Association between dehydration on admission and postoperative complications in older persons undergoing orthopaedic surgery.

AIM AND OBJECTIVES: To examine the prevalence of dehydration upon hospital admission and its association with postoperative complications in older persons undergoing orthopaedic surgery. BACKGROUND: Ageing-related physiological and pathological changes, as well as suboptimal care quality, can render older persons vulnerable to dehydration. However, few empirical studies have been conducted to examine the association between dehydration and care outcomes in this population. DESIGN: Retrospective documentary review. METHODS: The medical records of patients who were aged 65 years or above and admitted for orthopaedic surgery at an acute hospital in Hong Kong over the period of January 2013 to June 2013 were reviewed. The sociodemographic characteristics, health conditions, laboratory results during index hospitalisation, postoperative care and 1-month survival were analysed. Dehydration status was defined on the basis of the ratio of blood urea nitrogen to creatinine upon admission. RESULTS: Of 310 reviewed records, 216 records were included in the analysis. A total of 21.8% of the patients in the included cases were defined as dehydrated and 35.2% were defined as at risk of dehydration. There were significantly more patients in the dehydrated group were female, having diuretic medication, swallowing difficulty, oedema, tube feeding, diaper or urinary catheter use, with postoperative complications in respiratory, gastrointestinal and haematological systems, and died within 30 days than those in the euhydrated group. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study reveal that dehydration is highly prevalent among older persons on admission. Female gender and swallowing difficulty were found to be significantly associated with dehydration, although causal inference could not be delineated through this retrospective study. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Given its significant influence on care outcomes and postoperative recovery, hydration care that promotes early recognition and timely management of dehydration is an integral part of fundamental care for older persons.

Factors associated with falls among community-dwelling older people in Taiwan.

INTRODUCTION: Falls are common among older people. Previous studies have shown that falls were multifactorial. However, data regarding community-dwelling Chinese population are minimal. We aimed to study factors associated with falls among community-dwelling older Chinese people. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study in a community hospital in Taiwan in 2010. Our sample included 671 elders from the 3680 examinees of the free annual Senior Citizens Health Examination. Participants were interviewed with a detailed questionnaire, and 317 elders were further invited for serum vitamin D tests. The main outcome was falls in the previous 12 months. Predictor variables included sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle risk factors, body stature, frailty, serum 25 (OH) D levels, and medications. RESULTS: The mean age of the 671 participants was 75.7 ± 6.4 years old, and 48.7% of which were female. Fallers comprised 21.0% of the study population. In multivariate models, female gender (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 2.32), loss of height in adulthood (aOR: 1.52), low body weight (aOR: 2.69), central obesity (aOR: 1.67), frailty (aOR: 1.56), polypharmacy (aOR: 2.18) and hyperglycaemia (aOR: 1.56) were factors associated with falls. Vitamin D insufficiency (serum 25 (OH) D levels <30 ng/mL) was not associated with falls (OR: 0.78; 95% CI, 0.38 to 1.60) (n = 317) in this study. CONCLUSION: Among community-dwelling older people in Taiwan, falls were mainly associated with female gender, polypharmacy, frailty, reduced body height, low body weight or central obesity, and hyperglycaemia. In addition to other risk factors, body stature should be considered as a novel risk factor when screening elders at risk for falls.

Risk factors for single and recurrent falls: a prospective study of falls in community dwelling seniors without cognitive impairment.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to contribute evidence towards heterogeneity in risk factors for single and recurrent falls. METHOD: This is a prospective study conducted in Taiwan. Participants were randomly selected from the examinees of the annual health examination in 2010. Participants were interviewed with a detailed questionnaire and followed up one year later. Predictor variables included socio-demographic characteristics, medical conditions, laboratory data, and risk factors for osteoporosis. The outcome was falls in the ensuing 12 months. RESULTS: The mean age of the 653 completers was 75.6 ± 6.4. Half (48.7%) were women. Fallers and recurrent fallers comprised 14.5% and 6.0% of the participants, respectively. Blurred vision (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 1.93, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02-3.67), minimal outdoor activities (aOR: 2.28, 95% CI: 1.06-4.88), and overactive thyroid/parathyroid (aOR: 3.49, 95% CI: 1.29-9.50) were associated with single falls. Frailty (aOR: 2.81, 95% CI: 1.11-7.09), decreased body height (aOR: 3.15, 95% CI: 1.52-6.54) and taking sedatives/hypnotics (aOR: 4.23, 95% CI: 2.06-8.67) were associated with recurrent falls. Previous falls (aOR: 2.64, 95% CI: 1.44-4.84 for single falls; aOR: 5.26, 95% CI: 2.61-10.60 for recurrent falls) were associated with all falls. CONCLUSION: Different intervention strategies should be developed for single and recurrent fallers.

Quality of life (QOL) among community dwelling older people in Taiwan measured by the CASP-19, an index to capture QOL in old age.

There was no existing scale in Mandarin Chinese to specifically measure QOL in old age. We aimed to validate a Chinese Taiwan version of the CASP-19 (control, autonomy, self-realization, pleasure), a QOL questionnaire, in Taiwan. The existing CASP-19 Cantonese version was modified into Chinese Taiwan version and pilot tested. Data were then gathered from 699 older people. Score distribution, exploratory and confirmatory factor structure, reliability and clinical validity of the CASP-19 and its shortened version, the CASP-12, were examined. The mean age of the participants was 75.5 (standard deviation (SD) 6.5), and half (49.5%) were female. The mean CASP-19 score was 38.2 (range 11-56; SD 7.1), lower than that of Western countries. Exploratory factor analysis revealed an additional factor, 'participation' (CASPP-19). There was satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's α 0.63-0.85) for the subscales, except for the control domain. For the 19-item scale, the first order five-domain model (CASPP-19) yielded the best fit. For the CASP-12, first and second order original CASP-12 models performed equally well. There was an inverse relationship between the CASP total scores and frailty, chronic diseases, depressive disorders, living alone and fall events in the past 12months, supporting good clinical validity for all versions of the CASP scale (CASP-19, CASPP-19, original and new CASP-12). The original CASP-12 may be presently the best choice for use in China, Taiwan or other Mandarin-speaking populations due to its conciseness and model parsimony.