Kaisu H. Pitkälä

Social Contacts and Their Relationship to Loneliness among Aged People – A Population-Based Study

Background: Emotional loneliness and social isolation are major problems in old age. These concepts are interrelated and often used interchangeably, but few studies have investigated them simultaneously thus trying to clarify their relationship. Objectives: To describe the prevalence of loneliness among aged Finns and to study the relationship of loneliness with the frequency of social contacts, with older people’s expectations and satisfaction of their human relationships. Especially, we wanted to clarify whether emotional loneliness is a separate concept from social isolation. Methods:The data were collected with a postal questionnaire. Background information, feelings of loneliness, number of friends, frequency of contacts with children, grandchildren and friends, the expectations of frequency of contacts as well as satisfaction of the contacts were inquired. The questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 6,786 aged people (>74 years) in various urban and rural areas in Finland. We report here the results of community-dwelling respondents (n = 4,113). Main Results: More than one third of the respondents (39.4%) suffered from loneliness. Feeling of loneliness was not associated with the frequency of contacts with children and friends but rather with expectations and satisfaction of these contacts. The most powerful predictors of loneliness were living alone, depression, experienced poor understanding by the nearest, and unfulfilled expectations of contacts with friends. Conclusion: Our findings support the view that emotional loneliness is a separate concept from social isolation. This has implications for practice. Interventions aiming at relieving loneliness should be focused on enabling an individual to reflect her own expectations and inner feelings of loneliness.

Exposure to potentially inappropriate drugs and drug-drug interactions in elderly nursing home residents in Helsinki, Finland: a cross-sectional study.

AbstractBackground and objective: Multiple drug use is common among old, frail nursing home residents who are, as a consequence, susceptible to adverse effects and drug interactions. This study uses the updated Beers criteria for potentially inappropriate drug (PID) use in older adults to determine the extent and nature of PIDs in older nursing home residents in Helsinki, Finland. The study also uses the Swedish, Finnish, INteraction X-referencing (SFINX) interaction database to assess the possibility of clinically significant class D (“clinically significant interaction, and the combination should be avoided”) drug-drug interactions (DDIs) in the same population. Methods: This study is a cross-sectional assessment of all nursing home residents aged ≥65 years in Helsinki. The residents’ demographic information and medical data were collected from medical charts in February 2003. Results: Of all nursing home residents in Helsinki, 82% (n = 1987) were eligible for analysis. Their mean age was 83.7 (SD 7.7) years, 80.7% were female and 69.5% were diagnosed with dementia. The mean number of drugs given on a regular basis per resident was 7.9 (SD 3.6) per day. Of the study population, 34.9% regularly used at least one PID. Residents taking PIDs were more likely to be taking psychotropic medication and to be taking nine or more drugs daily, and less likely to have a diagnosis of dementia, than patients not taking PIDs. The three most prevalent PIDs were: (i) short-acting benzodiazepines in greater than recommended doses (13.9% of all residents), of which temazepam >15 mg/day was the most commonly used agent and, indeed, the most common PID (taken by 13.5% of all residents); (ii) hydroxyzine (7.1%); and (iii) nitrofurantoin (6.3%). Together, these three PIDs accounted for 76.9% of all PID use. Of all residents, 4.8% were susceptible to a clinically significant DDI. The most common potential DDIs were related to the use of potassium-sparing diuretics, carbamazepine and codeine. Compared with residents not exposed to potential DDIs, residents exposed to potential DDIs were more likely to be younger, to have a prior history of stroke, to be taking psychotropics, to be taking nine or more drugs daily and to be taking PIDs. Conclusion: Use of PIDs is very common among nursing home residents, and this increases the likelihood of DDIs. Monitoring patients for PID use and potential drug interactions could increase the quality of prescribing.

Prognostic Significance of Delirium in Frail Older People

Our aim was to investigate the long-term prognosis of delirium in the frailest elderly, and to clarify whether delirium is just a marker of the underlying severe disease. We used logistic regression analysis to determine the independent prognostic significance of delirium. A representative sample of 425 patients (≥70 years) in acute geriatric wards and nursing homes were assessed at baseline and followed up for 2 years. DSM-IV was used for classification. The prevalence of delirium at baseline was 24.9% (106/425). The prognosis of delirium was poor: mortality at 1 year was 34.9 vs. 21.6% in nondelirious subjects (p = 0.006), and at 2 years 58.5 vs. 42.6% (p = 0.005). Among home-dwelling people at baseline, 54.4% of the delirious vs. 27.9% of others were permanently institutionalized within 2 years (p < 0.001). In logistic regression analysis, delirium was an independent predictor for mortality at 1 year (OR 1.86, 95% CI 1.1–3.1), at 2 years (OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.1–2.8), and for permanent institutionalization (OR 2.45, 95% CI 1.2–4.9). Delirious patients with prior dementia tended to have a better prognosis than those without.

Effects of the Finnish Alzheimer disease exercise trial (FINALEX): a randomized controlled trial.

IMPORTANCE Few rigorous clinical trials have investigated the effectiveness of exercise on the physical functioning of patients with Alzheimer disease (AD). OBJECTIVES To investigate the effects of intense and long-term exercise on the physical functioning and mobility of home-dwelling patients with AD and to explore its effects on the use and costs of health and social services. DESIGN A randomized controlled trial. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS A total of 210 home-dwelling patients with AD living with their spousal caregiver. INTERVENTIONS The 3 trial arms included (1) group-based exercise (GE; 4-hour sessions with approximately 1-hour training) and (2) tailored home-based exercise (HE; 1-hour training), both twice a week for 1 year, and (3) a control group (CG) receiving the usual community care. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The Functional Independence Measure (FIM), the Short Physical Performance Battery, and information on the use and costs of social and health care services. RESULTS All groups deteriorated in functioning during the year after randomization, but deterioration was significantly faster in the CG than in the HE or GE group at 6 (P = .003) and 12 (P = .015) months. The FIM changes at 12 months were -7.1 (95% CI, -3.7 to -10.5), -10.3 (95% CI, -6.7 to -13.9), and -14.4 (95% CI, -10.9 to -18.0) in the HE group, GE group, and CG, respectively. The HE and GE groups had significantly fewer falls than the CG during the follow-up year. The total costs of health and social services for the HE patient-caregiver dyads (in US dollars per dyad per year) were

Use of Psychotropic Drugs in Elderly Nursing Home Residents with and without Dementia in Helsinki, Finland

25,112 (95% CI,

Loneliness among older people

17,642 to

Behavioral symptoms and the administration of psychotropic drugs to aged patients with dementia in nursing homes and in acute geriatric wards.

32,581) (P = .13 for comparison with the CG),

Cytomegalovirus antibody level and mortality among community-dwelling older adults with stable cardiovascular disease.

22,066 in the GE group (

Bifidobacterium microbiota and parameters of immune function in elderly subjects.

15,931 to

Impact of Viral and Bacterial Burden on Cognitive Impairment in Elderly Persons With Cardiovascular Diseases

28,199; P = .03 vs CG), and