Palliative care competencies for geriatricians across Europe : a Delphi consensus study

Key summary points Aim to develop a set of specific palliative care competencies to be recommended for training at a postgraduate level of geriatricians across Europe. Findings A list of 35 palliative care competencies for geriatricians is now available for implementation in the different European countries. Message Future action are needed to support implementation and evaluation of the recommendations based upon key performance indicators within different health care systems. Purpose Integration of palliative care competencies with geriatric medicine is important for quality of care for older people, especially in the last years of their life. Therefore, knowledge and skills about palliative care for older people should be mandatory for geriatricians. The European Geriatric Medicine Society (EuGMS) has launched a postgraduate curriculum for geriatric medicine recently. Aim Based on this work, the Special Interest Group (SIG) on Palliative care in collaboration with the SIG in Education and Training aimed to develop a set of specific palliative care competencies to be recommended for training at a postgraduate level. Methods Competencies were defined using a modified Delphi technique based upon a Likert like rating scale. A template to kick off the first round and including 46 items was developed based on pre-existing competencies developed in Switzerland and Belgium. Results Three Delphi rounds were necessary to achieve full consensus. Experts came from 12 EU countries. In the first round, the wording of 13 competencies and the content of 10 competencies were modified. We deleted or merged ten competencies, mainly because they were not specific enough. At the end of the 2nd round, one competence was deleted and for three questions the wordings were modified. These modifications had the agreement of the participants during the last round. Conclusion A list of 35 palliative care competencies for geriatricians is now available for implementation in European countries

Comprehensive geriatric assessment in older people: an umbrella review of health outcomes

Comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) has been in use for the last three decades. However, some doubts remain regarding its clinical use. Therefore, we aimed to capture the breadth of outcomes reported and assess the strength of evidence of the use of comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) for health outcomes in older persons

Palliative care competencies for geriatricians across Europe: a Delphi consensus study

Integration of palliative care competencies with geriatric medicine is important for quality of care for older people, especially in the last years of their life. Therefore, knowledge and skills about palliative care for older people should be mandatory for geriatricians. The European Geriatric Medicine Society (EuGMS) has launched a postgraduate curriculum for geriatric medicine recently. Based on this work, the Special Interest Group (SIG) on Palliative care in collaboration with the SIG in Education and Training aimed to develop a set of specific palliative care competencies to be recommended for training at a postgraduate level. Competencies were defined using a modified Delphi technique based upon a Likert like rating scale. A template to kick off the first round and including 46 items was developed based on pre-existing competencies developed in Switzerland and Belgium

Underrepresentation of older adults in clinical trials on COVID-19 vaccines : a systematic review

During the COVID-19 pandemic older subjects have been disproportionately affected by the disease. Vaccination is a fundamental intervention to prevent the negative consequences of COVID-19, but it is not known if the needs and vulnerabilities of older people are adequately addressed by their inclusion in randomized clinical trials (RCTs) evaluating the efficacy of vaccines for COVID-19. Given this background, we aimed to evaluate if current and ongoing phase II-III RCTs evaluating the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines included a representative sample of older people. A systematic literature search in PubMed and Clinicaltrials.gov was performed until May 01st, 2021. Among 474 abstracts initially retrieved, 20 RCTs (ten already published, ten ongoing) were included. In the ten studies already published, the mean age of participants was 45.2±11.9 years and only 9.83% of the participants were more than 65 years, 1.66% more than 75 years and less than 1% (0.55%) more than 85 years. In the ten ongoing RCTs, many of the studies aimed at including participants older than 18 years, with one study including participants between 18 and 84 years, and two between 21 and 100 years. In conclusion, our systematic review demonstrates that in published and ongoing phase II-III randomized clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines only a tiny fraction of the most vulnerable group of older people was included, although they clearly were the first population that had to be vaccinated

