(1) Background: In the older population, depression often affects people with chronic medical illnesses, cognitive impairment, or disability. Frailty is another important issue affecting older adults, being difficult to clinically distinguish from frailty in advanced old age. Well-designed interventional studies and clinical strategies targeting both frailty and depression are rare or nonexistent. (2) Methods: We realized a retrospective study in which we included a total of 411 patients that were admitted to the Geriatric Clinic from “Dr. C. I. Parhon” Hospital from Iasi for a period of 13 months. The aim of our study was to investigate the relationship between depression and frailty in a geriatric population due to the fact that the quality of life is negatively influenced by both frailty and depression. (3) Results: The prevalence of the depressive symptoms screened by the GDS-15 was 66.7%, with women being more depressed than men. Furthermore, an obvious relationship between depression and the dependence degree in performing daily activities has been observed. In addition, the mean MMSE score decreased with an increasing degree of depression. (4) Conclusions: Our study demonstrates the association between frailty and depression, one of them being a risk factor in the development of the other. A poor acknowledgment of the problem and an underdiagnosis of these conditions are important public health concerns due to the high healthcare costs. Thus, an active primary prevention would be imperiously needed in order to diagnose frailty and depression at an early stage, increasing the quality of life of the elderly and also their successful aging.
Burnout in healthcare professionals remains an ongoing concern. There are a number of variables associated with reactivity to stress in healthcare staff. This study wants to identify risk factors which predispose healthcare professionals to burnout. Material and Methods: The cross-sectional study included a group of 200 subjects, medical staff and auxiliary staff from the national health units, who gave their free consent to answer the questions regarding the level of perceived stress at work. The screening tool used was disseminated through the Google Forms platform, maintaining the anonymity of the participants. Results: Resident doctors (42%) responded predominantly, reporting the highest level of burnout, with nurses (26.5%) being the least affected (χ2 = 36.73, p < 0.01). Less work experience is correlated with increased burnout (rho = 0.29, p < 0.01). Reactivity to stress was highly associated with workplace, with ambulance staff being the most vulnerable (χ2 = 6.58, p < 0.05). Participants’ relationship status significantly influenced the burnout rate, the unmarried, with or without a partner, being more affected (χ2 = 16.14, p < 0.01). There are no significant differences between male and female gender, regarding the average level of burnout (U = 1.47; p > 0.05), nor between living in a house or apartment (U = 4.66; p > 0.05). Positive associations were identified between the level of burnout and variables such as: management pressure, administrative work, routine, regretting decisions regarding patients, harassment at work and sacrifice of personal time. Conclusions: The results of this study identify age, profession, workplace seniority and relationship status as factors associated with burnout in medical personnel.
Background This article explores elder abuse in a hospitalised population. We wanted to identify details related to psychological and emotional abuse in the older population in our region and to determine the importance of the Elderly Abuse Suspicion Index (EASI©) in comprehensive geriatric assessments. Methods This cross‐sectional study conducted between March 2015 and May 2016 included 386 consecutive hospitalised patients over 65 years of age. All patients underwent a geriatric assessment, data were collected about their medical history, and the EASI© was administered to each. The main outcome was identifying the presence, the type of abuse and the factors associated with abuse. Results There were 21.5% of patients who suffered any form of abuse. Women were more frequently abused than men. Emotional abuse was the most common (60.2%) followed by neglect (53%) and physical abuse (22.91%); sexual abuse was absent in our study group. The abused patients had an impaired cognitive function (P = 0.034). They were also malnourished (P ≤ 0.001) and depressed (P = 0.001). The presence of peripheral artery disease, stroke, pneumonia, chronic kidney disease, musculoskeletal diseases and anxiety correlated with the presence of abuse. No statistically significant correlation was found between the degree of independence in instrumental activities of daily living and the presence of abuse (r = 0.105, P = 0.051). Conclusions EASI is a tool for detecting elder abuse and should be included in the standard geriatric assessment to prevent ageism. The number of abused elderly patients is significant, and the multiple factors associated with abuse are diverse.
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