[Direct sequelae of accidental falls in hospitalized geriatric psychiatry patients]. / Direkte Folgen der Stürze bei hospitalisierten gerontopsychiatrischen Patienten.

Falling is an everyday risk for elderly people, with the consequence of getting hurt. What exactly the dangers are, especially in people with gerontopsychiatric disorders, has hardly ever been mentioned in today's literature. Therefore this report deals with 887 documented fall cases in 758 gerontopsychiatric inpatients during a cumulative time period of 3845 months. The consequences of the falls according to sex and diagnosis of dementia were divided in four categories, depending on how serious the injuries were. About 65 to 71% of the patients don't show any direct consequences, about 10% have serious injuries of which 5% are fractures. There are significantly more dement women than dement men who suffer from fractures. Women over eighty years have significantly fewer serious fall injuries than women in their eighties; the same phenomenon can be observed in men concerning light injuries.

Clinical features and medical treatment of Parkinson's disease in patient groups selected in accordance with age at onset.

In a recent hospital-based study on patients with different age at onset of PD, some clinical and therapeutic features were investigated. In the retrospective analysis three groups were selected: age at onset between 20 and 39 years (young onset), between 40 and 59 years, and from 60 years and up. The evaluation of our data demonstrates some significant differences in the above-mentioned groups: prevalence of male patients and more frequent occurrence of motor fluctuations and dyskinesias in the young onset group, longer duration of PD and L-DOPA treatment, higher L-DOPA dosage, and more multiple combinations in this group. We also noted more habitual smokers in the young onset group. Sex-specific differences in the young onset group were also investigated. A longer duration of disease was found in women, and some symptoms, such as pulsion and freezing and biphasic dyskinesia, are more frequent in women.