The strong independent association between self-efficacy and function found in this study suggests that clinical programs in areas such as prevention, geriatric evaluation and management, and rehabilitation should attempt simultaneously to improve physical skills and confidence. Available knowledge of the factors influencing efficacy should guide the development of these efficacy-building programs.

Our findings suggest that predisposition to geriatric syndromes and functional dependence may result when impairments in multiple domains compromise compensatory ability. It may be possible to restore compensatory ability and prevent or delay the onset of several geriatric syndromes and, perhaps, functional dependence by modifying a shared set of predisposing factors. Perhaps it is time to take a more unified approach to the geriatric syndromes and functional dependence.

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Several readily identifiable factors appeared to distinguish the subgroup of older fallers at risk for suffering a serious fall injury. These factors should help guide who and what to target in prevention efforts.

The clinical significance of micrometastasis of colorectal cancer (CRC) to regional lymph nodes remains controversial. In this review, we analyze publications that have evaluated the clinical significance of occult lymph node metastasis in CRC. An extensive literature search identified 19 publications that evaluated the clinical significance of micrometastatic CRC by various methods, including immunohistochemistry (IHC; n ‫؍‬ 13) and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR, n ‫؍‬ 6). These studies were reviewed for methodology and findings. Significant limitations in methodology were identified, including inconsistent histological definitions of micrometastatic disease, poor sampling because of an inadequate number of lymph nodes or number of sections per lymph node analyzed, lack of conformity with respect to IHC antibody or RT-PCR marker, and inadequate power because of small sample size. Micrometastatic lymph node metastasis identified by RT-PCR was consistently found to be prognostically significant, but this was not true of micrometastatic disease identified by IHC. RT-PCR analysis of lymph nodes with specific markers can help identify pN0 (pathological-negative lymph node) CRC patients at increased risk for recurrence. The identification of occult disease by IHC techniques may also ultimately prove to be associated with worse outcome, but a number of inadequately powered studies have concluded conversely.

In this urban population, several simple clinical measures correlated with the risk for adverse driving events.

The identification of psychosocial factors associated with resistance to severe trauma can inform future studies of preventive and treatment interventions for high-risk populations. Further study is needed to determine which psychosocial factors are consistently associated with resilience and to what extent they can be modified through clinical intervention.

Background Few studies of hip fracture have large enough samples of men, minorities, and persons with specific comorbidities to examine differences in their mortality and functional outcomes. To address this problem, we combined three cohorts of hip fracture patients to produce a sample of 2692 patients followed for 6 months. Method Data on mortality, mobility, and other activities of daily living (ADLs) were available from all three cohorts. We used multiple regression to examine the association of race, gender, and comorbidity with 6-month survival and function, controlling for prefracture mobility and ADLs, age, fracture type, cohort, and admission year. Results The mortality rate at 6 months was 12%: 9% for women and 19% for men. Whites and women were more likely than were nonwhites and men to survive to 6 months, after adjusting for age, comorbidities, and prefracture mobility and function. Whites were more likely than were nonwhites to walk independently or with help at 6 months compared to not walking, after adjusting for age, comorbidities, and prefracture mobility and function. Dementia had a negative impact on survival, mobility, and ADLs at 6 months. The odds of survival to 6 months were significantly lower for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), congestive heart failure (CHF), and/or cancer. Parkinson’s disease and stroke had negative impacts on mobility and ADLs, respectively, among survivors at 6 months. Conclusions The finding of higher mortality and worse mobility for nonwhite patients with hip fractures highlights the need for more research on race/ethnicity disparities in hip fracture care.