A Community Program of Integrated Care for Frail Older Adults
Objectives: To assess the 3-month impact on physical function of a program for community-dwelling frail older adults, based on the integration of primary care, geriatric medicine, and community resources, implemented in "real life". Design: Interventional cohort study. Setting: Primary car...
| Autores: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2019 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona |
| Repositorio: | Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ddd.uab.cat:224009 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://ddd.uab.cat/record/224009 https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1007/s12603-019-1244-4 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Frailty Integrated care Physical activity Primary care |
| Sumario: | Objectives: To assess the 3-month impact on physical function of a program for community-dwelling frail older adults, based on the integration of primary care, geriatric medicine, and community resources, implemented in "real life". Design: Interventional cohort study. Setting: Primary care in Barcelona, Spain. Participants: Individuals aged ≥80 years (n=134), presenting at least one sign of frailty (i.e., slow gait speed, weakness, memory complaints, involuntary weight loss, poor social support). Intervention: After frailty screening by the primary care team, candidates were referred to a geriatric team (geriatrician + physical therapist), who performed a comprehensive geriatric assessment and designed a tailored multidisciplinary intervention in the community, including a) multi-modal physical activity (PA) sessions, b) promotion of adherence to a Mediterranean diet c) health education and d) medication review. Measurements: Participants were assessed based on a comprehensive geriatric assessment including physical performance (Short Physical Performance Battery -SPPB- and gait speed), at baseline and at a three month follow-up. Results: A total of 112 (83.6%) participants (mean age=80.8 years, 67.9% women) were included in this research. Despite being independent in daily life, participants' physical performance was impaired (SPPB=7.5, SD=2.1, gait speed=0.71, SD=0.20 m/sec). After three months, 90.2% of participants completed ≥7.5 physical activity sessions. The mean improvements were +1.47 (SD 1.64) points (p<0.001) for SPPB, +0.08 (SD 0.13) m/sec (p<0.001) for gait speed, -5.5 (SD 12.10) sec (p<0.001) for chair stand test, and 53% (p<0.001) improved their balance. Results remained substantially unchanged after stratifying the analyses according to the severity of frailty. Conclusions: Our results suggested that a "real-world" multidisciplinary intervention, integrating primary care, geriatric care, and community services may improve physical function, a marker of frailty, within 3 months. Further studies are needed to address the long-term impact and scalability of this implementation program. |
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