老年急症内科住院患者肺动脉血栓栓塞调查

目的前瞻性地观察老年内科急症住院患者90 d肺动脉血栓栓塞(肺栓塞)的患病率。方法本研究为前瞻性多中心描述性研究,自2006年6月～2007年1 2月在北京等地区41个参研中心连续入选符合标准的患者共626例,分别于入选第3周及入选第90天随访。入选标准为年龄≥60岁,卧床≥3 d且伴有下列疾病之一者:慢性心力衰竭(心功能:NYHAⅢ～Ⅳ级)、急性心力衰竭、呼吸衰竭、急性感染性疾病、急性风湿性疾病、脑卒中、急性冠状动脉综合征。近期有外科手术或外伤者除外。观察终点事件为客观检查证实的肺栓塞、静脉血栓栓塞及全因死亡。结果剔除数据不完整的病例后,用于统计分析的共607例,男性占64.3%,平均年龄(77.2±7.6)岁。90 d随访期间确诊肺栓塞1 5例,占2.5%,均发生在入选后3周内,其中致死性肺栓塞2例,占13.3%。静脉血栓栓塞症59例,占9.7%;死亡41例,占6.8%。结论我国老年内科急症住院患者90 d内肺栓塞患病率与既往在白种人中观察得到的数据相近,在临床实践中应引起重视。如何进行安全有效的预防是我们面临的重要问题。     

Depression and medical illness

Depression is the most common psychiatric complication of severe medical illness, and it occurs in about 20% of cases. Diagnosis of depression in patients with serious medical illness requires modified criteria. Treatment also must be adjusted for patients with such dual diagnoses.     

Serum anticholinergic activity changes with acute illness in elderly medical patients

BACKGROUND: Elevated serum anticholinergic activity levels have been associated with delirium in cross-sectional studies of ill older persons. This study used serial measures of serum anticholinergic activity levels to determine whether these levels change following illness resolution, and if such changes are specific to those with delirium. METHODS: Twenty-two nursing home residents with a febrile illness had serum specimens drawn and were evaluated for the presence of delirium during the acute illness and at 1-month follow-up. Delirium was diagnosed using the Confusion Assessment Method. Serum anticholinergic activity was determined using a previously described radionuclide competitive-binding assay. RESULTS: Delirium was present during illness in 8 of 22 subjects (36%), and had resolved by 1-month follow-up in all but one resident. Serum anticholinergic activity levels were significantly higher during illness than at 1-month follow-up in both the delirious (0.69 +/- 0.85 nM atropine equivalents/200 microL sample versus 0.10 +/- 0.16; p = .06) and non-delirious (0.65 +/- 0.51 nM atropine equivalents/200 microL sample versus 0.08 +/- 0.12; p < .001) groups. Medication changes did not seem to be related to changes in serum anticholinergic activity. CONCLUSIONS: In older nursing home residents with a fever, serum anticholinergic activity appears to be elevated during illness, and declines following recovery from illness. This effect does not seem to be specific to those residents with delirium, nor does it seem related to medication changes.     

Severity of illness in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus hospitalized at academic medical centers

OBJECTIVE: To compare the severity of illness of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) between those hospitalized at academic medical centers and those hospitalized at community hospitals. METHODS: In this population based cross-sectional survey, data on all hospitalizations of patients with SLE in California, New York, and Pennsylvania in 2000 were obtained from discharge abstracts submitted by acute care hospitals to state health planning agencies. Patients hospitalized at one of 36 academic medical centers in these states (N = 2072) were compared to patients hospitalized at community hospitals (N = 9373). The primary measures of severity of illness were the SLE Comorbidity Index, a weighted index of SLE manifestations and comorbid medical conditions based on discharge diagnoses, and long lengths of stay, defined as stays that exceeded the 90th percentile of hospital stays in the same diagnosis-related group in the United States. RESULTS: Compared to patients at community hospitals, patients at academic medical centers had substantially higher scores on the SLE Comorbidity Index (odds ratio for each 1-point increase 1.27, 95% confidence interval 1.15-1.40, p < 0.0001) and were more likely to have long lengths of stay (OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.42-1.91, p < 0.0001). Patients at academic medical centers also had higher scores on the SLE Comorbidity Index (OR for each 1-point increase 1.16, 95% CI 1.07-1.27, p = 0.0002) and were more likely to have long lengths of stay (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.08-1.49, p = 0.004) compared to patients at large (> or = 300 beds) community hospitals in the same metropolitan areas. Results for the SLE Comorbidity Index were similar in the subset of patients with SLE as the primary discharge diagnosis. CONCLUSION: Patients with SLE hospitalized at academic medical centers are generally more severely ill than those hospitalized at community hospitals, including large community hospitals in the same area.     

