In study series of author, the incidence of acute appendicitis in older patients is 8.57%. The classic symptoms such as pain, anorexia and nausea presented in older patients but are less pronounced than in younger adults. Pain in the right lower quadrant: 80.95%, localization occurs later than in younger patients. 42 (85%) patients have comorbidity. In older patients with appendicitis, the diagnosis is often delayed with 66.66% of cases have been perforated. The mortality rate is 3.57%. Rate of complications is 50%. The most common complication is infection, occurred in 38.09% of patients.
Appendicitis ; Frail Elderly ; aged

No abstract available.
Aged ; Frail Elderly* ; Humans

Background: Maintaining optimal well-being of the elderly is now a major concern since their numbers are expected to swell in the next decades. Thus, there is a need to focus on the health and psychosocial status and needs of our older persons. Objective: To describe the biopsychosocial profile and needs of older persons in Davao City. Methodology: This study utilized secondary data obtained from the OPS 2009 survey after informed consent was sought from the DCOP-RG. The OPS 2009 survey was developed by a multidisciplinary group of professionals commissioned by the Davao City Sangguniang Panglungsod in order to create a basis for the implementing rules of the expanded senior citizen act for Davao City. It included 398 respondents age 60 and above who gave consent, representing the population of older persons from the different areas in Davao City. Data gathering was done by a team of trained interviewers. Anonymized gathered in OPS 2009 survey was utilized for this present study. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data. Results: There was an equal sex distribution among the respondents. Majority were married, widowed and Roman Catholics, 76.6% of the respondents believed that they were in good health. 60.1% of the respondents had previous admissions but even so, majority (87.9%) had someone to help take care of them during their admissions. Psychosocial status of the older persons was favorable in general. Majority (72.2%) still engage in recreational activities. Furthermore, the respondents have a happy disposition in life wherein majority have a perceived happy mood left contented and at peace. Almost all (98%) still feels needed by their kin and friends. Perceived health needs include better medical benefits while perceived psychosocial needs include financial and moral support. Conclusion: The study showed that older persons in Davao City perceived themselves to be happy, contented, calm, at peace and important to their families. However, since most were diagnosed with chronic illnesses such as hypertension, arthritis, diabetes, and asthma; health related needs and provision of better medical benefits topped their list. Financial support and psychosocial support from their families, government and non-government institutions were also listed as needs. In general, they envisioned Davao to be an older person friendly place with program that put elderly welfare, safety and protection at the forefront.
Aged 80 and over ; Aged ; FRAIL ELDERLY

Public health strategies designed to accomodate the ever-increasing human lifespan are urgently required. A good clinical understanding of frailty, as well as knowledge regarding how to prevent it, will therefore be required in order to overcome this challenge. Sarcopenia is an important component of the frailty syndrome, and its association with osteoporosis can lead to fractures and incident disability. Therefore, this review examined the literatuire pertaining to the association of sarcopenia with osteoporosis in order to assess preventive strategies.
Aged ; Frail Elderly ; Humans ; Osteoporosis* ; Public Health ; Sarcopenia*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of a local community based multi-factorial program for high-risk younger and older elderly people. METHODS: The quasi-experimental research design (pretest-post test) was employed. Participants were recruited in Seoul and a total of 98 elders completed an 8-week multi-factorial program for preventing frailty. Descriptive statistics, chi2-test and GLM were used in the data analysis with SPSS/WIN 15.0. RESULTS: The high-risk elderly people in the younger and older stages showed differences in IADL, TUG and BMI, and after being provided with the multi-factorial program for preventing frailty, some effects were shown on improving the total score of frailty, a physical function, TUG, BMI, depression, subjective feeling of health, and social interaction. CONCLUSION: The 8-week multi-factorial program for preventing frailty had positive effects on improving physical, emotional and social functions of the high-risk elderly people. It is necessary to evaluate the effects after individual intervention as well as group intervention and to evaluate the effects of the program by setting a control group in the future.
Aged ; Depression ; Frail Elderly ; Humans ; Research Design ; Statistics as Topic

The purpose of this study was to investigate an optimal 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D] level for Japanese frail elderly people aged 65 and above from the standpoint of quality of life, functional capacity, and physical function. A longitudinal study was conducted in two towns (latitude 36 degrees north) from 2006 to 2008. The subjects were 125 frail elderly individuals living in a rural setting and attending a 3-month exercise class for prevention of age-related diseases in order that they could do without receiving nursing care. An interview was conducted based on a questionnaire, and blood data, and physical fitness tests were administered to them at baseline and at the end of the 3-month exercise class. Functional capacity and physical fitness were compared on the basis of 25(OH)D≥50 nmol/L as a usual cut-off point, and 25(OH)D≥75 nmol/L as a severer cut-off point. A comparison of changes in physical fitness between before and after exercise class was done. The mean 25(OH)D level (±SD) was 58.9±13.6 nmol/L at baseline. The ratios of 25(OH)D level less than 50.0 nmol/L and less than 75.0 nmol/L were 23.9%, and 87.2%, respectively. The rates of house-bound subjects and those with worse scores of QOL were significantly higher in the group with 25(OH)D<50.0 nmol/L compared with the group with 25(OH)D≥50 nmol/L. The rate of those with superior functional capacity was significantly higher in the group with 25(OH)D≥75 nmol/L than the group with 25(OH)D<75 nmol/L. At the end of the 3-month exercise, Timed Up & Go indicating walking ability improved significantly in the group with 25(OH)D≥50 nmol/L, and an alternate step test indicating lower extremity strength significantly improved in the group with 25(OH)D≥75 nmol/L. From these findings, it was suggested that 25(OH)D level more than 50 nmol/L would be needed to maintain walking ability of the Japanese frail elderly and that 25(OH)D level more than 75 nmol/L would be needed to maintain lower extremity strength or functional capacity.
hydroxyl group ; Nanomole/liter ; Upper case dee ; Frail Elderly ; Exercise