A global call to action to improve the care of people with fragility fractures

The ageing of society is driving an enormous increase in fragility fracture incidence and imposing a massive burden on patients, their families, health systems and societies globally. Disrupting the status quo has therefore become an obligation and a necessity. Initiated by the Fragility Fracture Network (FFN) at a �Presidents' Roundtable� during the 5th FFN Global Congress in 2016 several leading organisations agreed that a global multidisciplinary and multiprofessional collaboration, resulting in a Global Call to Action (CtA), would be the right step forward to improve the care of people presenting with fragility fractures. So far global and regional organisations in geriatrics/internal medicine, orthopaedics, osteoporosis/metabolic bone disease, rehabilitation and rheumatology were contacted as well as national organisations in five highly populated countries (Brazil, China, India, Japan and the United States), resulting in 81societies endorsing the CtA. We call for implementation of a systematic approach to fragility fracture care with the goal of restoring function and preventing subsequent fractures without further delay. There is an urgent need to improve: � Acute multidisciplinary care for the person who suffers a hip, clinical vertebral and other major fragility fractures� Rapid secondary prevention after first occurrence of all fragility fractures, including those in younger people as well as those in older persons, to prevent future fractures� Ongoing post-acute care of people whose ability to function is impaired by hip and major fragility fracturesTo address this fragility fracture crisis, the undersigned organisations pledge to intensify their efforts to improve the current management of all fragility fractures, prevent subsequent fractures, and strive to restore functional abilities and quality of life.</p

Orthostatic hypotension and health outcomes: an umbrella review of observational studies

Purpose: Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is associated with older age and many negative clinical outcomes in geriatric practice. We aimed to capture the breadth of outcomes that have been associated with the presence of OH and systematically assess the quality, strength and credibility of these associations using an umbrella review with integrated meta-analyses. Methods: We systematically searched several major databases from their commencements through to 16th May 2019 for meta-analyses of observational studies of OH and any health-related outcome. We used these metrics to categorize the strength of evidence of significant outcomes (p &lt; 0.05) from class I (convincing) to class IV (weak), according to the pre-established criteria. Results: From 975 abstracts, seven meta-analyses of 12 outcomes were included. For each outcome, the median number of studies was four, and the median number of participants was 46,493, with a median of 3630 incident cases. There was suggestive (class III) evidence that OH was associated with significantly higher risk of coronary heart disease (HR = 1.32, 95% CI 1.12–1.56), stroke (HR = 1.22, 95% CI 1.08–1.38), congestive heart failure (HR = 1.30, 95% CI 1.09–1.55), all-cause mortality (RR = 1.50, 95% CI 1.24–1.81), falls (OR = 1.84, 95% CI 1.39–2.44), and dementia (HR = 1.22, 95% CI 1.11–1.35). Conclusion: The current evidence base indicates that OH is significantly associated with a range of adverse cardiovascular, cognitive, and mortality outcomes in older people, although the strength of this evidence remains only suggestive. Further research in larger samples and with lower risk of bias is required to build a fuller picture of the impact of OH on health. © 2019, © 2019, European Geriatric Medicine Society

Association between sarcopenia and diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

Purpose: Sarcopenia and diabetes are two common conditions in older people. Some recent literature has proposed that these two conditions can be associated. However, to date, no attempt has been made to collate this literature. Therefore, we aimed to summarize the prevalence of sarcopenia in diabetes (and vice versa) and the prevalence of sarcopenia in people with diabetes complications, through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: Two authors searched major electronic databases from inception until March 2019 for case control/cross-sectional/longitudinal studies investigating sarcopenia and diabetes. The strength of the reciprocal associations between sarcopenia and diabetes was assessed through odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusted for potential confounders, where possible. Results: From 953 potential eligible articles, 20 were included in the systematic review, with 17 providing data for meta-analysis. Overall, 54,676 participants were included (mean age= 65.4 years). Diabetic participants had an increased prevalence of sarcopenia compared to controls (n=10; OR=1.635; 95%CI: 1.204-2.220; p=0.002; I2=67%), whilst, after adjusting for potential confounders, sarcopenia was associated with an increased odds of having diabetes (OR=2.067; 95%CI: 1.396-3.624; p<0.0001; I2=0%). In 1,868 diabetic participants with a complication, there was an increased prevalence of sarcopenia (OR=2.446; 95%CI: 1.839-3.254; p<0.0001; I2=0%), as compared with those with no complication. Very limited data existed regarding studies with a longitudinal design. Conclusions: Our study suggests a bi-directional association between diabetes and sarcopenia, particularly when diabetic complications are present

Sarcopenia is associated with a greater risk of polypharmacy and number of medications: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