A predictive index for functional decline in hospitalized elderly medical patients

Objective: To prospectively develop and validate a predictive index to identify on admission elderly hospitalized medical patients at risk for functional decline. Design: Two prospective cohort studies, in tandem. The predictive model developed in the initial cohort was subsequently validated in a separate cohort. Setting: General medical wards of a university teaching hospital. Patients: For the development cohort, 188 hospitalized general medical patients aged ≥70 years. For the validation cohort, 142 comparable patients. Measurement and main results: The subjects and their nurses were interviewed twice weekly using standardized, validated instruments. Functional decline occurred among 51/188 (27%) patients in the development cohort. Four independent baseline risk factors (RFs) for functional decline were identified: decubitus ulcer (adjusted relative risk [RR] 2.7; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.4, 5.2); cognitive impairment (RR 1.7; CI 0.9, 3.1); functional impairment (RR 1.8; CI 1.0, 3.3); and low social activity level (RR2.4; CI 1.2, 5.1). A risk-stratification system was developed by adding the numbers of RFs. Rates of functional decline for the low- (0 RF), intermediate- (1–2 RFs), and high- (3–4 RFs) risk groups were 8%, 28%, and 63%, respectively (p<0.0001).The corresponding rates in the validation cohort, of whom 34/142 (24%) developed functional decline, were 6%, 29%, and 83% (p<0.0001). The rates of death or nursing home placement, clinical outcomes associated with functional decline in the hospital, were 6%, 19%, and 41% (p<0.002) in the development cohort and 10%, 32%, and 67% (p<0.001) in the validation cohort, respectively, for the three risk groups. Conclusions: Functional decline among hospitalized elderly patients is common, and a simple predictive model based on four risk factors can be used on admission to identify elderly persons at greatest risk. Supported in part by grants from the John A. Hartford Foundation (Grant #88345-3G), the Robert Leete and Clara Guthrie Patterson Trust, the Retirement Research Foundation (Grants #90-44, 91-66), and the Sandoz Foundation for Gerontological Research (Grants #11, 27). Dr. Inouye is a Dana Foundation Faculty Scholar and recipient of Academic Award #lK08AB00524-01 from the National Institute on Aging.     

Ambulatory activity of older adults hospitalized with acute medical illness

OBJECTIVES: To describe the amount and patterns of ambulatory activity in hospitalized older adults over consecutive hospital days. DESIGN: Observational cohort study. SETTING: University teaching hospital Acute Care for Elderly (ACE) unit. PARTICIPANTS: Adults aged 65 and older (N=239) who wore a step activity monitor during their hospital stay. MEASUREMENTS: Total number of steps per 24‐hour day. Mean daily steps were calculated based on number of days the step activity monitor was worn. RESULTS: Mean age was 76.6±7.6; 55.1% of participants were female. Patients took a mean number of 739.7 (interquartile range 89–1,014) steps per day during their hospital stay. Patients with shorter stays tended to ambulate more on the first complete day of hospitalization and had a markedly greater increase in mobility on the second day than patients with longer lengths of stay. There were no significant differences in mean daily steps according to illness severity or reason for admission. CONCLUSION: Objective information on patient mobility can be collected for hospitalized older persons. Findings may increase understanding of the level of ambulation required to maintain functional status and promote recovery from acute illness.     

Depression and physical illness in the elderly.

