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The Western world is facing a crisis. The population is aging dramatically, and soon there will be twice as many older adults as younger counterparts. Clearly, there is a high incidence of pain in the older population, and with this comes a significant burden, including falls, frailty, depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance, reduced mobility, and impaired cognitive function. Unfortunately, chronic pain in the older population is often neglected and poorly managed for many reasons, including the expectation that pain is part of the aging process and therefore to be expected; poor assessment practices, hampered by communication problems; limited time for a comprehensive assessment to be carried out; fear of prescribing and administering drugs; and beliefs held by the older person themselves that they should expect to be in pain and therefore do not report it. All of these issues can be addressed with appropriate education and training to enable staff to appropriately apply evidence-based guidelines and effectively manage pain.

Psychosocial oncology is coming of age [...]. ispartof: CANCERS vol:14 issue:23 ispartof: location:Switzerland status: published

OBJECTIVES: A comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) is the key treatment approach to guide decisions in older patients with cancer. In this paper, the added value of an assessment of the patient's hand grip strength to predict survival in patients with an abnormal G8-questionnaire (G8) score is investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients were screened by the G8, followed by a CGA in case of an abnormal screening (≤14.0). Hand grip strength was assessed by use of the JAMAR® hydraulic hand dynamometer. Cut-offs were applied according to the Fried frailty criteria. The survival rate was calculated twelve months after the CGA date. RESULTS: We retrospectively reviewed data of 2071 patients who were treated at the Kortrijk Geriatric Oncology Clinic (General Hospital Groeninge, Belgium) between November 2012 and December 2016. Of those, 944 patients with a mean age of 79.6 years were included in the analyses. 64.2% of patients presented an abnormal hand grip strength score. A log rank test revealed a statistical significant result between patients when accounting for the hand grip strength score (p

Objectives We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of implementing an alcohol screening questionnaire as part of the comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) by reporting the prevalence of alcohol abuse in a group of older patients with cancer in a Belgian cancer centre. Materials and Methods Patients were recruited at the Geriatric Oncology Clinic of the Kortrijk Cancer Centre and were evaluated by use of a CGA. Two alcohol screening questionnaires were integrated into the CGA: the Cutdown–Annoyed–Guilty–Eye-opener (CAGE) questionnaire and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test–screening version (AUDIT-C). Results 193 patients with a mean age of 77.7 years were included in the analyses. Abnormal scores on the CAGE were detected in 6.3% of males and 1.2% of women. Abnormal results on the AUDIT-C were noticed in 30.0% of men, and in 21.7% of women. A regression analysis could not find a significant effect of the CAGE questionnaire when entered as predictor for CGA domain scores. Regarding the AUDIT-C, significant results were detected for predicting the score of the Geriatric-8 questionnaire and polypharmacy in men, and the Independent Activities of Daily Living questionnaire in women. No association with one-year survival was detected for either alcohol screening questionnaire. Discussion It is feasible to implement an alcohol screening questionnaire as part of a CGA as results indicated a rather high level of alcohol abuse in this cohort.

Background: Physical activity and sedentary behavior are modifiable risk factors for non-communicable disease and healthy ageing, however the majority of older adults remain insufficiently active. Digital behavior change interventions (DBCI) have the potential to reach many older adults to promote physical activity and reduce sedentary time. This study aims to assess the efficacy of DBCI interventions in older adults (≥50 years) on physical activity and sedentary behavior. Methods: A systematic review of major databases from inception to 03/2018 was undertaken. Randomized controlled trials (RCT) or pre-post interventions assessing effects of DBCI on physical activity and/or sedentary behavior in older adults (≥50 years) were included. Random effects meta-analyses were carried out. Results: Twenty-two studies were included, including 1757 older adults (mean age = 67 years, %male = 41), 68% showed moderate-high risk of bias. Meta-analyses suggested that DBCI increased total physical activity among RCT studies (n = 8) (SMD = 0.28; 95%CI 0.01, 0.56; p = 0.04) and pre-post studies (n = 6) (SMD = 0.25; 95%CI 0.09, 0.41; p = 0.002), increased moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (SMD = 0.47; 95%CI 0.32, 0.62, p < 0.001; MD = 52 min/week) and reduced sedentary time (SMD = −0.45; 95%CI −0.69, −0.19; p < 0.001; MD = 58 min/day). Reductions in systolic blood pressure (−11 bpm; p = 0.04) and improvements in physical functioning (p = 0.03) were also observed. Conclusions: DBCI may increase physical activity and physical functioning, and reduce sedentary time and systolic blood pressure in older adults, however more high-quality studies are required.

