High use of medications in Norwegian nursing homes

据报道，在欧洲疗养院中使用精神药物是普遍的，但很少有研究检查疗养院居民中精神药物使用的流行和持续性。在患有痴呆症或认知障碍的疗养院居民中，任何精神药物使用的患病率与正常认知的患者相似甚至更高。但是，围绕精神药物在纵向设计中使用的研究有限。

In a 72-month longitudinal study carried out by Helvik等。，研究人员发现，在挪威的26家疗养院中，持续且高度普遍使用精神药物。他们发现，常规抗精神病药的使用在任何时间点有或没有痴呆症的居民之间没有差异，并且在两个连续的时间点，非典型和常规抗精神病药的使用均高达50％。此外，他们还揭示了较少的痴呆症与镇静剂的持续使用有关。

研究人员得出的结论是，这种高度普遍使用精神药物可能表明治疗与当前的建议不符，并且临床医生应监测精神药物治疗的影响，并准备在使用风险不受重大利益平衡时停止治疗给病人。

Physical activity among hospitalized older adults

Hospitalisation due to present disease has been shown to be a risk factor for loss of ambulatory ability in older adults. Previous studies have found that geriatric patients have a low level of psychical activity when hospitalised, spending around only 3.7-5.8% of their day either standing or walking (<83 minutes). This low level of activity is often associated with worse prognosis in patients.

In their observational study, Evensen and colleagues found that time spent upright by 38 patients was higher than had previously been reported in comparable studies, with patients spending almost two hours upright each day. Their findings show no association between age, cognitive impairment, burden of comorbidity and physical activity, highlighting that it is possible to mobilize even acutely admitted geriatric patients. Ultimately, further research is needed to evaluate if mobilization regimes could improve outcomes in geriatric patients.

Mental health determines well-being in later life

主观幸福感是指一个人对他们的心理功能和经验以及缺乏精神疾病的积极评价。辩论的发现表明，在西方国家，由于不利生活事件的发作，例如精神和身体衰落，疾病和残疾，以及独立和陪伴的丧失，福祉在中年时期达到最低限度，这些因素随着年龄的增长而增加。因此，随着预期寿命的增加，了解影响老年人幸福感的因素的新挑战就会出现。

In this study, Lukaschek等。在他们的3600多名参与者的样本中发现，有79％的人报告了高水平的主观幸福感。他们的分析还表明，老年女性的主观幸福感水平低于男性，身体不活动，抑郁，焦虑和睡眠问题与男女的福祉低相关。但是，单独生活的影响只显示出对老年妇女的主观幸福感，这可能是由于妇女对社会关系的价值比男性更大的事实所致。

Their research highlights the need for an increased focus on preventative health interventions among older adults, especially in women living alone.

Interactions between alcohol and prescribed medications in older adults

老年人的饮酒正在增加，尤其是饮酒危害风险的人口。霍尔顿的系统评论等。旨在估计该人群中酒精与酒精相互作用的药物的普遍性。他们发现，多达三分之一的老年人有酒精与处方药之间相互作用的风险，这表明需要进行更多的纵向研究来检查与不良结果的关联。

系统评价突显出的另一个有趣的缺乏是缺乏确切的酒精相互作用药物清单。这些研究包括使用了不同的列表，从而阻碍了患病率的确定。此外，确定的，经过验证的列表将允许制定指南，以确定处方时的风险和高风险群体中的酒精干预措施。

Dying comfortably related to place of care

Comfort is an important factor in what many perceive to be important for a good death, with almost 92% of older adults prioritizing comfort when planning in advance for this time. While dying at home is often stated as a preference, in actuality a minority of older people die in their own homes.

在英国，老年人在招待处死亡或在家中接受专业姑息治疗而不是年轻的年龄段，而老年人的趋势正逐渐从医院的死亡转移到长期护理机构。此外，患有认知障碍的人最有可能居住并随后死在养老院中，而那些没有或轻度认知障碍的人更有可能生活在家里，然后在最后的日子里被接纳为设施。

Researchers based in Cambridge investigated how physical and cognitive disability, place of care and place of death related to reported comfort in very old people’s final illness. In interviews with relatives/close carers after a patient passed, 44% were described as having been “comfortable” during their illness, whilst only 7% of relative described the deceased as having been “uncomfortable”. Patients were also four times as likely to have been described as comfortable if they died in a care home or their own home, compared with a hospital.