The authors' study confirmed the high prevalence of depressive symptoms in elderly medical inpatients but found no relationship between the diagnosis of or symptoms of depression and mortality or hospital use. Other studies examining the impact of depression on outcome for elderly patients may not have adequately controlled for the severity of the accompanying physical illness, which may perhaps have been responsible for the reported adverse effects of depression on outcome. An alternative explanation is that the authors' study involved a 1-year follow-up and a longer period of time may be necessary. The study demonstrated that routine screening for depression in acute elderly medical inpatients may be a useful way of detecting coexisting psychiatric morbidity. The routine screening measures were acceptable to patients and may be of considerable potential value in alerting staff to accompanying psychological distress. This study also illustrated the high prevalence of depression in patient samples and the importance and usefulness of screening geriatric inpatients. There are, however, several questions that remain unanswered both in studies reviewed in this article and in the authors' own work. The etiology and mechanism of the association between physical illness and depression are unknown, and there has been a dearth of studies assessing the feasibility and utility of specific treatments for depression in the elderly physically ill.     

Thyroid dysfunction in elderly hospitalized patients. Effect of age and severity of illness

To investigate the relative effects of aging and severity of illness on thyroid function as well as the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in the elderly, we performed thyroid function testing on 190 hospitalized patients 60 years of age or older. Abnormalities of thyroid test results were frequent, and only 27% of patients had normal values for all thyroid function studies. The largest number of patients (125) had a low serum T3 level. Regression analysis showed that severity of illness was a stronger predictor of the T3 level than was age. Our results confirm previous observations that clinical thyroid disease in the hospitalized elderly is not uncommon and often goes unrecognized. Our results also demonstrate for the first time that low concentrations of T3 correlate with a quantitative measure of the severity of illness but only marginally with aging.     

Associations between initial antimicrobial therapy and medical outcomes for hospitalized elderly patients with pneumonia

BACKGROUND: Although medical practice guidelines exist, there have been no large-scale studies assessing the relationship between initial antimicrobial therapy and medical outcomes for patients hospitalized with pneumonia. OBJECTIVE: To determine the associations between initial antimicrobial therapy and 30-day mortality for these patients. METHODS: Hospital records for 12945 Medicare inpatients (> or = 65 years of age) with pneumonia were reviewed. Associations between initial antimicrobial regimens and 30-day mortality were assessed with Cox proportional hazards models, adjusting for baseline differences in patient characteristics, illness severity, and processes of care. Comparisons were made with patients treated with a non-pseudomonal third-generation cephalosporin alone (the reference group). RESULTS: Initial treatment with a second-generation cephalosporin plus macrolide (hazard ratio [HR], 0.71; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.52-0.96), a non-pseudomonal third-generation cephalosporin plus macrolide (HR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.60-0.92), or a fluoroquinolone alone (HR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.43-0.94) was independently associated with lower 30-day mortality. Adjusted mortality among patients initially treated with these 3 regimens became significantly lower than that in the reference group beginning 2, 3, and 7 days, respectively, after hospital admission. Use of a beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitor plus macrolide (HR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.28-2.46) and an aminoglycoside plus another agent (HR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.02-1.43) were associated with an increased 30-day mortality. CONCLUSIONS: In this study of primarily community-dwelling elderly patients hospitalized with pneumonia, 3 initial empiric antimicrobial regimens were independently associated with a lower 30-day mortality. The more widespread use of these antimicrobial regimens is likely to improve the medical outcomes for elderly patients with pneumonia.     

Fever in hospitalized medical patients

The occurrence of fever and the clinical profile of febrile patients on the medical service of a teaching hospital were studied prospectively. Thirty-six per cent of 972 patients developed fever (temperature exceeding 38°C). Their 13% mortality rate and 13.2-day average hospital stay exceeded the 3% mortality and seven-day hospitalization for afebrile patients (p<0.0001 for both). Most fever episodes occurred during the first two hospital days. Approximately 30% of first and subsequent fever episodes were caused by bacterial infections; illnesses involving tissue necrosis (e.g., stroke, myocardial infarction) accounted for 20%. Five conditions comprised 53% of diagnoses: respiratory and urinary tract infections, neoplasm, myocardial infarction, and drug reaction. Only one patient had a fever of uncertain origin. Several clinical clues used frequently to identify bacterial infections were reevaluated. Patients with bacterial infections had higher temperatures on the first febrile day (mean 38.9°C) and were more likely to have had prior infections than those with other causes of fever (mean 38.3°C, p<0.001). Older patients (>75 years) had a lower febrile response to bacterial infections than younger patients. Fever in hospitalized medical patients is a common and important concomitant of increased mortality and length of hospitalization. Supported in part by grants from the National Center for Health Services Research (HS 02063 and HS 04066) and by a grant from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. The work was performed, in part, while Dr. Bor was a Henry J. Kaiser Fellow in General Medicine, Harvard Medical School.     

