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Table 1 Characteristics of participants, by gender

From: Comprehensive geriatric assessment is associated with increased antidepressant treatment in frail older people with unplanned hospital admissions—results from the randomised controlled study CGA-Swed

Baseline Characteristics

Men (n = 65)

Women (n = 90)

p-value

Age, mean (range)

85.1

(76–100)

87.2

(75–101)

 

MMSEa, mean (range)

23.6

(13–30)

24.6

(9–30)

 
 

N

(%)

n

(%)

 

Living alone

29

(44.6)

70

(77.8)

0.000

Tertiary education

11

(16.7)

10

(11.1)

0.300

Independent in ADL

0

(0)

9

(10.0)

-

Good self-rated health b,c

26

(40)

21

(23.9)

0.027

Pre-fraild

4

(6.2)

5

(5.6)

0.875

Fraild

61

(93.9)

85

(94.4)

0.875

Frailty indicatorsd

 Weaknessc

23

(35.9)

27

(30.7)

0.540

 Fatigue

54

(83.1)

84

(93.3)

0.051

 Weight lossc

33

(50.8)

45

(50.6)

0.980

 Reduced physical activityc

45

(75.0)

60

(69.0)

0.972

 Impaired balancec

58

(90.6)

81

(91.0)

0.897

 Reduced gait speedc

48

(75.0)

75

(83.3)

0.206

 Impaired visionc

51

(82.3)

68

(77.3)

0.722

 Impaired cognitionc

41

(64.1)

35

(39.8)

0.003

  1. a(MMSE) Mini-mental state examination
  2. bSelf-rated health (excellent/very good/good)
  3. cMissing: self-rated health 2 women; weakness 2 women, weight loss one missing from women, reduced physical activity 3 women, impaired balance 1 man, 1 woman, reduced gait speed 1man, impaired vision 3 men, 2 women and impaired cognition 1 man, 2 women
  4. dFrailty indicators measured weakness, fatigue, unintentional weight loss, reduced physical activity, impaired balance, reduced gait speed, visual impairment, and impaired cognition, and were categorized as non-frail (0 indicators), pre-frail (1–2 indicators), and frail (≥ 3 indicators). Cut-off levels of frailty indicators were Weakness: Reduced grip strength considered to be below the lowest norm range for ages 80–84, 13 kg for women and 21 kg for men for the right hand, and below 10 kg for women and 18 kg for men for the left hand, using a North Coast dynamometer [37]. Fatigue: Question from the Göteborg Quality of Life Instrument [38], answering “Yes” to the question “Have you suffered any general fatigue/tiredness over the last three months?”. Weight loss: Question from the Göteborg Quality of Life Instrument [38], answering “Yes” to the question “Have you suffered any weight loss over the last three months?”. Reduced physical activity: Taking 1–2 or fewer outdoor walks per week. Impaired balance: The Berg Balance Scale [39], reduced balance defined as having a value ≤ 47. Reduced gait speed: Walking four meters with a gait speed ≤ 0.6 m/second [40]. Vision was measured with the KM chart [41], impaired vision defined as having a visual acuity of 0.5 or less. Impaired cognition defined as a score below 25 on the Mini-mental state examination (MMSE) [33, 35]
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BMC Geriatrics

ISSN: 1471-2318

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