PURPOSE: This study was performed to evaluate effects of a stim-up matt walking exercise program on balance and gait of the frail elderly. METHODS: A total of 37 elderly people recruited from S city were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n=22) and control group (n=15). The stim-up matt walking exercise program was offered twice a week for 8 weeks. Data were analyzed by SPSS 21.0. RESULTS: The dynamic balance ability Timed Up and Go test of the experimental group was significantly faster than that of the control group (t=21.72, p<.001). The static balance ability open-eye standing test (t=44.15, p<.001) and close-eye standing test (t=9.01, p=.005) also showed increase in effects of the experimental group. In the walking ability, gait cycle (t=2.48, p=.018), cadence (t=−2.21, p=.034) and gait speed (t=−2.78, p=.009), positive effects were on. However, no statistically significant differences were found in stride length and double support. At the ankle joint range left ankle plantar flexion (t=3.92, p<.001) and left ankle dorsal flexion (t=4.51, p<.001) were higher in the experimental group than in the control group, and also right ankle plantar flexion (t=2.79, p=.008) and right ankle dorsal flexion (t=2.92, p=.006) increased in the experimental group. CONCLUSION: The significance of this study is that the stim-up matt walking exercise program for the frail elderly proves to be useful for improving balance and walking.
Aged ; Ankle ; Ankle Joint ; Frail Elderly ; Gait ; Humans ; Joints ; Walking

Frail older adults often have multi-domain risk factors in terms of physical, psychological, and social health. Comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) is the process of identifying and quantifying frailty by examining various risky domains and body functions, which is the basis for geriatric medicine and research. CGA provides physicians with information on the reversible area of frailty and the leading cause of deterioration in frail older adults. Therefore frailty assessment based on understanding CGA and its relationship with frailty, can help establish treatment strategies and intervention in frail older adults. This review article summarizes the recent consensus and evidence of frailty and CGA.]]>
Aged ; Consensus ; Frail Elderly ; Geriatric Assessment ; Humans ; Risk Factors

BACKGROUND: Frailty, a multidimensional geriatric syndrome, confers a high risk of falls, disability, hospitalization, and mortality. The prevalence and correlates of frailty in older people dwelling in rural communities are unknown. METHODS: We examined frailty, as defined by the Korean Geriatric Society, and social correlates among rural community-dwelling older adults (n=419) aged 65 or older. RESULTS: The prevalence of frailty and prefrailty was 11.5% and 38.7%, respectively. Among eight frailty criteria, the prevalence of multiple medications was highest (57.3%), while self-rated health as "unhealthy" was the second highest (45.1%). In contrast, the prevalence of exhaustion was the lowest (10%) among the eight frailty criteria. The prevalence of frailty was 12.6% among women and 6.3% among men (p=0.02). Uneducated older adults showed a significantly higher prevalence of frailty (13.1%) than any other educational groups (6.3-9.2%). In addition, older adults with high social support showed lower frailty than the other groups. After adjustment for other factors; however, a lack of social support (odds ratio for frailty, 1.98; 95% confidence interval, 1.14-3.44) was associated with increased odds of frailty. CONCLUSION: Frailty is not uncommon among rural community-dwelling old men and women in Korea. In the rural community, females with a lack of social support might be at a higher risk of frailty, as those were two of the strongest risk factors discovered in this study. This study calls for more interest and concern for the frail older adults with a lack of social support in rural communities.
Adult* ; Aged ; Female ; Frail Elderly ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Mortality ; Prevalence* ; Risk Factors ; Rural Population

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the influence of interpersonal attitude (I+, I-, U+, U-) on communication competence in care workers for frail elderly. METHODS: This study was a cross-sectional survey. The data were collected from 153 care workers for frail elderly using a structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using multiple regression with the SPSS/WIN 20.0 program. RESULTS: The interpersonal attitude style of subjects was I+U+, and the score of communication competence was 3.53. There were significant differences in interpersonal attitude (I+, I-), and communication competence depending on age, education level, experience of personality type test (yes). Factors influencing on communication competence in care workers were interpersonal attitude (I+, I-, U+) and experience of personality type test with R2 value of 48.5% (F=23.47 p<.001). The most influencing factor was I+ (beta=.36), followed by I- (beta=-.22), U+ (beta=.20), and experience of personality type test (yes) (beta=.16). CONCLUSION: It is needed to maintain the interpersonal attitude style (I+U+) of care workers. Continuing education program is needed for increasing communication competence especially for those fifties and over, and experienced care workers. Giving an opportunity for personality test is helpful to increase communication competence in care workers.
Aged ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Education, Continuing ; Frail Elderly ; Humans ; Mental Competency ; Personality Tests ; Surveys and Questionnaires