Endogenous anticholinergic substances may exist during acute illness in elderly medical patients

BACKGROUND:The purpose of this study was to determine if serum anticholinergic activity (SACA) arises from endogenous substances produced during illness. METHODS: Elderly medical inpatients (N = 612) were screened for anticholinergic medication use in the week prior to the study by interviews of subjects and proxies and review of emergency room, hospital, and nursing home medication administration records. Of 24 subjects without a recent anticholinergic medication history, 15 were recruited and 10 completed the study. Serum samples were obtained on Day 2 of hospital admission. SACA was measured using a radionuclide displacement assay. Medications taken by subjects were assayed for central muscarinic receptor binding at therapeutic concentrations. Results. Eight of the ten subjects had SACA detectable in the serum. No medication used by these subjects had anticholinergic activity at usual therapeutic concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: Endogenous anticholinergic substances may exist during acute illness. Characterization of such substances may increase the depth of our understanding of delirium and lead to useful intervention strategies.     

Risk factors for venous thromboembolism in hospitalized patients with acute medical illness: analysis of the MEDENOX Study

BACKGROUND: There is limited information about risk factors for venous thromboembolism (VTE) in acutely ill hospitalized general medical patients. METHODS: An international, randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled trial (MEDENOX) has previously been conducted in 1102 acutely ill, immobilized general medical patients and has shown the efficacy of using a low-molecular-weight heparin, enoxaparin sodium, in preventing thrombosis. We performed logistic regression analysis to evaluate the independent nature of different types of acute medical illness (heart failure, respiratory failure, infection, rheumatic disorder, and inflammatory bowel disease) and predefined factors (chronic heart and respiratory failure, age, previous VTE, and cancer) as risk factors for VTE. RESULTS: The primary univariate analysis showed that the presence of an acute infectious disease, age older than 75 years, cancer, and a history of VTE were statistically significantly associated with an increased VTE risk. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that these factors were independently associated with VTE. CONCLUSIONS: Several independent risk factors for VTE were identified. These findings allow recognition of individuals at increased risk of VTE and will contribute to the formulation of an evidence-based risk assessment model for thromboprophylaxis in hospitalized general medical patients.     

合并视力障碍的老年内科住院病人谵妄发生率及影响因素

目的 了解视力障碍的老年内科疾病病人住院期间谵妄发生率和相关影响因素.方法 采用前瞻性队列研究方法,入选2016年3月至2017年1月四川大学华西医院老年科存在视力障碍的老年住院病人.入院48 h内对病人进行视力检查和谵妄相关危险因素评估,从住院当天至住院第13天每隔一天对病人进行谵妄评估,记录住院期间有无发生谵妄,并...     

Reduction of medical resources utilization by influenza vaccination for hospitalized elderly patients

In order to evaluate the economic efficacy of influenza vaccination for the elderly inpatients, we have investigated the health insurance fee of elderly inpatients in Japan. It was revealed that the health insurance fee varied by patients largely, ranging from 7,000 yen to 90,000 yen. Primary reason of this variation was due to the existence of the same effective drugs with variant prices and there were no rules concerning the period of drug medication. Thus, it was found that it would be improper to use the medication fee as a measure in evaluating the effects of influenza vaccinations. In this study, we used the length of days of testing and medication such as oral antibiotics, blood cell count, etc. as a measure to evaluate the effect of influenza vaccination. We compared these measures among elderly hospitalized patients with influenza vaccination or without influenza vaccination by ADL. Mean length of days of oral antibiotics was 2.64 (+/- 6.40) days for those with vaccination, and 3.92 (+/- 7.31) days for those without vaccination. Mean length of days of injection antibiotics was 2.52 (+/- 5.53) days for those with vaccination, and 8.82 (+/- 15.1) days for those without vaccination. Mean length of days of cells blood counter was 2.63 (+/- 2.22) days for those with vaccination, and 4.44 (+/- 3.20) days for those without vaccination. Mean length of days of chest X-ray was 1.30 (+/- 2.07) days for those with vaccination, and 2.56 (+/- 3.49) days for those without vaccination. These results suggest that influenza vaccination reduces medical utilization of resources. It was also revealed that influenza vaccination is most effective when elderly patients who are bed-bound are vaccinated.     