Objective: The objective of this study is to develop an update of the evidence-based guidelines for the management of pain in older people. Design: Review of evidence since 2010 using a systematic and consensus approach is performed. Results: Recognition of the type of pain and routine assessment of pain should inform the use of specific environmental, behavioural and pharmacological interventions. Individualised care plans and analgesic protocols for specific clinical situations, patients and health care settings can be developed from these guidelines. Conclusion: Management of pain must be considered as an important component of the health care provided to all people, regardless of their chronological age or severity of illness. By clearly outlining areas where evidence is not available, these guidelines may also stimulate further research. To use the recommended therapeutic approaches, clinicians must be familiar with adverse effects of treatment and the potential for drug interactions.

Objective To determine the feasibility and acceptability of a training programme for peer volunteers to support older adults with chronic low back pain (CLBP) following discharge from physiotherapy. Design Feasibility study. Setting Community-based. Participants 17 adults (4 male, 13 female) with CLBP or experience of supporting someone with CLBP enrolled and 12 (2 male, 10 female) completed the volunteer training. Intervention Volunteers took part in a face-to-face or blended delivery peer support training programme based on the Mental Health Foundation’s “Principles into Practice” and adapted for CLBP by the study team. Main outcome measures Recruitment/retention rates; demographics; time & resources used to deliver training; training evaluation (questionnaire); knowledge questionnaire, and self-efficacy questionnaire. Results 17 participants enrolled on the training programme (11 face-to-face, 6 blended delivery). 12 (71%) completed the training (73% face-to-face, 67% blended delivery). The training was positively evaluated. All but two participants passed the knowledge quiz at the end of the training, and the majority of self-efficacy scores (90%) were high. Conclusions It is feasible to develop, implement and evaluate a peer support training programme for the facilitation of CLBP self-management in older adults following discharge from physiotherapy. Blended delivery of training may facilitate the recruitment of greater numbers of peer support volunteers in future studies. Supported self-management of CLBP pain is widely recommended but can be difficult to achieve. Peer support might be a promising method of facilitating CLBP self-management without additional burden to health services, and should be further evaluated in a larger study.

Objectives: To evaluate the cardiovascular (CV) effects of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) in individuals with dementia Design: Systematic review and meta‐analysis. Setting: Two authors independently searched major electronic databases from inception until June 17, 2017, for longitudinal (without a control group) and cohort (with a control group) studies reporting CV outcomes in relation to AChEIs. Randomized controlled trials were excluded because they included relatively healthy subjects. Participants: Individuals with dementia and controls. Measurements: Changes in CV parameters were summarized using standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Event rates were used to assess incidence of hypertension and bradycardia. Incidence of CV events in demented patients versus in healthy controls were compared using hazard ratios (HRs). Results: Of 4,588 initial hits, 31 studies including 258,540 individuals with dementia and 2,246,592 controls were analyzed. In longitudinal and open‐label studies, AChEIs were associated with a significantly greater incidence of hypertension (n=1,573, 4%, 95% CI=2–8%, I2=47%) and bradycardia (n=13,703, 2%, 95% CI=1–6%, I2=98%). AChEIs were associated with a decrease in heart rate (SMD=–1.77, 95% CI=–3.58–0.03, I2=78%) and an increase in PR interval (SMD=0.10, 95% CI=0.008–0.19, I2=3%) from baseline. During a median follow‐up of 116 weeks, AChEIs were associated with a significantly lower risk of CV events (stroke, acute coronary syndrome, CV mortality; HR=0.63, 95% CI=0.45–0.88, I2=18%), without a significantly greater risk of bradycardic events (HR=1.40, 95% CI=0.76–2.59, I2=98%). Conclusion: AChEI therapy may be associated with negative chronotropic and hypertensive effects but also with lower risk of CV events.

Assessment of pain in the older adult presents a number of challenges, especially related to communication. This commentary summarises the revised evidence-based Guidelines on the Assessment of Pain in Older Adults which have been developed by the British Pain Society and British Geriatrics Society. The guideline summarises the pain assessment tools that have been developed and validated for use in the older population. Recommendations are made for use of specific tools in older people and in those with dementia. The need for education and training of health care professionals is emphasised. Gaps in the evidence are identified as subjects for future research. It is hoped that the guideline will improve recognition of pain in older people, and help to drive the future research agenda.

