PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M E Tinetti

Publications and source records attributed to M E Tinetti.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Does multiple risk factor reduction explain the reduction in fall rate in the Yale FICSIT Trial? Frailty and Injuries Cooperative Studies of Intervention Techniques.

In a recent study of fall prevention in 301 community-living older persons (the Yale FICSIT Trial, 1990-1993), participants in the multifactorial targeted intervention (TI) group experienced significantly fewer falls than participants in the social visit (SV) control group. In the present paper, the authors explore the relation between changes in the studied risk factors and the occurrence of falling. In comparison with SV participants, TI participants showed significantly greater improvements in postural blood pressure change (p = 0.01), step length (p = 0.004), use of > or = 4 medications (p = 0.003), and unsafe tub and toilet transfers (p = 0.05), while change in balance was of borderline significance (p = 0.08). Reduction in the occurrence of falling, in turn, was at least marginally associated with improvements in balance, postural blood pressure change, step length, lower extremity strength/range of motion, and transfers. When participants were divided into tertiles based on a composite risk factor change score, a significantly higher percentage of TI participants (42%) than SV participants (22%) were in the greatest risk factor reduction tertile. Among TI participants, there was a progressively lower fall rate per person per year in the tertiles with the least, intermediate, and greatest risk reduction (0.832, 0.624, and 0.260), respectively. A similar but weaker relation between risk factor reduction and fall rate was seen in the SV group. When compared within tertiles, essentially adjusting for the amount of risk factor reduction, the fall rates among TI and SV participants in the greatest risk factor reduction tertile were identical (0.260 falls per person per year), and the rates in the least reduction tertile were similar (0.832 vs. 1.040 falls per person per year); this suggests that risk factor reduction at least partially mediated the treatment effect. These results support the feasibility of implementing and analyzing the effectiveness of a multiple risk factor reduction strategy in the aged.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed1996

Self-efficacy, physical decline, and change in functioning in community-living elders: a prospective study.

This study examines whether high self-efficacy is protective against a decline in functional status in community-residing elderly persons. Data came from a sample of 1,103 subjects aged > or = 72 years who were ambulatory within the household and who received in-home assessments at baseline and 18 months later to obtain information on sociodemographic, psychosocial, and health status variables, including physical performance tests. Functional status was based on six basic self-care tasks (ADLs). Using OLS regression, lower self-efficacy was marginally related to decline in functional status, after controlling for sociodemographic and health-related variables. As hypothesized, there was a significant interaction effect between self-efficacy and change in physical performance, suggesting that low self-efficacy was particularly predictive of functional decline among older individuals who showed a decline in physical performance at follow-up. These findings provide support for the buffering effect of self-efficacy on functional decline in the face of diminished physical capacity.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1996

The cost-effectiveness of a multifactorial targeted prevention program for falls among community elderly persons.

OBJECTIVES: Falls and fall injuries are common-potentially preventable-causes of morbidity, functional decline, and increased health-care use among elderly persons. The current analyses, performed on data obtained as part of a randomized controlled trial conducted within a health maintenance organization, describe the costs of a multifactorial, targeted prevention program for falls, present total net health-care costs, estimate the cost per fall prevented, and describe acute fall-related health-care costs. METHODS: The 301 participants were at least 70 years of age and possessed at least one of eight targeted risk factors for falling. The 153 participants randomized to the targeted intervention (TI) group received a combination of medication adjustment, behavioral recommendations, and exercises as determined by their baseline assessment. The 148 participants randomized to the usual care (UC) group received a series of home visits by a social work student. RESULTS: The mean intervention cost per TI participant was $925 (range $588 to $1,346). Total mean health-care costs were approximately $2,000 less in the TI than UC group, whereas median costs were approximately $1,100 higher in the TI than UC group. The TI strategy was unequivocally cost effective when mean costs were used because the intervention was associated with both lowered total health-care costs and fewer total and medical care falls. In sensitivity analyses, the cost-effectiveness of the TI strategy appeared robust to widely differing assumptions about total health-care costs (25th to 75th percentile of the actual distribution) and intervention costs (minimum to maximum costs). In subgroup analyses, the TI strategy showed its strongest effect among individuals at high risk of falling, defined as possession of at least four of the eight targeted risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Consideration should be given toward incorporating and reimbursing the cost of fall-prevention programs within the usual health care of community-living elderly persons, particularly for those persons at high risk for falling.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed1995

Geriatric medicine.

