| Literature DB >> 32733901 |
Reshma Aziz Merchant1,2, Richard Jor Yeong Hui3, Sing Cheer Kwek3, Meena Sundram3, Arthur Tay4, Jerome Jayasundram1, Matthew Zhixuan Chen1, Shu Ee Ng1, Li Feng Tan5, John E Morley6.
Abstract
With the aging population and consequent increase in associated prevalence of frailty, dementia, and multimorbidity, primary care physicians will be overwhelmed with the complexity of the psychosocial and clinical presentation. Geriatric syndromes including frailty, sarcopenia, cognitive impairment, and anorexia of aging (AA) either in isolation or in combination are associated with an increased risk of adverse outcomes and if recognized early, and appropriately managed, will lead to decreased disability. Primary care practices are often located in residential settings and are in an ideal position to incorporate preventive screening and geriatric assessment with personalized management. However, primary care physicians lack the time, multidisciplinary resources, or skills to conduct geriatric assessment, and the limited number of geriatricians worldwide further complicates the matter. There is no one effective strategy to implement geriatric assessment in primary care which is rapid, cost-effective, and do not require geriatricians. Rapid Geriatric Assessment (RGA) takes <5 min to complete. It screens for frailty, sarcopenia, AA, and cognition with assisted management pathway without the need of a geriatrician. We developed RGA iPad application for screening with assisted management in two primary care practices and explored the feasibility and overall prevalence of frailty, sarcopenia, and AA. The assessment was conducted by trained nurses and coordinators. Among 2,589 older patients ≥65 years old, the prevalence of frailty was 5.9%, pre-frail 31.2%, and robust 62.9%. Fatigue was present in 17.8%, and among them, the prevalence of undiagnosed depression as assessed by the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9 was 76.4% and 13.5% of total. The prevalence of sarcopenia was 15.4%, and 13.9% experienced at least one fall in the past year. AA was prevalent in 10.9%. The time taken to do the assessment with defined algorithm was on average 5 min or less per patient, and 96% managed to complete the assessment prior to seeing their doctor in the same session. The RGA app is a rapid and feasible tool to be used by any healthcare professional in primary care for identification of geriatric syndrome with assisted management.Entities:
Keywords: anorexia of aging; frailty; geriatric syndrome; iPad application; older adult; primary care; rapid geriatric assessment; sarcopenia
Year: 2020 PMID: 32733901 PMCID: PMC7360669 DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2020.00261
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Front Med (Lausanne) ISSN: 2296-858X
Figure 1RGA mobile iPad app and screening.
Figure 2Rapid geriatric assessment and personalized management.
Demographics of participants.
| Age (mean, SD) | 73.1, 6.5 | 72.8, 6.2 | 73.3, 6.7 | |
| Living arrangement | ||||
| Alone | 193 (7.5) | 77 (6.3) | 116 (8.5) | |
| Spouse | 699 (27.0) | 423 (34.6) | 275 (20.3) | |
| Family | 1,651 (63.7) | 716 (58.4) | 930 (68.5) | |
| Domestic Helper | 30 (1.2) | 4 (0.3) | 26 (1.9) | |
| Landlord/Tenant | 17 (0.7) | 6 (0.5) | 11 (0.8) | |
| Employment | ||||
| Retired | 1,042 (40.2) | 789 (64.4) | 558 (41.1) | |
| Full time | 341 (13.2) | 250 (20.4) | 186 (13.7) | |
| Part time | 238 (9.2) | 124 (10.1) | 115 (8.5) | |
| Home maker/housewife | 821 (31.7) | 24 (2.0) | 418 (30.8) | |
| Unemployed | 148 (5.7) | 39 (3.2) | 81 (6.0) | |
| Smoking | ||||
| Never smoked | 2,090 (80.7) | 770 (62.8) | 1,315 (96.8) | |
| Current smoker | 164 (6.3) | 144 (11.7) | 19 (1.4) | |
| Past smoker | 336 (13.0) | 312 (25.4) | 24 (1.8) | |
| Frailty Status | ||||
| Robust | 1,628 (62.9) | 821 (67.0) | 818 (60.2) | |
| Pre-frail | 809 (31.2) | 349 (28.5) | 459 (33.8) | |
| Frail | 151 (5.9) | 56 (4.1) | 81 (6.0) | |
| Sarcopenia | 399 (15.4) | 118 (9.6) | 280 (20.6) | |
| Anorexia of Aging | 283 (10.9) | 96 (7.8) | 185 (13.6) | |
| Cognitive Impairment | 190 | 97 (51.1) | 92 (48.9) | 0.060 |
| Normal | 125 (65.8) | 70 (72.2) | 55 (59.8) | |
| MCI | 26 (13.7) | 14 (14.4) | 12 (13.0) | |
| Dementia | 39 (20.5) | 13 (13.4) | 26 (27.2) |
Values are n (%) unless otherwise noted.
Rapid Cognitive Screen was conducted in 190 participants; percentages are of remaining men and women participants. Bold implies significance.
Figure 3Prevalence of geriatric syndromes in the old and old–old in primary care. *indicated significant between the two age groups. 65–79 years old 2,117 (81.8%), ≥80 years 472 (18.2%). ∧Rapid cognitive screen conducted in 190 patients, 65–79 years old 151 (79.5%), ≥80 years 38 (20.5%).
Frailty and subcomponents.
| Fatigue | 461 (17.8) | 189 (15.4) | 272 (20.0) | |
| Sleep apnea | 21 (4.8) | 11 (5.8) | 10 (3.6) | |
| Depression | 352 (76.4) | 126 (66.7) | 226 (83.1) | 0.199 |
| Minimal depression | 192 (48.0) | 69 (45.7) | 123 (49.4) | |
| Mild depression | 119 (29.8) | 45 (29.8) | 74 (29.7) | |
| Moderate to severe depression | 41 (10.3) | 12 (7.9) | 29 (11.6) | |
| Unable to climb 1 flight of stairs | 351 (13.6) | 103 (8.4) | 248 (18.2) | |
| Unable to walk 1 Bus Stop | 358 (13.8) | 126 (11.8) | 232 (17.1) | |
| Five or more chronic illnesses | 252 (9.8) | 145 (11.8) | 107 (7.9) | |
| Loss of weight | 107 (4.1) | 44 (3.6) | 63 (4.6) | 0.181 |
Values are n (%) unless otherwise noted.
Percentages are of remaining men and women participants who complained of fatigue. Bold implies significance.
Sarcopenia and subcomponents.
| Sarcopenia | 399 (15.4) | 118 (9.6) | 280 (20.6) | <0.001 |
| Difficulty lifting and carrying 4.5 kg | 658 (25.4) | 199 (16.2) | 458 (33.7) | <0.001 |
| Difficulty walking across a room | 357 (13.8) | 121 (9.9) | 236 (17.3) | <0.001 |
| Difficulty transferring from a chair or bed | 705 (27.2) | 252 (20.6) | 452 (33.2) | <0.001 |
| Difficulty climbing a flight of ten stairs | 663 (25.6) | 229 (18.7) | 433 (31.9) | <0.001 |
| Falls in the last year | 361 (13.9) | 142 (11.6) | 218 (16.1) | 0.005 |
Values are n (%) unless otherwise noted.