Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Month Intervention (month + intervention)
Selected AbstractsCardiovascular Exercise Training Extends Influenza Vaccine Seroprotection in Sedentary Older Adults: The Immune Function Intervention TrialJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 12 2009Jeffrey A. Woods PhD OBJECTIVES: To determine whether cardiovascular exercise training resulted in improved antibody responses to influenza vaccination in sedentary elderly people who exhibited poor vaccine responses. DESIGN: Single-site randomized parallel-arm 10-month controlled trial. SETTING: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred forty-four sedentary, healthy older (69.9 ± 0.4) adults. INTERVENTIONS: Moderate (60,70% maximal oxygen uptake) cardiovascular exercise was compared with flexibility and balance training. MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome was influenza vaccine response, as measured according to hemagglutination inhibition (HI) anti-influenza antibody titer and seroprotective responses (HI titer ,40). Secondary measures included cardiovascular fitness and body composition. RESULTS: Of the 160 participants enrolled, 144 (90%) completed the 10-month intervention with excellent compliance (,83%). Cardiovascular, but not flexibility, exercise intervention resulted in improvements in indices of cardiovascular fitness, including maximal oxygen uptake. Although not affecting peak (e.g., 3 and 6 weeks) postvaccine anti-influenza HI titers, cardiovascular exercise resulted in a significant increase in seroprotection 24 weeks after vaccination (30,100% dependent on vaccine variant), whereas flexibility training did not. CONCLUSION: Participants randomized to cardiovascular exercise experienced improvements in influenza seroprotection throughout the entire influenza season, whereas those in the balance and flexibility intervention did not. Although there were no differences in reported respiratory tract infections, the exercise group exhibited reduced overall illness severity and sleep disturbance. These data support the hypothesis that regular endurance exercise improves influenza vaccine responses. [source] Partnering Managed Care and Community-Based Services for Frail Elders: The Care Advocate ProgramJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 6 2003Kathleen H. Wilber PhD OBJECTIVES: To describe a demonstration program that uses master's-level care managers (care advocates) to link Medicare managed care enrollees to home- and community-based services, testing whether referrals to noninsured services can reduce service usage and increase member satisfaction and retention. DESIGN: Using an algorithm designed to target frail, high-cost users of Medicare insured healthcare services, the program partners PacifiCare's Secure Horizons and four of its medical groups with two social service organizations. SETTING: Three care advocates located in two community-based social services agencies using telephone interviews to interact with targeted elders living in the community. PARTICIPANTS: Three hundred ninety PacifiCare members aged 69 to 96 receiving care from four PacifiCare-contracted medical groups. INTERVENTION: The 12-month intervention provides telephone assessment, links to eight types of home- and community-based services, and monthly follow-up contacts. MEASUREMENTS: Sociodemographic characteristics of intervention participants, types of service referrals, and acceptance rates. RESULTS: Lessons learned included the importance of building a shared vision among partners, building on existing relationships between members and providers, and building trust without face-to-face interactions. CONCLUSION: The program builds on current insured case management services and offers a practical bridge to community-based services. [source] Effects of 11-month interventions on oral cleanliness among the long-term hospitalised elderlyGERODONTOLOGY, Issue 1 2007Petteri Peltola Objectives:, This trial studied the effects of interventions on the oral cleanliness of the long-term hospitalised elderly. Background:, Oral cleanliness is mostly poor in long-term facilities. While many agree on the importance of oral hygiene education for nursing personnel, little information and agreement exists on how to organise this education in geriatric institutions. Materials and methods:, This is a longitudinal study with interventions. After a baseline clinical examination, the patient wards were divided into three groups (A, B and C) and the type of intervention was randomly assigned. In group A, dental hygienists provided oral hygiene measures for the subjects once every 3 weeks. In group B, the nursing staff first received hands-on instructions after which they assumed responsibility for the subjects' daily oral hygiene. Group C served as a control. Denture hygiene and dental hygiene were recorded at baseline and in the end of the 11-month study period. In total, 130 subjects completed the interventions; their mean age was 82.9 years. Results:, The best outcome in both denture and dental hygiene occurred when nursing staff at the wards took care of hygiene (group B). The increase in the proportion of those with good denture hygiene was the most prominent in group B (from 11% to 56%). The proportion of subjects with poor overall dental hygiene decreased from 61% at baseline to 57% in the end, for group B from 80% to 48%. Conclusions:, Organised oral health education of the nursing staff should receive more attention. [source] N-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid diet therapy for patients with inflammatory bowel diseaseINFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASES, Issue 10 2010Kan Uchiyama MD Abstract Background: N-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are considered important pharmaconutrients for modulating mucosal immunity and therapeutic responses in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We investigated the influence of diet therapy involving the use of an "n-3 PUFA food exchange table" (n-3DP) on the fatty acid composition of the erythrocyte membranes of IBD patients and its remission-maintaining effects. Methods: We analyzed the fatty acid composition of the erythrocyte membrane before and after n-3DP intervention in 20 initial-onset IBD patients who had not undergone any dietary intervention. We then analyzed it again and evaluated disease activity after 12,18 months intervention in 230 IBD patients (168 ulcerative colitis, 62 Crohn's disease; follow-up group) in whom n-3DP was introduced after remission had been achieved. The follow-up group was divided into remission and relapse groups. Results: In the 20 initial-onset patients, the mean n-3/n-6 ratio significantly increased after intervention (0.41 ± 0.16 versus 0.70 ± 0.20; P < 0.001). In the follow-up group the ratio in the remission group (n = 145) was significantly higher than that in the relapse group (n = 85) (0.65 ± 0.28 versus 0.53 ± 0.18; P < 0.001). The ratio significantly decreased in those who suffered a relapse after the beginning of treatment (P < 0.01). Conclusions: N-3DP significantly increased the erythrocyte membrane n-3/n-6 ratio in IBD patients, and this ratio was significantly higher in the remission group, suggesting that n-3DP alters the fatty acid composition of the cell membrane and influences clinical activity in IBD patients. (Inflamm Bowel Dis 2010) [source] An Evaluation of the Implementation of Hand Held Health Records with Adults with Learning Disabilities: A Cluster Randomized Controlled TrialJOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH IN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES, Issue 2 2010Vicky Turk Background, Personal health records were implemented with adults with learning disabilities (AWLD) to try to improve their health-care. Materials and Method, Forty GP practices were randomized to the Personal Health Profile (PHP) implementation or control group. Two hundred and one AWLD were interviewed at baseline and 163 followed up after 12 months intervention (PHP group). AWLD and carers of AWLD were employed as research interviewers. AWLD were full research participants. Results, Annual consultation rates in the intervention and control groups at baseline were low (2.3 and 2.6 visits respectively). A slightly greater increase occurred over the year in the intervention group 0.6 (,0.4 to 1.6) visits/year compared with controls. AWLD in PHP group reported more health problems at follow-up 0.9 (0.0 to 1.8). AWLD liked their PHP (92%) but only 63% AWLD and 55% carers reported PHP usage. Carers had high turnover (34%). Conclusions, No significant outcomes were achieved by the intervention. [source] | ||||||||||