RSS 1.0Health Care of Older People (HCOP)
Browse by
Recent Submissions
-
Improving collateral history taking in the geriatric population.Introduction The geriatric population has a high incidence of dementia, delirium and frailty meaning often these patients cannot give comprehensive histories themselves. We are left with missing pieces of the puzzle; we might not know their ‘normal’ and frequently ask: ‘Are they always like this?’ A collateral history becomes a valuable tool, contributing to a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment and assisting the whole MDT to make informed decisions for patient-centred care. The primary aim of this project was to improve the quality of collateral histories taken for patients admitted to the geriatric wards, with content measured against 8 domains. A secondary aim was to encourage timely collateral histories within 48 hours of admission to the ward. Method Using PDSA methodology, collateral histories were analysed before and after implementation of a poster and teaching session. Results At baseline each domain was covered a mean of 40.5% of the time (range 9%—81%). Following intervention this increased by 22% to 62.5% (range 18%—89%), demonstrating a significant improvement (paired t-test, P < 0.05). It was already common practice to take collateral histories within 48 hours of admission to the ward (91%) which was sustained post-intervention (88%). Conclusion Use of a poster as a prompt, and delivering teaching, led to more thorough collateral histories. This suggests two barriers are knowing what to ask and perceived importance, elements which could be integrated into early postgraduate education. The impact on patient care has the potential to be significant and multidimensional but further work would be needed to understand this.
-
Battling a rarity: A case of kindler syndrome from a developing countryKindler syndrome, a rare branching of inherited epidermolysis bullosa, is an autosomal recessive condition characterized by the eruption of painful blisters and hemorrhagic vesicles in infancy. With age, the eruption of blisters are seen to decline leaving behind fibrosed, scarred, and paper-like skin, and poikilodermic features. To this date, about 400 cases have been reported worldwide for this disease only. This report aims to discuss the presence and diagnosis of Kindler Syndrome using limited resources in developing countries. It describes the presence of clinically diagnosed Kindler Syndrome in a young male of Pakistani descent that started in infancy and presented with a variety of clinical features over the years. Even though genetic analysis remains the gold standard diagnostic for Kindler syndrome, for third world countries, relying on Diagnostic clinical criteria remains helpful in establishing a diagnosis of Kindler syndrome for further management, as seen in our patient.
-
A Review of Functional Neuroimaging in People with down Syndrome with and without DementiaBackground: Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) are at high risk of dementia which is difficult to diagnose in DS. Neuroimaging has been identified as a potential tool to aid diagnosis by detecting changes in brain function. We carried out a review comparing functional neuroimaging in DS individuals with and without dementia. Summary: A literature search was conducted using PubMed to identify relevant studies. In DS subjects with dementia, fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (PET) studies showed glucose hypometabolism particularly in the parietal and/or temporal regions whilst magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies showed increased myoinositol and decreased N-acetylaspartate. Ligand-based PET studies revealed significant Pittsburgh compound B binding in DS subjects over the age of 40, particularly if they had dementia. Key Messages: Neuroimaging may aid the early detection of dementia in DS; however, further longitudinal studies are required.