Objective: We previously validated uHear™ to screen for hearing loss in older patients with cancer without a known hearing loss, as part of a comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA). In view of low specificity, we tested a new modified uHear™ scoring system as described by Handzel. Methods: Patients, aged ≥70 years, were evaluated by uHear™ and conventional audiometry, which is considered the gold standard, as part of a CGA. The pass or fail screening cut-off for uHear™ was defined as having ≥2 consecutive hearing grades starting from the moderate– severe threshold zone ranging from 0.5 to 2.0 kHz (modified Handzel-uHear™ scoring system). To accept the modified Handzel-uHear™ as screening tool, it was predefined that the combined sensitivity (S) and specificity (Sp) of the test (S + Sp/2) was at least 80% and that an actual combined (S + Sp)/2 of 90% would be found. Results: Ninety ears (45 subjects) were tested. Of those ears, 24.4% were identified as impaired by conventional audiometry. Modified Handzel-uHear™ identified 26.7% of tested ears as impaired. The combined (S + Sp)/2 of the modified Handzel-uHear™ was calculated as 77.5%, while in previous cohort, this was retrospectively calculated as 94.6%. A new uHear™ scoring system was proposed and tested in current and previous cohort. A (S + Sp)/2 of 80.2 and 78.8%, respectively, were obtained. Conclusion: uHear™ is a feasible tool for use within the CGA and shows promising results. However, further research is warranted to optimize the cut-off method before it could be routinely implemented within geriatric oncology.

Objectives: Research has indicated that cancer-related cognitive impairments (CRCI) may be influenced by psychosocial factors such as distress, worry and fatigue. Therefore, we aimed to validate the distress thermometer (DT) as a screening tool to detect CRCI six months post-treatment-initiation in a group of general cancer patients. Methods: Patients (≥18 years, n = 125) with a histologically confirmed diagnosis of a solid cancer or hematological malignancy, scheduled for a curative treatment, were evaluated at baseline (T0) and six months post-treatment-initiation (T1) for CRCI by a neuropsychological assessment, including patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). Assessed cognitive domains included premorbid intelligence, attention, processing speed, flexibility, verbal and visual episodic memory and verbal fluency. PROMs entailed distress (DT, cut-off ≥4, range 0–10), anxiety and depression, fatigue (FACIT-fatigue scale) and subjective cognitive complaints. Results: At T0, 60.4% of patients showed a DT score of ≥4, whereas 50% met this criterion at T1. According to the definition of the International Cognition and Cancer Task Force, 25.5% and 28.3% of patients presented with a CRCI at T0 and T1, respectively. When evaluating the DT as a screening tool for CRCI at T1, data showed an inverse relationship between the DT and CRCI. ROC-curve analysis revealed an AUC

Background: Few studies have assessed the association between potato consumption and mortality. Objective: We investigated whether potato consumption (including fried and unfried potatoes) is associated with increased premature mortality risk in a North American cohort. Design: A longitudinal analysis included 4440 participants aged 45-79 y at baseline with an 8-y follow-up from the Osteoarthritis Initiative cohort study. Potato consumption (including fried and unfried potatoes) was analyzed by using a Block Brief 2000 food-frequency questionnaire and categorized as ≤1 time/mo, 2-3 times/mo, 1 time/wk, 2 times/wk, or ≥3 times/wk. Mortality was ascertained through validated cases of death. To investigate the association between potato consumption and mortality, Cox regression models were constructed to estimate HRs with 95% CIs, with adjustment for potential confounders. Results: Of the 4400 participants, 2551 (57.9%) were women with a mean ± SD age of 61.3 ± 9.2 y. During the 8-y followup, 236 participants died. After adjustment for 14 potential baseline confounders, and taking those with the lowest consumption of potatoes as the reference group, participants with the highest consumption of potatoes did not show an increased risk of overall mortality (HR: 1.11; 95% CI: 0.65, 1.91). However, subgroup analyses indicated that participants who consumed fried potatoes 2-3 times/wk (HR: 1.95; 95% CI: 1.11, 3.41) and ≥3 times/wk (HR: 2.26; 95% CI: 1.15, 4.47) were at an increased risk of mortality. The consumption of unfried potatoes was not associated with an increased mortality risk. Conclusions: The frequent consumption of fried potatoes appears to be associated with an increased mortality risk. Additional studies in larger sample sizes should be performed to confirm if overall potato consumption is associated with higher mortality risk. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00080171. Am J Clin Nutr 2017;106:162-7. © 2017 American Society for Nutrition.

