Association between Active Hobby before Hospitalization and Frailty at Discharge in Patients with Acute Cardiovascular Disease.

Objectives: It is essential to identify the factors that reduce the risk of frailty at discharge in patients with cardiovascular disease. We sought to verify the association between pre-admission hobbies and frailty at discharge in patients hospitalized for acute cardiovascular diseases. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the cases of the 269 patients admitted to our hospital with cardiovascular diseases, excluding those who required assistance with activities of daily living before admission or had missing data on hobbies or frailty. The patients' pre-admission hobbies (if any) were recorded, and the patients were then classified into the no-hobby group, inactive-hobby group, or active-hobby group. Frailty was assessed using the Cardiovascular Health Study criteria (Japanese version) on the day before discharge. We conducted a multinomial logistic regression analysis to investigate the relationship between hobbies and frailty. Results: Compared with the no-hobby group, the inactive-hobby group did not show a significantly lower odds ratio (OR) for pre-frailty and frailty. In contrast, the active-hobby group showed a significantly lower OR for pre-frailty and frailty even after adjustment (OR: 0.41, 95% confidence interval: 0.17-0.90). Regarding the components of frailty, the active-hobby group had lower ORs for slow gait speed, exhaustion, and low physical activity relative to the no-hobby group. Conclusions: Even if patients had hobbies before admission, if those hobbies were non-active, they did not reduce the risk of frailty, suggesting the need for reconsidering rehabilitation approaches during hospitalization.

Association of Frailty and Depressive Symptoms With the Establishment of Exercise Habits in Patients Undergoing Outpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation.

Objective: To assess whether patients undergoing outpatient cardiac rehabilitation who have frailty and depressive symptoms at discharge are less likely than those without these condition to establish positive exercise habits. Design: A retrospective cohort study that involved the assessment of frailty and depressive symptoms at the end of a 3-month course of cardiac rehabilitation. Frailty was defined as the patient noting 3 or more items using the criteria of Fried et al, while depressive symptoms were delineated by Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scores of 10 or greater. Setting: General hospital (1048 beds) with outpatient cardiac rehabilitation in a suburb location in Japan. Participants: 344 individuals underwent outpatient cardiac rehabilitation during the January 1, 2019-June 1, 2022, study period. Of these, 48 individuals were excluded because they did not complete the course and 54 were excluded because they lacked outcome data. Finaly, 242 individuals (mean age: 68.2±11.1 years) were analyzed. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Variable: The establishment of an exercise habit defined as exercising at least 2 days per week and 30 minutes per day. Results: Participants were divided into 4 groups depending upon the presence or absence of frailty and depressive symptoms: non-frail with no reported depressive symptoms (173 subjects), frailty-only (21 subjects), depressive symptoms-only (38 subjects), and frailty and depressive symptoms (10 subjects). Compared with patients who were not depressed and not frail, those with frailty only (odds ratio [OR]: 0.43, 95% confidence interval: 0.21-0.88, P=.02) and those with frailty and depressive symptoms (OR: 0.21, 95% confidence interval: 0.05-0.82, P=.025) had significantly lower ORs for establishing exercise habits. After multivariate adjustment, the OR of establishing an exercise habit was significantly lower in those with only frailty (OR: 0.35, 95% confidence interval: 0.14-0.85, P=.005). Conclusions: This study, while limited by the small number of subjects with both frailty and depressive symptoms, indicates that interventions to prevent frailty during hospitalization and cardiac rehabilitation may be essential for cardiovascular disease patients with frailty whether or not associated with depressive symptoms.

The intercalation of N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-ethane-1,2-diamine (tmeda) into C6Li and C12Li.

Liquid N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-ethane-1,2-diamine (tmeda) was intercalated into preprepared C(6)Li or C(12)Li. X-ray diffraction from the ternary compound indicates an identity period of 11.5 Å. The (13)C NMR line shifts show that tmeda molecules form a screen between the graphene planes and the lithium ions. Small-angle X-ray scattering showed that no higher structural ordering was present but revealed a progressive roughening of the surfaces with successive intercalation of lithium and amine into the graphite galleries.