A prospective study of persons older than 70 years provided evidence to contest the association between blood cholesterol level and incidence of CHD or death due to CHD. Drug treatment for mild to moderate hypertension substantially reduced morbidity and mortality from stroke and from CHD.

Geriatrics↗
PubMed1995

The effects of exercise on falls in elderly patients. A preplanned meta-analysis of the FICSIT Trials. Frailty and Injuries: Cooperative Studies of Intervention Techniques.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if short-term exercise reduces falls and fall-related injuries in the elderly. DESIGN: A preplanned meta-analysis of the seven Frailty and Injuries: Cooperative Studies of Intervention Techniques (FICSIT)--independent, randomized, controlled clinical trials that assessed intervention efficacy in reducing falls and frailty in elderly patients. All included an exercise component for 10 to 36 weeks. Fall and injury follow-up was obtained for up to 2 to 4 years. SETTING: Two nursing home and five community-dwelling (three health maintenance organizations) sites. Six were group and center based; one was conducted at home. PARTICIPANTS: Numbers of participants ranged from 100 to 1323 per study. Subjects were mostly ambulatory and cognitively intact, with minimum ages of 60 to 75 years, although some studies required additional deficits, such as functionally dependent in two or more activities of daily living, balance deficits or lower extremity weakness, or high risk of falling. INTERVENTIONS: Exercise components varied across studies in character, duration, frequency, and intensity. Training was performed in one area or more of endurance, flexibility, balance platform, Tai Chi (dynamic balance), and resistance. Several treatment arms included additional nonexercise components, such as behavioral components, medication changes, education, functional activity, or nutritional supplements. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Time to each fall (fall-related injury) by self-report and/or medical records. RESULTS: Using the Andersen-Gill extension of the Cox model that allows multiple fall outcomes per patient, the adjusted fall incidence ratio for treatment arms including general exercise was 0.90 (95% confidence limits [CL], 0.81, 0.99) and for those including balance was 0.83 (95% CL, 0.70, 0.98). No exercise component was significant for injurious falls, but power was low to detect this outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Treatments including exercise for elderly adults reduce the risk of falls.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed1995

Shared risk factors for falls, incontinence, and functional dependence. Unifying the approach to geriatric syndromes.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a set of factors representing impairments in multiple areas could be identified that predisposes to falling, incontinence, and functional dependence. DESIGN: Population-based cohort with a 1-year follow-up. SETTING: General community. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 927 New Haven, Conn, residents, aged 72 years and older who completed the baseline and 1-year interviews. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: At least one episode of urinary incontinence per week, at least two falls during the follow-up year, and dependence on human help for one or more basic activities of daily living. RESULTS: At 1 year, urinary incontinence was reported by 16%, at least two falls by 10%, and functional dependence by 20% of participants. The four independent predisposing factors for the outcomes of incontinence, falling, and functional dependence included slow timed chair stands (lower extremity impairment), decreased arm strength (upper extremity impairment), decreased vision and hearing (sensory impairment), and either a high anxiety or depression score (affective impairment). There was a significant increase in each of incontinence, falling, and functional dependence as the number of these predisposing factors increased. For example, the proportion of participants experiencing functional dependence doubled (7% to 14% to 28% to 60%) (chi 2 = 119.8; P < .001) as the number of predisposing factors increased from zero to one to two at least three. CONCLUSIONS: 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.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed1995

Behavioral and psychosocial predictors of physical performance: MacArthur studies of successful aging.