Screening for depression in hospitalized elderly medical patients: taking a closer look.

OBJECTIVE: To re-examine the test characteristics of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and the Brief Carroll Depression Rating Scale (BCDRS) in elderly medical inpatients, simulating the procedure followed by clinicians when using screening instruments. DESIGN: Masked comparison of GDS and BCDRS with psychiatric interview. SETTING: Durham VA Medical Center. PARTICIPANTS: 109 consecutively admitted persons aged 70 or over. MEASUREMENTS: Screening by a social worker using GDS and BCDRS on day one, followed the next day by an investigator's structured psychiatric interview to determine the presence of major depressive disorder (MDD). RESULTS: By this method, the sensitivity and specificity of the GDS (cutoff 11) were 82% and 76%, respectively; for the BCDRS (cutoff 6), they were 73% and 79%. Among those with a negative test, the likelihood of MDD dropped from an a priori probability of 10% to an a posteriori probability of 3% with the GDS and 4% with the BCDRS. Among those with a positive test, the likelihood of MDD was 27% for the GDS and 28% for the BCDRS. Excluding patients with cognitive impairment (MMSE < or = 25) only slightly improved test characteristics. CONCLUSION: These estimates are considerably below those reported in earlier studies where concordant screening, two-stage screening, or other methods have been utilized and may impact the decision whether or not to screen for depression using these instruments.     

Prevalence of depression and associated medical and psychosocial factors in elderly hospitalized patients with heart failure in Spain

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: This study provides an estimate of the prevalence of depression, and identifies associated medical and psychosocial factors, in elderly hospitalized patients with heart failure (HF) in Spain. METHODS: The study included 433 patients aged 65 years or more who underwent emergency admission at four Spanish hospitals between January 2000 and June 2001 and who had a primary or secondary diagnosis of HF. Depression was defined as the presence of three or more symptoms on the 10-item Geriatric Depression Scale. RESULTS: In total, 210 (48.5%) study participants presented with depression: 71 men (37.6%) and 139 women (57.0%). Depression was more common in patients with the following characteristics: NYHA functional class III-IV (adjusted odds ratio or aOR=2.00, 95% confidence interval or 95% CI, 1.23-3.24), poor score on the physical domain of the quality-of-life assessment (aOR=3.14; 95% CI, 1.98-4.99), being dependent for one or two basic activities of daily living (BADLs) (aOR=2.52; 95% CI, 1.41-4.51), being dependent for > or =3 BADLs (aOR=2.47; 95% CI, 1.20-5.07), being limited in at least one instrumental activity of daily living (aOR=2.20: 95% CI, 1.28-3.79), previous hospitalization for HF (aOR=1.71; 95% CI, 1.93-5.45), spending more than 2 hours/day alone at home (aOR=3.24; 95% CI, 1.93-5.45), and being dissatisfied with their primary care physician (aOR=1.90; 95% CI, 1.14-3.17). CONCLUSIONS: Depression is very common in elderly hospitalized patients with HF and is associated with several medical and psychosocial factors. The high prevalence of depression, the poorer prognosis for HF in patients with depressive symptoms, and the existence of simple diagnostic tools and effective treatment argue in favor of systematic screening for depression in these patients.     

High mortality in hospitalized elderly patients with feeding tube placement

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the influence of feeding tube placement on survival in hospitalized elderly patients. METHODS: To assess long-term mortality in an inception cohort and the influence of feeding tube placement on survival, one hundred six hospitalized elderly patients from a nursing home were followed up through and after the index hospitalization for placement of a feeding tube and mortality. Cox regression hazards model was constructed for both univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: A feeding tube was placed in 15% (16/106) of the study patients during the index hospitalization. Median survival of the 106 patients was 381 days. A total of 92 patients (87%) survived the index hospitalization, and 52 (49%) were still alive at the last follow-up. In the multivariate survival model which included older age, hip fracture history, admitting diagnosis of pneumonia, and tube feeding placement, only feeding tube placement (hazard ratio, 2.29; 95% confidence interval, 1.22-4.33) was significantly associated with higher mortality. CONCLUSION: In hospitalized elderly patients from nursing home, feeding tube placement may be a risk factor for mortality.