An increasing evidence base suggests that low bone mineral density (BMD) and fractures are associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis summarizing the evidence of low BMD and fractures as risk factors for future CVD. Two independent authors searched major databases from inception to 1st August 2016 for longitudinal studies reporting data on CVD incidence (overall and specific CVD) and BMD status and fractures. The association between low BMD, fractures and CVD across longitudinal studies was explored by calculating pooled adjusted hazard ratios (HRs)?±?95% confidence intervals (CIs) with a random-effects meta-analysis. Twenty-eight studies (18 regarding BMD and 10 fractures) followed-up a total of 1,107,885 participants for a median of 5 years. Taking those with higher BMD as the reference, people with low BMD were at increased risk of developing CVD during follow-up (11 studies; HR?=?1.33; 95%CI: 1.27-1.38; I2?=?53%), after adjusting for a median of 8 confounders. This finding was confirmed using a decrease in one standard deviation of baseline BMD (9 studies; HR?=?1.16; 95%CI: 1.09-1.24; I2?=?69%). The presence of fractures at baseline was associated with an increased risk of developing CVD (HR?=?1.20; 95%CI: 1.06-1.37; I2?=?91%). Regarding specific CVD, low BMD was associated with an increased risk of developing coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular conditions, and CVD associated death. Fractures at baseline was associated with an increased risk of cerebrovascular conditions and death due to CVD. In conclusion, low BMD and fractures are associated with a small, but significant increased risk of CVD risk and possibly death.

Under-assessment and inadequate treatment of pain is a common problem for older adults, particularly those with dementia. This may be in part attributed to knowledge deficits and negative attitudes among healthcare staff and informal caregivers towards pain, its assessment and its management in dementia. Knowledge and attitudes have a significant predictive relationship with behavior, potentially impacting pain assessment and management practices. Despite this there remains a paucity of research in the area and a lack of clarity about existing knowledge levels and attitudes among dementia caregivers. Therefore, the aims of this review were to: identify what knowledge deficits and attitudinal barriers exist amongst dementia caregivers; and identify the scales available to measure these. A search was carried out in the following electronic databases: Academic Search Premier; CINAHL; Education Research Complete; Humanities International Journals; Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection; PsychINFO; PsychArticles; Teacher Reference Center; and MEDLINE. A total of 13 articles met the inclusion criteria. A number of knowledge deficits and negative attitudes were identified, particularly in the use self-reports and pain assessment tools in dementia, and the safety of opioids. Understanding and positive attitudes were demonstrated in some areas, such as non-narcotic pain medications and identifying behavioral pain indicators. Of the 4 scales identified, positive results were found for internal consistency and content validity, however further refinement and testing is necessary. It was concluded attitudinal and knowledge barriers exist which should be addressed given their influence over practice behavior, however, there is a willingness and knowledge base from which progress can build.

We are seeing a significant increase in the older population far outweighing that in younger cohorts, and this is set to dramatically increase by 2050. With increasing age comes an increased risk of co-morbidities and consequently a likelihood of pain. Pain is a common problem for older adults; many reports suggest that the incidence is around 50% in older adults living in the community, increasing to 80% among the nursing home population. Dealing with pain in this population is complex and becomes even more challenging when cognitive impairment exists. This article highlights the challenges, proposes strategies for the assessment and management of pain in the older population and makes recommendations for future research in this area.

Objectives: To explore the perceptions of patients, physiotherapists, and potential peer mentors on the topic of peer-mentoring for self-management of chronic low back pain following discharge from physiotherapy. \ud Design: Exploratory, qualitative study. \ud Participants: Twelve patients, 11 potential peer mentors and 13 physiotherapists recruited from physiotherapy departments and community locations in one health board area of the UK. \ud Interventions: Semi-structured interviews and focus groups. \ud Main outcome measures: Participants’ perceptions of the usefulness and appropriateness of peer-mentoring following discharge from physiotherapy. Data were processed and analysed using the framework method. \ud Results: Four key themes were identified: (i) self-management strategies, (ii) barriers to self-management and peer-mentoring, (iii) vision of peer-mentoring, and (iv) the voice of experience. Peer-mentoring may be beneficial for some older adults with chronic low back pain. Barriers to peer-mentoring were identified, and many solutions for overcoming them. No single format was identified as superior; participants emphasised the need for any intervention to be flexible and individualised. Important aspects to consider in developing a peer-mentoring intervention are recruitment and training of peer mentors and monitoring the mentor–mentee relationship. \ud Conclusions: This study has generated important knowledge that is being used to design and test a peer-mentoring intervention on a group of older people with chronic low back pain and volunteer peer mentors. If successful, peer-mentoring could provide a cost effective method of facilitating longer-term self-management of a significant health condition in older people.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to determine the proportion of "fit" versus "vulnerable" older patients with cancer included in phase II and III oncology registration trials, as compared to the proportions in a real life oncology setting. METHODS: Trial and patient characteristics of older (≥70years) patients treated at the OECI-designated clinical cancer centre in Kortrijk and included in a phase II or III oncology registration trial were collected retrospectively. These patients were matched individually with randomly-selected patients from the general oncology setting, based on gender, age, tumour type, tumour stage, and treatment intent. Patients' fitness, based on routine Geriatric-8 (G8) screening, was retrieved from prospectively constructed databases. RESULTS: Between November 2012 and October 2018, 218 older patients with cancer were included in a phase II or III oncology registration trial. Of those, 41 cases with a mean age of 76.0years were included in the analyses. A Fisher's Exact Test revealed a statistical significant difference between cases and matched controls, with a higher proportion of "fit" patients included in phase II or III oncology registration trials compared to the proportion in the matched control group (respectively 70.7% and 41.5%, p