BACKGROUND: Performance-based measures of physical performance are examined for an older cohort of relatively high-functioning men and women. The influences of baseline behavioral, social, and psychological characteristics on patterns of change in performance over 2.5 years are examined. METHODS: A cohort of relatively high-functioning men and women, aged 70-79, identified in 1988 by subsampling from three community-based studies on the basis of physical and cognitive function. Baseline assessments included physical performance, sociodemographic characteristics, health status, and behavioral, social, and psychological characteristics. A summary measure of physical performance was developed from tests of balance, gait, lower body strength and coordination, and manual dexterity. In-home assessments were repeated at follow-up in 1991. RESULTS: Linear regression models were used to identify significant behavioral, social, and psychological predictors of better performance at follow-up, controlling for known sociodemographic and health status predictors. Significant, independent associations with better performance were found for participation in moderate and/or strenuous exercise activity and greater frequency of emotional support from social networks, particularly among those reporting low frequency of instrumental support. These effects remained significant independent of incident health conditions during follow-up. None of the psychological characteristics was a significant predictor. CONCLUSIONS: Maintenance of better physical performance within a high-functioning cohort is influenced by prior exercise behavior and social network emotional support. Observed patterns of both decline and improvement in performance suggest that older age is not uniformly associated with declines. Predictors of better performance identified here may offer potential for effective interventions to promote more successful aging.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

Evaluating the risk of dependence in activities of daily living among community-living older adults with mild to moderate cognitive impairment.

BACKGROUND: Although cognitive impairment has been implicated as a risk factor for dependence in activities of daily living (ADLs), little is known about the risk of ADL dependence among older adults with cognitive impairment. METHODS: Among a representative cohort of 1,103 community-living adults aged 72 years and older, we evaluated the 237 subjects with mild to moderate cognitive impairment who were independent in their basic ADLs. All cohort members had undergone a comprehensive assessment, including a battery of qualitative and timed performance tests. RESULTS: ADL dependence developed in 31 (16%) of the 197 subjects who had complete data at the 1-year follow-up. Of the self-reported characteristics, only three--living alone, not being currently married, and having an impairment in IADL function--were significantly associated (p < .05) with the onset of ADL dependence. Several simple tests of physical performance, on the other hand, were strongly associated with the development of ADL dependence. Both timed and qualitative performance tests successfully identified subjects at risk for ADL dependence. A combination of two performance tests--rapid gait and qualitative chair stands--was particularly effective at distinguishing subjects at low (4.7%) and high (34%-39%) risk for ADL dependence. CONCLUSIONS: Among community-living older adults with mild to moderate cognitive impairment, the risk of ADL dependence is high but varies considerably depending on how well and how quickly one can perform simple tasks of everyday function. An assessment strategy based on tests of physical performance may allow clinicians to identify subgroups of cognitively impaired elders at low and high risk for ADL dependence.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1995

Assessing risk for the onset of functional dependence among older adults: the role of physical performance.

BACKGROUND: Approximately 10% of nondisabled, community-dwelling adults aged 75 years and older lose independence in basic activities of daily living (ADLs) each year. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether simple tests of physical performance could identify older adults, independent in their basic ADLs, who were at increased risk for the onset of functional dependence. METHODS: Among a representative cohort of 1103 community-dwelling adults aged 72 years and older, we evaluated the 664 subjects who were cognitively intact and independent in their basic ADLs at the baseline interview. All cohort members had undergone a comprehensive assessment, including a battery of qualitative and timed performance tests. The main outcome event was the onset of functional dependence, defined as a new disability in one or more of the seven basic ADLs at the 1-year follow-up. RESULTS: Functional dependence developed in 53 (9%) of the 563 subjects who had complete data at the 1-year follow-up. Eight of the 12 qualitative tests and all six of the timed tests were significantly associated (P < .05) with the onset of functional dependence. Both qualitative and timed performance tests demarcated subjects into groups at low and high risk for functional dependence. Four timed tests--chair stands, rapid gait, 360 degrees turn, and bending over--showed a threshold phenomenon, where the rate of new dependence increased slowly with worsening performance until a critical point (or threshold) was reached, and the rate of dependence increased substantially. For timed chair stands, for example, the rates of functional dependence within quarters of worsening performance were 5.3%, 6.3%, 6.7%, and 16%. The risk of functional dependence was markedly elevated (30%-50%) for subjects who were unable to perform the timed tests. CONCLUSIONS: Several simple tests of physical performance were strongly associated with the onset of functional dependence. These results support the potential use of physical performance tests to develop a risk assessment strategy that could identify subgroups of older persons, independent in all ADLs, who are at increased risk for functional dependence.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1995

