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Objective: With global aging, older adults with functional decline is expected to increase. There is a need for simple and valid tools to assess functional decline that can be applied to different settings. The measurement of hand grip strength (HGS) remains a valuable objective tool that can overcome the barriers of self-reported ones. However, use of dynamometer is greatly limited to specialized geriatrics and rehabilitation services in low-resource countries, creating an increasing demand for alternative devices. The aim was to validate the use of a sphygmomanometer for measuring HGS and to determine its association with functional dependency in older females. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 100 females aged =60 years, recruited from the outpatient clinics and from the caregivers of the inpatients and were subjected to comprehensive geriatric assessment, including functional assessment: activities of daily living (ADL), instrumental ADL (IADL), incidental and planned questionnaire week version, short physical performance battery, and HGS measurements using a Jamar dynamometer and sphygmomanometer. Results: A significant correlation was found between HGS measured by sphygmomanometer and Jamar dynamometer. A conversion equation of the sphygmomanometer readings into Jamar readings was obtained. The recommended cut-off value to predict ADL dependency was =9 for HGS by Jamar with sensitivity 81.4% and specificity 57.9%, while it was =60 mmHg sphygmomanometer with a sensitivity of 58.14% and specificity of 78.9%. Conclusion: The use of a sphygmomanometer for HGS measurements is an acceptable alternative to the Jamar dynamometer. It can predict ADL and IADL dependency in older females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Psychological frailty, including cognitive, mood, and motivational components, is an important predictor of overall well-being. Therefore, there is an increasing scientific interest in studying different determinants of psychological frailty. Unfortunately, the psychological components of frailty are not fully evaluated and currently, there is currently no consensus on the proper assessment or intervention. This study evaluated optimism and self-efficacy among frail older men without functional disabilityG. Materials and Methods: A case-control study. Seventy older men =60 years were divided into frail and non-frail groups. The self-efficacy scale (SES) and revised life orientation test (R-LOT) were applied for all participants, in addition to the comprehensive geriatric assessment, to determine other factors affecting physical frailty. Results: Those with physical frailty had lower self-efficacy and optimism scores. R-LOT and SES had moderate diagnostic accuracy in predicting frailty; the area under the curve for both tools were 0.75 and 0.71, respectively. Conclusion: There is an association between poor general self-efficacy, low optimism, and frailty among older men. Thus, the importance of addressing the psychological determinants of frailty is on par with that of addressing the physical components. Integrating the SES and R-LOT scales into the comprehensive assessment of older men with physical frailty can improve the assessment of psychological resilience, ultimately promoting their well-being and quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Geriatric syndromes, multimorbidity, and disability are closely interrelated concepts. The presence of different geriatric syndromes and medical comorbidities has major impacts on health and well-being. The medical comorbidities are usually well evaluated and recorded during the initial assessment of hospitalized older adults, while the geriatric syndromes usually remain overlooked. The impact of geriatric syndromes on depression and functional disability needs evaluation. Aim: To determine the impact of geriatric syndromes and medical multimorbidities on predicting functional disability and depression in hospitalized older adults. Methods: 189 hospitalized elderlies were recruited for the study. Each participant underwent comprehensive geriatric assessment to determine medical comorbidities, geriatric syndromes and factors associated with depression and functional disability. Results: The prevalence of functional disability among participants was 39.68% while 28.57% of the participants had depression. The geriatric syndromes accumulation score but not the age adjusted Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) was able to predict depression and functional disability. In the adjusted model for age, gender, and CCI, the increased number of coexisting geriatric syndromes increased the risk of depression and functional disability [OR: 1.817 (95% confidence interval 1.338-2.793), OR: 1.936 (95% confidence interval 1.338-2.793)]. Conclusions: The geriatric syndromes usually occur simultaneously. The presence of coexisting geriatric syndromes increased the risk of depression and functional disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: mHealth can facilitate comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) in countries with limited geriatric healthcare facilities. It can compensate for the lack of trained geriatricians and integrate CGA in different healthcare disciplines leading to better clinical outcomes. This study assessed the usability of a self‐administered geriatric assessment smartphone application. Methods: A cross‐sectional study included participants from the geriatric clinic at Ain Shams University Hospital, Cairo, Egypt. This study was performed in three phases: development and validation of an abbreviated geriatric assessment tool, and validation of the application prototype. Twenty subjects were recruited for pretesting the abbreviated assessment tool, then another 50 patients to validate this tool in a face‐to‐face interview. Afterwards, another 12 patients completed the prototype followed by a standardized office visit interview. Each assessment domain was evaluated in agreement with a valid reference test during the clinical interview. Results: The application was simple and user friendly. The scores of each domain correlated to the reference test scores (rho = 0.59–0.93). Most of the domains exhibited good agreement with the reference tests (kappa = 0.68–1.00) (except for frailty and nutritional assessment). Conclusions: The mHealth geriatric assessment is possible and highly desirable during physical distancing and beyond. Obviously, this approach cannot substitute for clinical examination and multidisciplinary standard CGA. However, it may overcome some barriers facing the geriatrization of medicine. It would help general practitioners to provide pre‐CGA evaluation, particularly in areas with limited access to formal geriatric healthcare services. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2021; 21: 222–228. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to establish the effects of age, gender, and education and to provide preliminary normative data for letter and category fluency tasks in the Egyptian Arabic-speaking population. We evaluated 139 cognitively healthy volunteers aged 20–93 by adapting the letter and category verbal fluency tasks for the Egyptian population. On the letter fluency task, mean number of words generated in one-minute beginning with the Arabic letter “Sheen” (pronounced “sh”) was 8.14 words per minute (SD = 3.25). Letter fluency was significantly influenced by education. On category fluency tasks, mean number of animal names generated in one minute was 14.63 words (SD = 5.28). Category fluency was significantly influenced by age and education. We were able identify that age significantly affects category fluency while education significantly affected both letter and category fluency. We were also able to provide preliminary normative data for both tasks in the Egyptian population. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is common among older people because it often results from atherosclerosis, which becomes more common with age. The disease is particularly common among people who have diabetes. Little information is available on the relation between abdominal aortic diameter and PAD in elderly patients with diabetes. This article studies the relationships between abdominal aortic diameter, PAD, and the cardiovascular risk factors in asymptomatic elderly patients suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus. A case-control study was conducted on 90 participants aged 60 years and older divided into 60 cases (30 males and 30 females) and 30 age-matched healthy controls (15 males and 15 females). The relationships between the size of the abdominal aorta and ankle-brachial index (ABI), plasma cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein were examined. Approximately, 15% of patients with diabetes had asymptomatic PAD. The patients with diabetes with PAD were of older age (70.4 ± 3.6 vs. 63.4 ± 3.9 years; p = 0.000), had larger abdominal aortic diameter (22.4 ± 3.08 vs. 18.7 ± 2 mm; p = 0.000), and higher CRP levels (8.3 ± 1.1 vs. 5.8 ± 2.2 mg/L; p = 0.002), while other variables revealed no significant difference. Abdominal aortic diameter correlated well with ABI measured by Doppler method in diabetic patients (r =  - 0.471, p = 0.000). Older age and larger abdominal aorta are independent risk factors for asymptomatic PAD in the elderly with type 2 diabetes mellitus.