Cognitive complaints, of objective or subjective nature, may negatively impact cancer patients' quality of life (QoL). Further, the early detection of cognitive alterations may lead to an improved QoL. However, the content of such screening is yet unclear. This paper presents long-term QoL data of cancer patients treated with curative intent and its relation with objective and subjective cognitive complaints, and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs).QoL data, measured by the EORTC QLQ C-30, were obtained at baseline, 6 (T1), 12 (T2), and 24 months (T3) after treatment start, and compared between patients with and without objective and subjective cognitive complaints. The predictive value of PROMs was also examined.QoL data at baseline was collected in 125 patients. Response rates at T1, T2, and T3 were 84.7%, 81.5%, and 83.1%, respectively. Eighty-nine patients returned their QoL questionnaires at all times. Baseline subjective cognitive complaints had a stronger association with worse scores on patients' overall QoL and QoL subscale scores than objective cognitive complaints. An exploratory analysis into the value of PROMs in predicting long-term QoL at T3 revealed a significant effect for the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Depression and FACIT Fatigue scale.Self-perceived cognitive alterations are negatively associated with patients' overall QoL. As these troubles may already be present at baseline, oncology nurses should screen for the early signs of subjective cognitive complaints by use of PROMs, in order to refer the patient to proper intervention programs which may lead to an improved long-term QoL and faster reintegration into society.

Objectives:\ud (i) examine the feasibility and acceptability of a peer support intervention (PALS) to facilitate self-management in community dwelling older adults with Chronic Low Back Pain (CLBP), and (ii) examine the feasibility of study methods in order to inform the design of a future randomised controlled trial.\ud Design:\ud Mixed methods feasibility and acceptability study.\ud Setting:\ud Community.\ud Participants:\ud 18 older adults (aged 65-79) with CLBP and 6 peer support volunteers (PSVs) aged 34-65.\ud Intervention:\ud Six sessions of 1 to 3 hours duration, approximately 2 weeks apart, delivered in mutually convenient public places, or by telephone. Each session had a suggested topic and each participant and PSV had a PALS manual detailing aims and target outcomes for each session.\ud Outcome measures:\ud Recruitment, retention, integrity, acceptability and feasibility of the PALS intervention, feasibility of study processes, appropriateness and usefulness of outcome measures.\ud Results:\ud We recruited to target and retained 2/3 of participants. PALS was delivered as intended and acceptable to people with CLBP and PSVs. Most participants were satisfied with PALS and would recommend it to someone else with CLBP. Study processes worked well, but recruitment procedures need to be refined. Outcome measures were returned and were mostly complete, but further work on the most appropriate measures is required.\ud Conclusions:\ud PALS was feasible to deliver and acceptable to the older people and PSVs who took part in this study. We identified amendments to PALS and the study processes that, once implemented, will allow the effectiveness of PALS to be tested in a large-scale study.

Objective: Statins have several pleiotropic effects, but the literature regarding the possible relationship between use of statins and outcomes in knee osteoarthritis (OA) is limited. The aim of this study was to investigate whether statin use is associated with a lower risk of radiographic OA (ROA), radiographic symptomatic knee OA, and pain in North American individuals. Methods: A total of 4,448 community-dwelling adults from the Osteoarthritis Initiative were followed for 4 years. Statin use (including the time from baseline and the type of statin) was defined through self-report information and confirmed by a trained interviewer. Knee OA outcomes included incident ROA, symptomatic knee OA (new onset of a combination of a painful knee and ROA), and knee pain worsening (i.e., a Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index difference between baseline and each annual examination ≥14%). Results: At baseline, 1,127 participants (25.3% of the total population) used statins. Based on a multivariable Poisson regression analysis with robust variance estimators, any use of statins was not associated with a lower risk of pain worsening (relative risk [RR] 0.97, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.93–1.02), incident ROA, or symptomatic knee OA. However, statin use for more than 5 years (RR 0.91, 95% CI 0.83–0.997) and use of atorvastatin (RR 0.95, 95% CI 0.91–0.996) were associated with a reduced risk of developing pain, while rosuvastatin use was associated with a higher risk (RR 1.18, 95% CI 1.12–1.24). Analysis with adjustment for the propensity score confirmed these findings. Conclusion: The effect of statin use on knee OA outcomes remains unclear, although in our study, a significantly lower risk of developing knee pain was observed in individuals using statins for >5 years and those using atorvastatin. © 2018, American College of Rheumatology