The contribution of predisposing and situational risk factors to serious fall injuries.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives were to identify situational risk factors associated with suffering a serious fall injury and to determine whether, and to what extent, predisposing and situational risk factors contributed independently to risk of suffering a serious fall injury. DESIGN: Nested cohort study. SETTING: General community. PARTICIPANTS: 568 members of a representative sample of community-living persons 72 years of age or older who fell during a median follow-up of 36 months. MEASUREMENTS: Candidate predisposing factors, identified during a baseline face-to-face home assessment, were the demographic, cognitive, medical, and physical performance measures associated with an increased risk of serious injury among fallers in a previous analysis of the cohort. Acute host, behavioral, and environmental factors present at the time of the participants' first reported fall constituted potential situational risk factors. The primary outcome was occurrence of a serious fall injury, defined as a fracture, joint dislocation, or head injury resulting in loss of consciousness and hospitalization, during the first fall recorded during follow-up. RESULTS: Sixty-nine subjects (12%) suffered a serious injury during their first reported fall. No acute host factor was associated with increased risk of injury. The environmental and activity factors associated independently with serious injury in multivariate analysis included falling on stairs (adjusted relative risk 2.0; 95% confidence intervals 1.1-3.5), during displacing activity (1.8; 1.0-3.0), and from at least body height (2.1; 1.0-4.7). The independent predisposing factors included female gender (2.1; 1.0-4.4), low body mass index (1.8; 1.2-2.9), and cognitive impairment (2.8; 1.7-4.7). Although 12% of first falls resulted in a serious injury overall, this percentage ranged from 0% to 36% as the number of predisposing risk factors increased from zero to three and from 5% to 40% as the number of situational risk factors increased from zero to three. Further, for any given number of predisposing risk factors, the percentage of fallers suffering a serious injury increased with the number of situational risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Several environmental and behavioral factors contributed to the risk of serious fall injury; this contribution was independent of the effect of chronic predisposing risk factors. Preventive programs that address both predisposing and situational risk factors may result in the greatest injury reduction. These findings support previously recommended multicomponent intervention programs that combine medical, rehabilitative, and environmental components.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed1995

Risk factors for serious injury during falls by older persons in the community.

BACKGROUND: Serious fall injury represents a little studied, yet common and potentially preventable, cause of morbidity and mortality among older persons. We determined the frequency of, and risk factors for, experiencing serious fall injury events among older persons in the community. SUBJECTS: A representative sample of 1103 community-living persons aged 72 years and older underwent comprehensive baseline and 1-year evaluations. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: During a median 31 months of follow-up, fall data were obtained using fall calendars. Injury data were obtained from telephone interviews and from surveillance of emergency room and hospital records. RESULTS: At least one fall was experienced by 546 (49%) participants. A total of 123 participants, representing 23% of fallers and 12% of the cohort, experienced 183 serious fall injury events. The factors independently associated with experiencing a serious injury during a fall included cognitive impairment (adjusted odds ratios 2.2; 95% confidence interval 1.5, 3.2); presence of at least two chronic conditions (2.0; 1.4, 2.9); balance and gait impairment (1.8; 1.3, 2.7); and low body mass index (1.8; 1.2, 2.5). In a separate analysis, including only subjects who fell, female gender (1.8; 1.1, 2.9) as well as most of the above factors were associated with experiencing a fall injury. CONCLUSIONS: 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.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed1994