Abstract Polypharmacy in older adults is associated with multiple negative consequences that may affect muscular function, independently from the presence of medical conditions. The aim of this systematic review and meta‐analysis was to investigate the association of sarcopenia with polypharmacy and higher number of medications. A systematic literature search of observational studies using PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Cochrane Library databases was conducted from inception until June 2022. To determine if sarcopenia is associated with a higher risk of polypharmacy and increased number of medications, a meta‐analysis using a random‐effects model was used to calculate the pooled effects (CRD42022337539). Twenty‐nine studies were included in the systematic review and meta‐analysis. Sarcopenia was associated with a higher prevalence of polypharmacy (odds ratio [OR]: 1.65, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.23, 2.20], I2 = 84%, P < 0.01) and higher number of medications (mean difference: 1.39, 95% CI [0.59, 2.19], I2 = 95%, P < 0.01) compared with individuals without sarcopenia. Using meta‐regression, a high variance was observed due to different populations (i.e., community‐dwelling, nursing home residents, inpatients, outpatients) for both outcomes of polypharmacy (r = −0.338, SE = 0.1669, 95% CI [−0.67, −0.01], z = −2.03, P = 0.04) and number of medications (r = 0.589, SE = 0.2615, 95% CI [0.08, 1.10], z = 2.25, P = 0.02). This systematic review and meta‐analysis reported a significantly increased risk of polypharmacy and higher number of medications in people with sarcopenia compared with individuals without this condition. Future research should clarify whether the specificity and number of medications is a direct contributor in accelerating the progression of muscle wasting and dysfunction contributing to sarcopenia in older adults

Sarcopenia and health related outcomes: an umbrella review of observational studies

Background: The clinical relevance of sarcopenia has increasingly been recognized. However, whether it is associated with the development of other medical conditions is still unclear. Therefore, we aimed to capture the scale of outcomes that have been associated with the presence of sarcopenia and systematically assess the quality, strength and credibility of these associations using an umbrella review methodology. Methods: A systematic review in several databases was carried out, until 20th February 2019. For each association, random-effects summary effect size, 95% confidence intervals (CIs), heterogeneity (I2), evidence for small-study effect, evidence for excess significance bias and 95%-prediction intervals were estimated. We used these metrics to categorize the evidence of significant outcomes (p<0.05) from class I (convincing) to class IV (weak), according to pre-established criteria. Results: From 358 abstracts, 6 meta-analyses with 14 associations were included. Sarcopenia was associated with higher risk of other comorbidities and mortality in 11 of 14 outcomes explored. However, only 3 outcomes (i.e. association between sarcopenia and increased risk of death in community-dwelling older people [odds ratio, OR= 3.60; 95% CI: 2.96-4.37; n=14,305], disability [OR= 3.04; 95%CI: 1.80-5.12; n=8,569] and falls [OR= 1.60; 95%CI: 1.31-1.97; n=12,261]) presented a highly suggestive evidence (class II). Other association were classified as having only a weak evidence. Conclusion: Sarcopenia is associated with several adverse health related outcomes in older people and its associations with mortality, disability, falls is supported by a highly suggestive evidence. The effect of interventions on sarcopenia to improve these outcomes needs to be investigated

Sarcopenia and health-related outcomes: an umbrella review of observational studies

Background The clinical relevance of sarcopenia has increasingly been recognized. However, whether it is associated with the development of other medical conditions is still unclear. Therefore, we aimed to capture the scale of outcomes that have been associated with the presence of sarcopenia and systematically assess the quality, strength, and credibility of these associations using an umbrella review methodology. Methods A systematic review in several databases was carried out, until 20th February 2019. For each association, random-effects summary effect size, 95% confidence intervals (CIs), heterogeneity (I2), evidence for small-study effect, evidence for excess significance bias, and 95%-prediction intervals were estimated. We used these metrics to categorize the evidence of significant outcomes (p &lt; 0.05) from class I (convincing) to class IV (weak), according to pre-established criteria. Results From 358 abstracts, 6 meta-analyses with 14 associations were included. Sarcopenia was associated with higher risk of other comorbidities and mortality in 11 of 14 outcomes explored. However, only 3 outcomes (i.e., association between sarcopenia and increased risk of death in community-dwelling older people [odds ratio, OR = 3.60; 95% CI 2.96–4.37; n = 14,305], disability [OR = 3.04; 95% CI 1.80–5.12; n = 8569], and falls [OR = 1.60; 95% CI 1.31–1.97; n = 12,261]) presented a highly suggestive evidence (class II). Other association was classified as having only a weak evidence. Conclusion Sarcopenia is associated with several adverse health-related outcomes in older people, and its associations with mortality, disability, and falls are supported by a highly suggestive evidence. The effect of interventions on sarcopenia to improve these outcomes needs to be investigated