Objective: The aim of this review of the literature is to report the factors which both contribute to the frailty syndrome and increase hip fracture risk in the elderly. This work is the fruit of common reflection by geriatricians, endocrinologists, gynecologists and rheumatologists, and seeks to stress the importance of detection and management of the various components of frailty in elderly s...

BACKGROUND Because of their complex clinical presentations and needs frail elderly people require another approach than people who age without many complications. Several inpatient geriatric health services have proven effectiveness in frail persons. However, the wish to live independently and policies that promote independent living as an answer to population aging call for community intervent...

BACKGROUND Frail elderly people need an integrated and coordinated care. The two-armed study "Continuum of care for frail elderly people" is a multi-professional and multidimensional intervention for frail community-dwelling elderly people. It was designed to evaluate whether the intervention programme for frail elderly people can reduce the number of visits to hospital, increase satisfaction w...

Elderly rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is classified into two clinical subsets, elderly-onset RA (EORA) and younger-onset elderly RA. With the improvement of life expectancy in the general population and advent of the super-aging society, the number of patients with EORA is anticipated to increase. Both large and small joints are affected initially at onset, and individuals with early EORA have high...

Recurrent hip dislocation has become an increasing problem in patients who had multiple component revision in total hip arthroplasty. These are often frail elderly patients with loss of constraining soft tissue envelope around the hip and an excessive weakness of the abductor mechanism. We present a simple technique for open reduction of a dislocated hip using a custom-made fully constrained co...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between frailty and sarcopenia, by evaluating the prevalence of sarcopenia among frail, pre-frail and robust elderly nursing home residents in Belgium. METHODS This is an analysis of baseline data collected from the SENIOR (Sample of Elderly Nursing home Individuals: an Observational Research) cohort. All subjects received a sarcopenia evaluation, bas...

OBJECTIVE To deepen the knowledge of frail elderly patients' preferences for participation in medical decision making during hospitalization. METHODS Qualitative study using content analysis of semi-structured interviews. RESULTS Patient participation to frail elderly means information, not the wish to take part in decisions about their medical treatments. They view the hospital care system...

BACKGROUND While the active participation of general practitioners (GPs) in integrated health services networks (IHSNs) plays a critical role in their success, little is known about the incentives and barriers to their actual participation. METHODS Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and a mail survey with GPs enrolled in SIPA (system of integrated care for older persons) at...

PURPOSE Denmark is cited as a model in the development of home- and community-based systems for the frail elderly population. We examined the results of this natural experiment and considered implications for U.S. policy. DESIGN AND METHODS We used international comparative policy analysis, including site visits and semistructured interviews with Danish leadership in conjunction with a review...

This multivariate study examined the relationship between meaning in caregiving--positive beliefs about the caregiving situation and the self as caregiver--and the psychological well-being of 131 informal caregivers to community-residing frail elders. Measures of well-being included depression, self-esteem, mastery, role captivity, and loss of self. Meaning in caregiving explained a significant...