Predictors of automobile crashes and moving violations among elderly drivers.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the factors associated with automobile crashes, moving violations, and being stopped by police in a cohort of elderly drivers. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Urban community. PARTICIPANTS: All 283 persons who drove between 1990 and 1991, selected from a representative cohort of community-living persons aged 72 years and older in New Haven, Connecticut. MEASUREMENTS: Data on independent variables in five domains (demographic, health, psychosocial, activity, and physical performance) were collected in structured interviews before events occurred. The outcome measure was the self-report of involvement in automobile crashes, moving violations, or being stopped by police in a 1-year period. RESULTS: Of the 283 drivers, 13% reported a crash, a moving violation, or being stopped by police in 1 year. The baseline factors associated with the occurrence of adverse events in multivariable analysis (with adjustment for driving frequency and housing type) were the following: poor design copying on the Mini-Mental State Examination (relative risk, 2.7; 95% CI, 1.5 to 5.0), fewer blocks walked (relative risk, 2.3; CI, 1.3 to 4.0), and more foot abnormalities (relative risk, 1.9; CI, 1.1 to 3.3). These risk factors were combined for assessment of their ability to predict the occurrence of adverse driving events. If no factors were present, 6% of drivers had events; if 1 factor was present, 12% had events; if 2 factors were present, 26% had events; and if 3 factors were present, 47% had events. CONCLUSIONS: In this urban population, several simple clinical measures correlated with the risk for adverse driving events.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1994

A multifactorial intervention to reduce the risk of falling among elderly people living in the community.

BACKGROUND: Since falling is associated with serious morbidity among elderly people, we investigated whether the risk of falling could be reduced by modifying known risk factors. METHODS: We studied 301 men and women living in the community who were at least 70 years of age and who had at least one of the following risk factors for falling: postural hypotension; use of sedatives; use of at least four prescription medications; and impairment in arm or leg strength or range of motion, balance, ability to move safely from bed to chair or to the bathtub or toilet (transfer skills), or gait. These subjects were given either a combination of adjustment in their medications, behavioral instructions, and exercise programs aimed at modifying their risk factors (intervention group, 153 subjects) or usual health care plus social visits (control group, 148 subjects). RESULTS: During one year of follow-up, 35 percent of the intervention group fell, as compared with 47 percent of the control group (P = 0.04). The adjusted incidence-rate ratio for falling in the intervention group as compared with the control group was 0.69 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.52 to 0.90). Among the subjects who had a particular risk factor at base line, a smaller percentage of those in the intervention group than of those in the control group still had the risk factor at the time of reassessment, as follows: at least four prescription medications, 63 percent versus 86 percent, P = 0.009; balance impairment, 21 percent versus 46 percent, P = 0.001; impairment in toilet-transfer skills, 49 percent versus 65 percent, P = 0.05; and gait impairment, 45 percent versus 62 percent, P = 0.07. CONCLUSIONS: The multiple-risk-factor intervention strategy resulted in a significant reduction in the risk of falling among elderly persons in the community. In addition, the proportion of persons who had the targeted risk factors for falling was reduced in the intervention group, as compared with the control group. Thus, risk-factor modification may partially explain the reduction in the risk of falling.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed1994

Prevention of falls and fall injuries in elderly persons: a research agenda.

In summary, falls and fall injuries represent common and potentially preventable causes of functional disability, morbidity, and increased health care utilization among elderly persons. While much has been learned about falls and fall injuries over the past decade, much further information is needed in order to identify the optimal prevention strategies. Some of the important questions that remain to be answered are listed in Table 1. While certainly not exhaustive, the topics listed in Table 1 and discussed in this paper provide a beginning template for a research agenda for fall and injury prevention among elderly persons.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed1994

Validation and use of performance measures of functioning in a non-disabled older population: MacArthur studies of successful aging.

