Age and Ageing journal

The July 2021 issue of Age and Ageing, journal of the British Geriatrics Society, is out now.

The journal is available in full to subscribers and BGS members and there is a sizable proportion of free or Open Access content which can be read without a subscription, including all COVID articles.

Rowan Harwood’s Editor’s View gives an overview of this latest issue and highlights some of the hot topics for our readers.

Featured content includes:

• COVID-19 infection and attributable mortality in UK care homes: cohort study using active surveillance and electronic records (March–June 2020). Describes the profound impact of COVID on care home staff and residents.
• The demography and characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 seropositive residents and staff of nursing homes for older adults in the Community of Madrid: the SeroSOS study. Findings include seroprevalence in half of residence and a third or staff in care homes.
• Awareness of the use of hyponatraemia-inducing medications in older adults with hyponatraemia: a study of their prevalent use and association with recurrent symptomatic or severe hyponatraemia. Describes a prevalent use of HIMs before and after treatment for hyponatraemia. Accompanied by a commissioned editorial: Hyponatraemia in older people is usually multifactorial and commonly iatrogenic.
• Active management of hyponatraemia and mortality in older hospitalised patients compared with younger patients: results of a prospective cohort study. Found that hyponatraemia is corrected less often in older patients prior to discharge and concludes that a targeted approach to the management of hyponatraemia is warranted.
• Silver Book II: an international framework for urgent care of older people in the first 72 hours from illness or injury is a commentary to accompany the publication of Silver Book II, a guide for clinicians and healthcare workers to take care of older people in emergency departments.
• New horizons in cardiogeriatrics: geriatricians and heart failure care—the custard in the tart, not the icing on the cake Makes the case for the integration of a cardiogeriatrician into the HF MDT for the benefit of patients and for mutual education and development of the team.
• Can person-centred care for people living with dementia be delivered in the acute care setting? Describes evidence that acute hospital person-centred care is possible and that it improves outcomes but that cultural change is needed to implement it.
• ‘Real world’ effectiveness of the Falls Management Exercise (FaME) programme: an implementation study. The incidence of falls increases with age and is exacerbated by poor strength, balance and physical function. Improvements have been achieved through the FaME programme but were not maintained.
• The My Active and Healthy Aging ICT platform prevents quality of life decline in older adults: a randomised controlled study. Found no reduction in the transition to frailty, but the quality of life and nutritional parameters were improved.
• Effects of dance on cognitive function in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Dance improves global cognition, learning and memory and maybe also complex attention and executive function. As well as, of course, being an opportunity for inclusion and enjoyment.
• Early Mobilization in Older Adults with Acute Cardiovascular Disease. Early and aggressive mobilisation was associated with increased chances of survival and discharge to home.
• Optimal management of older people with frailty non-weight bearing after lower limb fracture: a scoping review. Despite this being a common occurrence, with huge risks of deconditioning, complications and disability, there is little research or guidance.
• Activities of daily living at hospital admission and estimated survival time of older patients. The Barthel-Index ADL provides easily accessible and independent information to clinicians on expected survival time, to guide decision making and personalised care planning.
• Rotigotine patch prescription in inpatients with Parkinson’s disease: evaluating prescription accuracy, delirium and end-of-life use. Concluded that inappropriate dosing may precipitate or worsen delirium/hallucinations. The authors urge extreme caution.