Vol XXI, January `06

Resources

Indiana University publishes an "Abstract of the Month" relating to geriatrics and aging research. See http://iucar.iu.edu/research/abstract/Jan2005.html.

Read stories and commentary on geriatric medicine news, see www.topix.net/med/geriatric-medicine. The site offers articles on topics ranging from exercise and the elderly to federal aging programs and healthy lifestyles for seniors. Users of the site also have an opportunity to post and read comments relating to the articles.

Research

The rates of chronic disability in older Americans have been overestimated by about 40%, according to Yale School of Medicine researchers, in a December 12, 2005, article in the Archives of Internal Medicine. "Our projects yielded about two million fewer chronically disabled older Americans in 1999, relative to the published estimate of seven million," said Thomas M. Gill, MD, who co-authored the study with Evelyne A. Gahbauer, MD. He added that accurate estimates of chronic disability are important for a variety of reasons. From a policy perspective, these estimates often are used to inform decisions regarding the current and future health care needs of older persons and to forecast the likely demand for long term care. From an epidemiologic perspective, the causes of chronic disability, including predisposing risk factors and subsequent precipitants, may differ from those of short-term disability.

A four-question screening tool can predict which older patients with appetite problems are likely to lose weight, placing them at greater risk of death, according to researchers at St. Louis University. The questionnaire is called the Simplified Nutritional Appetite Questionnaire, or SNAQ and takes less than two minutes to answer. "This tool tells us whether a poor appetite is likely to kill you. It identifies the patients who have problems with their appetite and will go on to lose weight," says Margaret-Mary Wilson, MD, the lead author of a study about the SNAQ. The researchers asked appetite questions of 247 nursing home residents over the age of 60 from nine St. Louis-based long term care facilities. In addition, they asked the same questions of 868 community-dwelling individuals, many of whom were 60 or older. Wilson and her team then checked six months later to see if those who completed the questionnaire lost weight. More than eight times out of 10, scores on the SNAQ identified those who would go on to lose 5% of their weight. The test was even more sensitive in predicting who would lose 10% of their weight, picking up the problem 88% of the time. For more information, see the article in the November 2005 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition or see http://www.slu.edu/readstory/more/6348.

Nursing home residents felt much less lonely after spending time alone with a dog than they did when they visited with a dog and other people, says new and yet-to-be-published study from St. Louis University. Thirty-seven NH residents who scored high on a loneliness scale said they wanted to receive weekly, 30-minute visits from dogs. Half of the individuals spent time alone with the dog, and the other half spent time with one to three other facility residents and the dog. While both groups felt less lonely after these encounters, the group that had one-on-one quality time with the dog experienced a much more significant decrease in loneliness after five to six weeks of visits. "It was a strange finding," admitted William A. Bank, MD, the study's author. "We thought that the dog would act as a social lubricant and increase the interaction between the residents. We expected the group dog visits were going to work better, but they didn't... .The residents found a little quiet time with the pooch is a lot nicer than spending time with a dog and other people." For more information, see http://www.slu.edu/readstory/more/6391.