Urinary incontinence and use of pads – clinical features and

The aim of this study was to obtain evidenced-based knowledge about older persons in home care; we conducted a population-based study at 11 sites in Europe (2001/2002). This article focuses on urinary incontinence and need for help in home care. Methods: A sample of 4010 respondents 65 years or older were assessed by the Resident Assessment Instrument for Home Care. Urinary incontinence was defined as leakage once a week or more including use of catheters. Results: A total of 1478 individuals had urinary incontinence, 45% men and 47% women. The use of pads ran from 29% to 52% between the sites. The associates of urinary incontinence were: moderate or severe cognitive impairment, dependency in toileting and other activities of daily living compared with less impaired; urinary infections, obesity and faecal incontinence. Caregivers to persons with urinary incontinence reported burden or stress more often then carers to nonurinary incontinence individuals (OR = 2.2, 95% CI 1.8-2.7). Conclusions: To enable older people with incontinence to stay at home with a better quality of life, they need caring assistance during toileting on a regular basis

Proposal of a service delivery integration index of home care for older persons : application in several European cities

Purpose: To propose an integration index of home care delivery to older persons, to study its validity and to apply it to home care services of European cities. Theory: Home care delivery integration was based on two dimensions referring to process-centred integration and organisational structure approach. Method: Items considered as part of both dimensions according to an expert consensus (face validity) were extracted from a standardised questionnaire used in ‘‘Aged in Home care’’ (AdHoc) study to capture basic characteristics of home care services. Their summation leads to a services’ delivery integration index. This index was applied to AdHoc services. A factor analysis was computed in order to empirically test the validity of the theoretical constructs. The plot of the settings was performed. Results: Application of the index ranks home care services in four groups according to their score. Factor analysis identifies a first factor which opposes working arrangement within service to organisational structure bringing together provisions for social care. A second factor corresponds to basic nursing care and therapies. Internal consistency for those three domains ranges from 0.78 to 0.93. When plotting the different settings different models of service delivery appear. Conclusion: The proposed index shows that behind a total score several models of care delivery are hidden. Comparison of service delivery integration should take into account this heterogeneity

Proposal of a service delivery integration index of home care for older persons: application in several European cities.

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links fieldPURPOSE: To propose an integration index of home care delivery to older persons, to study its validity and to apply it to home care services of European cities. THEORY: Home care delivery integration was based on two dimensions referring to process-centred integration and organisational structure approach. METHOD: Items considered as part of both dimensions according to an expert consensus (face validity) were extracted from a standardised questionnaire used in "Aged in Home care" (AdHoc) study to capture basic characteristics of home care services. Their summation leads to a services' delivery integration index. This index was applied to AdHoc services. A factor analysis was computed in order to empirically test the validity of the theoretical constructs. The plot of the settings was performed. RESULTS: Application of the index ranks home care services in four groups according to their score. Factor analysis identifies a first factor which opposes working arrangement within service to organisational structure bringing together provisions for social care. A second factor corresponds to basic nursing care and therapies. Internal consistency for those three domains ranges from 0.78 to 0.93. When plotting the different settings different models of service delivery appear. CONCLUSION: The proposed index shows that behind a total score several models of care delivery are hidden. Comparison of service delivery integration should take into account this heterogeneity

Predictors of Societal Costs of Older Care-Dependent Adults Living in the Community in 11 European Countries

BACKGROUND: The objective was to identify predictors of societal costs covering formal and informal care utilization by older home care clients in 11 European countries. METHODS : Societal costs of 1907 older clients receiving home care for 12 months from the Aged in Home care (AdHoc) study were estimated using the InterRAI Minimum Data Set for Home Care's (MDS-HC) resource use items. Predictors (medical, functional, and psychosocial domains) of societal costs were identified by performing univariate and multivariate generalized linear model analyses. RESULTS : Mean societal costs per participant were (sic)36 442, ranging from (sic)14 865 in Denmark to (sic)78 836 in the United Kingdom. In the final multivariate model, country, being married, activities of daily living (ADL) dependency, cognitive impairment, limitations of going out, oral conditions, number of medications, arthritis, and cerebro vascular accident (CVA) were significantly associated with societal costs. CONCLUSIONS: Of the predictors, ADL dependency and limitations of going out may be modifiable. Developing interventions targeted at improving these conditions may create opportunities to curtail societal costs.Peer reviewe

Predicting unplanned hospital visits in older home care recipients: a cross-country external validation study.