Background & aims: The literature regarding the potential health benefits of chocolate consumption are unclear and the epidemiological credibility has not been systematically scrutinized, while the strength of the evidence is undetermined. We therefore aimed to map and grade the diverse health outcomes associated with chocolate consumption using an umbrella review of systematic reviews. Methods: Umbrella review of systematic reviews of observational and intervention studies (randomized placebo-controlled trials, RCTs). For each association, random-effects summary effect size, 95% confidence interval, and 95% prediction interval were estimated. We also assessed heterogeneity, evidence for small-study effect and evidence for excess significance bias. For significant outcomes of the RCTs, the GRADE assessment was furtherly used. Results: From 240 articles returned, 10 systematic reviews were included (8 of which included a meta-analysis), including a total of 84 studies (36 prospective observational studies and 48 interventional). Nineteen different outcomes were included. Among observational studies, including a total of 1,061,637 participants, the best available evidence suggests that chocolate consumption is associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) death (n = 4 studies), acute myocardial infarction (n = 6), stroke (n = 5) and diabetes (n = 6), although this was based on a weak evidence of credibility. Across meta-analyses of intervention studies, chocolate consumption was positively associated with flow-mediated dilatation at 90–150 min (n = 3) and at 2–18 weeks (n = 3), and insulin resistance markers (n = 2). However, using the GRADE assessment, the evidence for these outcomes was low or very low. Data from two systematic reviews, reported that chocolate consumption was not associated with better depressive mood or cognitive function. Conclusions: There is weak evidence to suggest that chocolate consumption may be associated with favorable health outcomes. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism

This paper reports the findings from a study to investigate health care professionals&rsquo, views regarding the use and acceptability of two similar paper-based advance care planning (ACP) documents designed for older adults in their last year of life to inform end-of-life care provision. Participants&rsquo, views of using PEACE (Proactive Elderly Persons Advisory Care), a nurse led model with community geriatrician oversight, and PACe (proactive anticipatory care plan), a general practitioner (GP) led model implemented by two clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) as part of a wider pilot to determine their ability to improve end-of-life care provision, were explored. Hospital admission avoidance matrons took part in face to face interviews and care staff employed in private residential care homes took part in individual telephone interviews to explore their views of using the PEACE tool. Telephone interviews were conducted with GPs to explore their views of PACe. GPs and admission avoidance matrons were employed by CCGs and all study participants were recruited from the South East of England, where data collection took place in 2015. The data were analysed thematically. Findings from the study demonstrate how both tools provide a focus to ACP discussions to inform individual end-of-life care preferences. The importance of relationships was a pivotal theme established, trusting inter-professional relationships to enable multidisciplinary teamwork and a prior relationship with the older person (or their proxy in the case of cognitive impairment) to enable such conversations in the first place. Both tools enabled participants to think critically and reflect on their own practice. Notwithstanding participants&rsquo, views to improve their layout, using a paper-based approach to deliver streamlined ACP and end-of-life care was a theme to emerge as a potential barrier, and highlighted problems with accessing paper-based documentation, accuracy and care co-ordination in the context of multidisciplinary team working. The value of technology in overcoming this barrier and underpinning ACP as a means to help simplify service provision, promote integrated professional practice and provide seamless care, was put forward as a way forward.

Introduction: Recent research in the field of cancer-related cognitive impairments (CRCI) has shown CRCI presentation prior to treatment initiation. Some have attributed these problems to worry and fatigue, whereas others have suggested an influence of age, IQ, and other psychosocial and medical factors. Methods: Patients (>= 18 years) with a histologically confirmed diagnosis of a solid cancer or hematological malignancy, scheduled for a curative treatment, were evaluated with a baseline neuropsychological assessment including Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs). PROMs entailed distress, anxiety and depression, fatigue, and cognitive complaints. The neuropsychological assessment comprised several cognitive domains such as premorbid IQ, attention, processing speed, flexibility, verbal and visual episodic memory, and verbal fluency. Results: Cross-sectional data of 125 patients were collected. Patients had a mean age of 60.9 years (range: 30.0-85.0) and comprised primarily females (65.6%). Patients presented with cancer of following sites: breast (44.0%), digestive (28.8%), urological (11.2%), gynecologic (8.0%), hematologic malignancy (4.8%), and lung (3.2%). Patients presented with a premorbid IQ of 105.3 (range: 79.0-124.0). In 29.6% of patients, a CRCI was detected. Binary logistic regression analyses showed that a lower premorbid IQ (beta = -.084, P < .01) and a higher level of fatigue (beta = -.054, P < .05) predicted baseline CRCI. Premorbid IQ also predicted performance on individual cognitive domains. Some domains were also influenced by age, gender, having a breast cancer diagnosis, and an active treatment for hypertension. Conclusion: Premorbid IQ and fatigue are important predictors of baseline CRCI. Therefore, we advise researchers to implement a short IQ test when conducting clinical trials on CRCI.