Assessment of physical functioning in older persons has generally focused on identifying and characterizing subjects at the disabled end of the functional spectrum. This paper examines the validity of objective, standardized performance measures of physical functioning in characterizing the hierarchy of functioning in non-disabled, higher functioning older persons. Data are from 1192 participants aged 70-79 years in The MacArthur Research Network on Successful Aging Field Study. Participants were drawn from three community-based populations and represented the upper tertile of functioning, based on cognitive and physical screening assessments. The cohort showed a great deal of heterogeneity on most of the performance measures of functioning that were used. Several analyses provided evidence that this variability was not random and that the performance measures were valid measures of functioning in this cohort: 1) individual performance measures showed a moderate degree of correlation with each other; 2) a summary measure of performance showed an association with chronic diseases and other factors known to be associated with health status; and 3) a larger group than expected by chance alone was found to be functioning at the very highest level.

Age Distribution↗
PubMed1994

Fear of falling and fall-related efficacy in relationship to functioning among community-living elders.

BACKGROUND: The relationships of fear of falling and fall-related efficacy with measures of basic and instrumental activities of daily living (ADL-IADL) and physical and social functioning were evaluated in a cohort of community-living elderly persons. METHODS: Sociodemographic, medical, psychological, and physical performance (e.g., gait speed, timed hand function) measures were administered, during an in-home assessment, to a probability sample of 1,103 residents of New Haven, Connecticut, who were > or = 72 years of age. Falls and injuries in the past year, fear of falling, and responses to the Falls Efficacy Scale were also ascertained. The three dependent variables included a 10-item ADL-IADL scale, an 8-item social activity scale, and a scale of relative physical activity level. RESULTS: Among cohort members, 57% denied fear of falling whereas 24% acknowledged fear but denied effect on activity; 19% acknowledged avoiding activities because of fear of falling. Twenty-four percent of recent fallers vs 15% of nonfallers acknowledged this activity restriction (chi 2 = 13.1; p < .001). Mean fall-related efficacy score among the cohort was 84.9 (SD 20.5), 79.8 (SD 23.4), and 88.1 (SD 17.9) among fallers and nonfallers, respectively (p < or = .0001). Fall-related efficacy proved a potent independent correlate of ADL-IADL (partial correlation = .265, p < .001); physical (partial correlation = .234, p < .001); and social (partial correlation = .088, p < .01), functioning in multiple regression models after adjusting for sociodemographic, medical, psychological, and physical performance covariates as well as history of recent falls and injuries. Fear of falling was only marginally related (p = .05) with ADL-IADL functioning and was not associated with higher level physical or social functioning. CONCLUSIONS: 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.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed1994

Predicting changes in physical performance in a high-functioning elderly cohort: MacArthur studies of successful aging.

BACKGROUND: Performance-based measures of physical performance were examined for an older cohort of relatively high-functioning men and women. Relationships between baseline physical performance and sociodemographic and health status characteristics were also examined. Three-year pattern changes in performance are described, and sociodemographic and health status predictors of change are investigated. METHODS: A cohort of relatively high-functioning men and women, aged 70-79, was identified in 1988 by subsampling from three community-based studies on the basis of physical and cognitive function. Baseline in-home assessments included tests of physical performance and measurement of sociodemographic characteristics and health status. A summary measure of physical performance was developed from tests of balance, gait, lower body strength and coordination, and manual dexterity. In-home assessments were repeated at follow-up in 1991. RESULTS: Better physical performance at baseline was more common among males, Whites, those reporting higher income and education, and those with fewer chronic conditions. In linear regression models, declines in performance were predicted by older age, lower income, higher education, relative weight and blood pressure, lower peak expiratory flow, prevalent diabetes and incident health conditions and hospitalizations during follow-up. Improvements in performance were also observed; the only significant association was with race (i.e., being Black). CONCLUSIONS: Declines in physical performance within a high-functioning cohort are predictable from sociodemographic and health status characteristics. The patterns of both decline and improvement in performance observed in this cohort suggest that older age is not uniformly associated with declines, indicating the potential for effective interventions to promote more successful aging.

Activities of Daily Living↗