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked DownloadBackground: Accurate identification of older persons at risk of unplanned hospital visits can facilitate preventive interventions. Several risk scores have been developed to identify older adults at risk of unplanned hospital visits. It is unclear whether risk scores developed in one country, perform as well in another. This study validates seven risk scores to predict unplanned hospital admissions and emergency department (ED) visits in older home care recipients from six countries. Methods: We used the IBenC sample (n = 2446), a cohort of older home care recipients from six countries (Belgium, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy and The Netherlands) to validate four specific risk scores (DIVERT, CARS, EARLI and previous acute admissions) and three frailty indicators (CHESS, Fried Frailty Criteria and Frailty Index). Outcome measures were unplanned hospital admissions, ED visits or any unplanned hospital visits after 6 months. Missing data were handled by multiple imputation. Performance was determined by assessing calibration and discrimination (area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC)). Results: Risk score performance varied across countries. In Iceland, for any unplanned hospital visits DIVERT and CARS reached a fair predictive value (AUC 0.74 [0.68-0.80] and AUC 0.74 [0.67-0.80]), respectively). In Finland, DIVERT had fair performance predicting ED visits (AUC 0.72 [0.67-0.77]) and any unplanned hospital visits (AUC 0.73 [0.67-0.77]). In other countries, AUCs did not exceed 0.70. Conclusions: Geographical validation of risk scores predicting unplanned hospital visits in home care recipients showed substantial variations of poor to fair performance across countries. Unplanned hospital visits seem considerably dependent on healthcare context. Therefore, risk scores should be validated regionally before applied to practice. Future studies should focus on identification of more discriminative predictors in order to develop more accurate risk scores. Keywords: Emergency department visits; Geographical validation; Home care; Risk prediction models; Unplanned hospitalizations.European Commissio

Die Notfallmeldung Abschlussbericht zum Forschungsprojekt 'Analyse und Beurteilung der Notfallrettung in Berlin'. T.1

UuStB Koeln(38)-890106507 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Analyse und Beurteilung der Notfallrettung in Berlin : die Notfallmeldung

Es werden der institutionelle und organisatorische Kontext des Rettungsdienstes und die Rahmenbedingungen des Betriebs der dazugehörenden zentralen Einsatzleitstelle beschrieben. Ausgangspunkt der Ergebnisdarstellung bildet eine analytische Deskription des Alltagsbetriebs in der Einsatzleitstelle, um die Arbeitsabläufe und Alltagsroutinen beim Empfang von Notfallmeldungen herauszuarbeiten. Abschließend werden spezifische Arbeits- und Qualifikationsanforderungen identifiziert, die aus der Leitstellenarbeit resultieren

Prevalence and predictors of influenza vaccination among frail, community-living elderly patients: An International Observational Study

The annual winter outbreak of influenza is one of the major cause of morbidity and mortality among frail elderly people. The aim of the present study was to identify prevalence and predictors of influenza vaccination in a large European population of frail and old people living in community. This was an observational study conducted in 11 European countries. We enrolled 3878 people 65 years and older already receiving home care services within the urban areas. All participants were assessed with the Minimum Data Set-Home Care (MDS-HC) instrument containing over 300 items, including socio-demographic, physical and cognitive characteristics of patients as well as medical diagnoses and medications received. A single question about the influenza vaccination status was used. The rate of influenza vaccination was around 59% of the studied sample. Significant geographical variations were evident in the prevalence of vaccination ranging from 31% of Prague (Czech Republic) to 88% of Rotterdam (The Netherlands). Overall, persons living alone were less likely to receive influenza vaccine as compared with those living with an informal caregiver (OR, 0.78; 95% CI 0.67–0.90). Similarly, cognitive impairment and presence of economic problems were associated with a lower likelihood of being vaccinated (OR: 0.69, 95% CI 0.59–0.80 and OR, 0.58; 95% CI 0.45–0.74, respectively). On the other hand, old age and comorbidity were associated with an higher probability of being vaccinated. In conclusion, more than 40% of subjects in this sample of home care patients in Europe did not receive influenza vaccination. Recommendations for influenza vaccination have not been adequately implemented

Urinary incontinence and use of pads – clinical features and

The aim of this study was to obtain evidenced-based knowledge about older persons in home care; we conducted a population-based study at 11 sites in Europe (2001/2002). This article focuses on urinary incontinence and need for help in home care. Methods: A sample of 4010 respondents 65 years or older were assessed by the Resident Assessment Instrument for Home Care. Urinary incontinence was defined as leakage once a week or more including use of catheters. Results: A total of 1478 individuals had urinary incontinence, 45% men and 47% women. The use of pads ran from 29% to 52% between the sites. The associates of urinary incontinence were: moderate or severe cognitive impairment, dependency in toileting and other activities of daily living compared with less impaired; urinary infections, obesity and faecal incontinence. Caregivers to persons with urinary incontinence reported burden or stress more often then carers to nonurinary incontinence individuals (OR = 2.2, 95% CI 1.8-2.7). Conclusions: To enable older people with incontinence to stay at home with a better quality of life, they need caring assistance during toileting on a regular basis