As people grow older, they may experience loss in hearing sensitivity. Age-related hearing loss may negatively affect the patient's quality of life as it may lead to social isolation. In older patients with cancer, hearing loss can seriously interfere with the patient's ability to deal properly with all aspects of their disease, and may have a cumulative effect on their already decreased quality of life. Therefore, the proper screening of those conditions is essential in order to optimise the patient's comfort during and after treatment. This review article aims at providing a concise image of the nature of age-related hearing loss, and provides an overview of the screening methods that could be used in older patients with cancer. ispartof: GERIATRICS vol:3 issue:3 ispartof: location:Switzerland status: published

Objective:\ud Pain and sleep disturbances are widespread, and are an important cause of a reduced quality of life. Despite this, there is a paucity of multinational population data assessing the association between pain and sleep problems, particularly among low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Therefore, we investigated the relationship between pain and severe sleep disturbance across 45 LMICs.\ud \ud Method: \ud Community-based data on 240,820 people recruited via the World Health Survey were analyzed. Multivariable logistic regression analyses adjusted for multiple confounders were performed to quantify the association between pain and severe sleep problems in the last 30 days. A mediation analysis was conducted to explore potential mediators of the relationship between pain and severe sleep disturbance.\ud \ud Results: \ud The prevalence of mild, moderate, severe, and extreme levels of pain was 26.0%, 16.2%, 9.1%, and 2.2% respectively, whilst 7.8% of adults had severe sleep problems. Compared to those with no pain, the odds ratio (OR, 95% CI) for severe sleep problems was 3.65 (3.24-4.11), 9.35 (8.19-10.67) and 16.84 (13.91-20.39) for those with moderate, severe and extreme pain levels respectively. A country wide meta-analysis adjusted for age and sex demonstrated a significant increased OR across all 45 countries. Anxiety, depression and stress sensitivity explained 12.9%, 3.6%, and 5.2%, respectively, of the relationship between pain and severe sleep disturbances.\ud \ud Conclusion: \ud Pain and sleep problems are highly co-morbid across LMICs Future research is required to better understand this relationship. Moreover, future interventions are required to prevent and manage the pain and sleep disturbance comorbidity.

The rapid growth of mobile health (mHealth) devices holds substantial potential for improving care and care outcomes in all patient populations, including older adults with pain. However, existing research reflects a substantial gap in knowledge about how to design, evaluate, and disseminate devices to optimally address the many challenges associated with managing pain in older persons. Given these knowledge gaps, we sought to develop a set of practice-based research priorities to facilitate innovation in this field. We employed the Cornell Research-Practice Consensus Workshop Model, an evidence-based approach to generating research priorities. Sixty participants attended the conference, where stakeholder groups included older adults with pain and their caregivers, behavioral and social scientists, healthcare providers, pain experts, and specialists in mHealth and health policy. Participants generated 13 recommendations classified into 2 categories: 1) implications for designing research on mHealth among older adults (eg, conduct research on ways to enhance accessibility of mHealth tools among diverse groups of older adults with pain, expand research on mHealth sensing applications), and 2) implementation of mHealth technology into practice and associated regulatory issues (eg, promote research on ways to initiate/sustain patient behavior change, expand research on mHealth cybersecurity and privacy issues). PERSPECTIVE: This report highlights a set of research priorities in the area of mHealth and later-life pain derived from the joint perspectives o f researchers and key stakeholder groups. Addressing these priorities could help to improve the quality of care delivered to older adults with pain.

Whilst previous research has indicated an association between osteoarthritis and cardiovascular disease, it remains unclear whether people with osteoarthritis are at greater risk of developing hypertension. The aim of this study was to answer this uncertainity. We used the data of the Osteoarhritis Iniative, an ongoing public and private longitudinal study including people at higher risk of osteoarthritis or having knee osteoarthritis. Knee osteoarthritis was defined through radiological and clinical assessment. Incident hypertension was defined as a systolic blood pressure >140 mmHg and/or a diastolic value >90 mmHg. Multivariate Cox’s regression analyses were constructed where the presence of knee osteoarthritis as the exposure and incident hypertension as the outcome during a 96 month follow‐up interval. A total of 3,558 people with normative blood pressure values at baseline were analyzed (1,930 OA / 1,628 controls). Incidence of hypertension within the follow‐up interval was significantly higher in people with knee osteoarthritis compared to those without (60/ vs. 55/1,000 persons/years; p

