. However, with older age, PLWH with dementia are more physically dependent and vulnerable to deterioration of physical functioning in NHs. More and/or specialized care may be needed to maintain physical functioning among this population. Findings from this study provide NHs with information on care needs of PLWH and inform future research on developing interventions to improve care for PLWH in NHs. 相似文献
Current blunt cerebrovascular injury (BCVI) grading grossly differentiates injury characteristics such as luminal stenosis (LS) and aneurysmal disease. The effect of increasing degree of LS beyond the current BCVI grading scale on stroke formation is unknown.
Study Design
BCVI over a 3-year period were retrospectively reviewed. To investigate influence of LS beyond the BCVI grading scale within aneurysmal and non-aneurysmal BCVI, grade 2 BCVI were subdivided into BCVI with ≥ 25% and ≤ 50% LS and BCVI with > 50% and ≤ 99% LS. Grade 3 BCVI were subdivided into BCVI with pseudoaneurysm (PSA) without LS and BCVI with PSA and LS. We hypothesized increased LS beyond the current BCVI grade distinctions would be associated with higher rates of stroke formation.
Results
312 BCVI were included, of which 140 were carotid BCVI and 172 vertebral BCVI. Sixteen carotid BCVI underwent endovascular intervention (EI) and 19 suffered a stroke. In carotid BCVI stroke rates increased sequentially with BCVI grade except in grade 3. There was a stroke rate of 12% in grade 1 carotid BCVI, 18% in grade 2, 6% in grade 3, and 31% in grade 4. In subgroup analysis for grade 2 carotid BCVI, BCVI with > 50% and ≤ 99% LS had higher rates of stroke (22% vs. 15%, p?=?0.44) than BCVI with ≥ 25% and ≤ 50% LS. In subgroup analysis of grade 3 carotid BCVI, BCVI with PSA and LS had higher rates of stroke (9% vs. 4%, p?=?0.48) than BCVI with PSA without LS. Higher rates of EI in grade 2 carotid BCVI with > 50% and ≤ 99% LS (22% vs. 5%, p?=?0.14) and grade 3 carotid BCVI with PSA and LS (35% vs. 4%, p?=?0.01) were noted in subgroup analysis.
Conclusion
Higher percentage LS beyond the currently used BCVI grading scale has a non-significantly increased rate of stroke in both aneurysmal and non-aneurysmal BCVI. Grade 3 BCVI with PSA and LS seems to be a high-risk subgroup. Use of EI confounds modern measurement of stroke risk in higher LS BCVI. 相似文献
ObjectivesEarly diagnosis of cognitive impairment is increasingly emphasized in the literature to facilitate timely preventive interventions. Although bedside cognitive tests such as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) are widely used for such early diagnostic purposes, they may not have comparable performance to a full neuropsychological battery (FNB) in diagnosing early cognitive impairment. This study investigated whether a small subset of neuropsychological tests can be added on to MoCA to match its performance to that of the FNB in discriminating mild cognitive impairment and dementia (MCI/dementia) from normal cognition.DesignCross-sectional diagnostic study.SettingAlzheimer's Disease Centers across the United States.ParticipantsOlder participants (≥50 years) who completed MoCA and the FNB (N = 9187).MeasuresThe study sample was split into two: the derivation sample (n = 1837) was used to develop a brief neuropsychological battery that best discriminated MCI/dementia (using the best-subset approach with 10-fold cross-validation); while the validation sample (n = 7350) verified its actual performance in discriminating MCI/dementia.ResultsA 3-item neuropsychological battery was identified, comprising MoCA, Benson Complex Figure Recall, and Craft Story 21 Delayed Recall. It had excellent performance in discriminating MCI/dementia from normal cognition (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUROC] 90.0%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 89.2%-90.7%), which was comparable to that of the FNB (AUROC 88.4%, 95% CI 87.6%-89.2%). By contrast, MoCA alone had significantly worse AUROC (86.9%, 95% CI 86.0%-87.7%) than that of the FNB.Conclusions/ImplicationsUsing rigorous methods, this study developed a brief neuropsychological battery that maintained the brevity of a bedside cognitive test, while rivaling the diagnostic performance of an FNB in early cognitive impairment. This brief battery offers a viable alternative when the FNB is needed but cannot be feasibly administered in nonspecialty clinics. It can have a wider health systems effect of improving patients’ access to accurate diagnosis in early cognitive impairment and facilitating timely interventions to delay the progression of cognitive impairment. 相似文献
