Santa Rosa Community Health Centers, Vista Family Health Center, Santa Rosa, CA, USA.
J Adv Nurs. 2013 Mar;69(3):675-84. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2012.06054.x. Epub 2012 Jun 21.
To describe the frequency of four frailty-related risk factors in a cohort of older adults visited by community nurses in Dublin, Ireland.
The Irish public health nursing service allows for both professional and self referral. Risk factors examined were suspected cognitive impairment, nutritional and fall risk, and activities of daily living dependence.
Retrospective cross-sectional clinical audit.
The study incorporated a retrospective clinical audit of files (N = 120) obtained from community nursing visits over 9 months in 2009-2010. A chi-square analysis tested for association between each risk factor and oldest age, living alone, professional referral to the nursing service, and presence of formal home support.
Findings revealed a cohort prevalence of suspected cognitive impairment at 16·4%. Risk of malnutrition and risk of a fall were 20·2% and 30·8%, respectively. The cohort was dependent in activities of daily living at a rate of 23·5%. Participants dependent in activities of daily living were less likely to live alone and were more likely to have referred themselves to community nursing. Associations between the four frailty-related risk factors and receiving formal home support were not significant.
This study results suggest that dependency in activities of daily living (an outcome of frailty) is strongly associated with a decreased likelihood of living alone and increased likelihood of referring oneself to community nursing services. Further research is necessary to examine how frailty screening in the referral process may enhance identification of older adults' community nursing needs in Dublin, Ireland.
描述都柏林社区护士就诊的老年患者队列中四种与虚弱相关的风险因素的频率。
爱尔兰公共卫生护理服务允许专业人员和自我转介。检查的风险因素包括疑似认知障碍、营养和跌倒风险以及日常生活活动依赖。
回顾性横断面临床审核。
本研究对 2009-2010 年 9 个月期间从社区护理访问中获取的文件（N=120）进行了回顾性临床审核。卡方分析检验了每个风险因素与最年长、独居、专业转介到护理服务以及是否存在正式家庭支持之间的关联。
研究结果显示，疑似认知障碍的队列患病率为 16.4%。营养不良风险和跌倒风险分别为 20.2%和 30.8%。日常生活活动依赖率为 23.5%。日常生活活动依赖的参与者更不可能独居，更有可能自行转介到社区护理。四个与虚弱相关的风险因素与接受正式家庭支持之间没有显著关联。
本研究结果表明，日常生活活动依赖（虚弱的结果）与独居的可能性降低和自行转介到社区护理服务的可能性增加密切相关。需要进一步研究如何在转介过程中进行虚弱筛查，以增强爱尔兰都柏林地区识别老年人社区护理需求的能力。