Background/Objectives: A small number of case-control studies have suggested that mitochondrial haplogroups could be associated with obesity. We examined whether obesity risk was influenced by mitochondrial haplogroup in a large North American cohort across an 8-year period. We conducted a longitudinal cohort study including individuals from the Osteoarthritis Initiative. Subjects/Methods: Mitochondrial haplogroups were determined by sequencing and PCR-RFLP techniques using this nomenclature: HV, JT, KU, IWX, and super HV/others. The strength of the association between mitochondrial haplogroups and incident obesity was quantified with hazard ratios (HRs), adjusted for potential confounders using a Cox's regression analysis. Results: Overall, 2342 non-obese Caucasian participants (56.7% women) with a mean ± SD age of 62.0 ± 9.5 years at baseline were included. During a median follow-up of 8 years, 334 individuals (= 14.3% of baseline population) became obese. After adjusting for nine potential confounders, the haplogroups IWX carried a significant 48% higher risk of obesity (HR = 1.48; 95% CI: 1.02-2.39) compared to the HV haplotype (the most frequent type). Conclusion: Only the presence of the IWX haplogroups appears to be linked to increased obesity risk, independent of potential baseline confounders. Future cohort studies are needed to confirm these findings and to determine potential underlying mechanisms. © 2018 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature.

The finding of a potential association between pain and cognitive decline is limited to a few cross-sectional studies with relatively samples. We therefore aimed to investigate whether the presence and severity of pain at baseline could predict a decline in cognitive function over four years of follow-up in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. At baseline, participants with no dementia who were “often troubled by pain” were considered to have pain. Pain severity was categorized as mild, moderate, or severe. Cognitive function was explored through verbal fluency (assessed by asking how many different animals the participants could name in 60 s), memory (sum of immediate and delayed verbal memory) and processing speed (number of target letters correctly identified on the letter cancellation task). Multivariable linear regression was used (exposure: pain; outcomes: cognitive change between follow-up and baseline, based on standardized residuals). Altogether, 6515 community-dwelling people with a mean age of 65 years (women = 57.3%) were included. Over a 4-year follow-up, after adjusting for 26 potential confounders, no association between pain (yes vs. no) and verbal fluency (beta = 0.02; 95%CI: −0.15 to 0.18), memory (0.05; 95%CI: −0.28 to 0.38), or processing speed (0.55; 95%CI: −18.4 to 2.93) at follow-up was found. Only severe pain was associated with greater decline in memory (−0.36; 95%CI: −0.68 to −0.04). In conclusion, in older people, pain was not associated with worsening in cognition, except for severe pain, which was marginally associated with worsening in memory tests. Further longitudinal studies are needed to confirm or refute our findings. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.

BACKGROUND:\ud Stress in chronic conditions or multimorbidity (≥2 chronic conditions) has been reported to affect clinical outcomes but there are no studies on the association between stress and chronic conditions/multimorbidity among older adults in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Thus, we investigated this association among adults aged ≥50 years across six LMICs.\ud \ud METHODS:\ud A cross-sectional analysis using data from the World Health Organization's Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia, South Africa) was conducted. A perceived stress score [range 0 (lowest stress) -100 (highest stress)] was computed based on two questions from the Perceived Stress Scale. Thirteen chronic conditions were assessed. Multivariable linear regression analyses were conducted.\ud \ud RESULTS:\ud 34,129 adults with a mean age of 62.4 (SD=16.0)years (52.1% females) were included. Overall, 56.6% (95% CI=55.0%-58.2%) had multimorbidity. In the adjusted model including all countries, compared with those with no chronic conditions, higher numbers of chronic conditions were significantly associated with higher stress levels, dose dependently. In a countrywide meta-analysis, multimorbidity was associated with significantly higher stress levels in all countries (especially India and Ghana) although characterized by moderate heterogeneity (I2=54.6%). For single chronic conditions, notably high stress scores were observed for depression, stroke, and hearing problems.\ud \ud CONCLUSION:\ud Chronic conditions and multimorbidity are associated with higher levels of stress in older adults in LMICs. Given that perceived stress and chronic conditions are collectively associated with worse health outcomes, low-cost, population-level integrated interventions to address stress among those with chronic conditions are urgently needed.

There will be increased numbers of older adults in society in the next few decades. Older adults are more likely to have pain problems and other co-morbidities. Generally, pain is poorly managed in older adults, and this becomes worse when cognitive impairment exists. The impact of chronic pain on older adults will be greater than that of their younger counterparts in terms of social isolation. Attitudes and barriers to improved pain management exist in both the older adults themselves and their younger counterparts