ObjectivesTo map comprehensive investigations of the sundown syndrome (SS), highlighting its key definition and associated characteristics.DesignScoping review of published articles on SS in PubMed, OVID, EMBASE, Scopus, CINAHL, and Science Direct.SettingPost-acute and long-term health care settings.ParticipantsOlder adults aged ≥60 years.MeasuresArticles must present primary data on specific SS behavior, with explicit psychopathological and quantitative outcomes; and/or evening disruptive behavior.ResultsFrom a total number of 460 articles focusing on psychopathology and standardized outcomes of SS, 23 were retained for the final analysis (n = 1210 subjects). The mean age of participants was 63.2 years, and slightly more participants were women. The samples were recruited by convenience from long-term care facilities and tertiary outpatient clinics. The frequency of SS varied from 2% to 82%, without evident difference between genders and race/ethnicity. Generally, the sundown episode occurred during later daytime, when psychomotor alterations and cognitive disturbance manifested repeatedly. The symptomatic manifestations of SS were heterogeneous across the studies. Demographic risk factors were inconsistent. Although some authors have viewed cognitive impairment as a substantive predisposing factor to SS, others supported SS as a predictor of looming cognitive decline. The disrupted circadian rhythm was the most accepted pathophysiology. To date, clinical trials to guide the management of SS with specific pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic approaches are scant.Conclusions and ImplicationsSS can be viewed as a cyclic delirium-like condition affecting the older population around the sunset hour that may last for a few hours. The scarcity of comprehensive studies makes it difficult to determine whether and to what extent it can represent a distinct disease, a prodromal stage of dementia, or an epiphenomenon of incipient or worsening dementia. Extensive gathering of clinical data from multiple health care settings, using uniform measurement tools, is much needed. 相似文献
BackgroundTransplantation of kidneys with vascular anatomical variants remains a challenge. Due to its varying success in regard to graft function after transplantation, these organs have been frequently discarded assuming in advance an unaffordable rate of vascular complications.Patients and methodsWe performed three kidney transplants using organs from deceased donors harboring vascular variants (multiple arteries and short veins), including an unsplittable horseshoe kidney. Different grafts harvested from the same donor aorta, common iliac artery, and inferior vena cava, were used to reconstruct the initial vascular configuration by creating single arterial and venous conduits aimed to simplify the vascular anastomoses in the recipient.ResultsNo post-operative complications were recorded. Warm ischemia times remained comparable to single artery renal allografts. No delayed graft function was noted in any case, and every patient regained normal renal function after transplantation.ConclusionsVascular reconstruction using arterial and venous grafts harvested from the same deceased donor may result a helpful tool to simplify vascular anastomoses during transplantation surgery, thus avoiding their discard in advance, minimizing perioperative complications, and enabling normal graft function rates in the long-term follow-up. The successful outcome obtained by using this approach would help to expand the donor criteria for the inclusion of organs containing vascular anatomical variants. 相似文献
ObjectivesDementia is a progressive incurable life-limiting illness. Previous research suggests end-of-life care for people with dementia should have a symptomatic focus with an effort to avoid burdensome interventions that would not improve quality of life. This study aims to assess the appropriateness of end-of-life care in people who died with dementia in Belgium and to establish relative performance standards by measuring validated population-level quality indicators.DesignWe conducted a retrospective observational study.Setting and ParticipantsWe included all persons deceased with dementia in 2015 in Belgium. Data from 8 administratively collected population-level databases was linked.MeasuresWe used a validated set of 28 quality indicators for end-of-life dementia care. We compared quality indicator scores across 14 healthcare regions to establish relative benchmarks.ResultsIn Belgium in 2015, 10,629 people died with dementia. For indicators of appropriate end-of-life care, people who died with dementia had on average 1.83 contacts with their family physician in the last week before death, whereas 68.4% died at home or in their nursing home of residence. For indicators of inappropriate end-of-life care, 32.4% were admitted to the hospital and 36.3% underwent diagnostic testing in the last 30 days before death, whereas 25.1% died in the hospital. In the last 30 days, emergency department admission varied between 19% and 31%, dispensing of gastric protectors between 18% and 42%, and antihypertensives between 40% and 53% between healthcare regions, with at least 25% of health regions below 46%.Conclusions and ImplicationsOur study found indications of appropriate as well as inappropriate end-of-life care in people with dementia, including high rates of family physician contact, as well as high percentages of diagnostic testing, and emergency department and hospital admissions. We also found high risk-adjusted variation for multiple quality indicators, indicating opportunity for quality improvement in end-of-life dementia care. 相似文献