Assessing frailty amongst older people admitted to hospital in a low-income setting: a multicentre study in northern Tanzania

\ua9 The Author(s) 2024.Background: Populations are ageing globally and Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) are experiencing the fastest rates of demographic change. Few studies have explored the burden of frailty amongst older people in hospital in LMICs, where healthcare services are having to rapidly adapt to align with the needs of older people. This study aimed to measure the prevalence of frailty amongst older people admitted to hospital in Tanzania and to explore their demographic and clinical characteristics. Methods: This study had a prospective observational design. Over a six-month period, all adults ≥ 60 years old admitted to medical wards in four hospitals in northern Tanzania were invited to participate. They were screened for frailty using the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) and the Frailty Phenotype (FP). Demographic and clinical characteristics of interest were recorded in a structured questionnaire. These included the Barthel Index, the Identification of Elderly Africans Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADEA-IADL) and Cognitive (IDEA-Cog) screens, the EURO-D depression scale and Confusion Assessment Method. Results: 540 adults aged ≥ 60 were admitted, and 308 completed assessment. Frailty was present in 66.6% using the CFS and participants with frailty were significantly older, with lower levels of education and literacy, greater disability, greater comorbidity, poorer cognition and higher levels of delirium. Using the FP, 57.0% of participants were classed as frail though a majority of participants (n = 159, 51.6%) could not be classified due to a high proportion of missing data. Conclusions: This study indicates that the prevalence of frailty on medical wards in northern Tanzania is high according to the CFS. However, the challenges in operationalising the FP in this setting highlight the need for future work to adapt frailty screening tools for an African context. Future investigations should also seek to correlate frailty status with long-term clinical outcomes after admission in this setting

The influence of soil intrinsic properties on soil erosion: the case of northern slopes of the Uluguru Mountains, Morogoro, Tanzania

Enhancing Dissemination of Soil and Water Research Outputs of SADC UniversitiesSoil erosion and resulting land degradation have been identified as serious problems since the 1920s in Tanzania. Soil erosion in Tanzania is mainly water induced and results from rainwater runoff on fragile lands such as steep slopes, overgrazed lands and other degraded lands due to various factors like deforestation and over-cultivation. This paper discusses a study carried out to assess the contribution of soil properties to soil erosion in the Northern slopes of the Uluguru Mountains. Two geomorphic units along mountain ridges and foothills on slopes ranging from 30 to 70% were studied for various soil physical characteristics including clay ratio, dispersion ratio, particle size analysis, bulk density, infiltration rate, gravel content, aggregate stability and soil loss due to erosion. Results from the study revealed that on one hand high soil organic matter, dry stable aggregates (>2 mm), bulk density and infiltration rate reduce significantly (P< 0.05) rill and interrill erosion. On the other hand, clay ratio, silt, very fine sand and gravel content increase soil erosion. The study argues that the application of organic material would improve soil physical properties and hence reduce soil erosion. Appropriate farming practices such as terracing, contour farming strip farming among others which stabilise soil aggregates are also recommended to minimise soil erosion

Pedological and edaphological properties of the soils of two soil associations in the Morogoro area, Tanzania

Trop. Agric. (Trinidad) Vol.59 No.2 April 1982Pedological and edaphological properties of two soil associations forming a continuum from the Uluguru \mountain ranges to the Mindu mountain in the Morogoro area, Tanzania, have been investigated. The general /eatures of the area, including climate, geology and vegetation are discussed as is the movement of soluble salts on the slopes and its effects on soil composition. The investigation shows that there is a close connection between the three soil forming factors, climate, parent material, and relief and the mineral composition of the soils and their edaphological properties. This means that a thorough understanding of the soil forming factors and the soil development processes provides a key to land use evaluation of an area like this, where soil data often are lacking