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P3‐629: COMMUNITY EDUCATION ON HEALTHY AGING FOR CULTURALLY DIVERSE OLDER ADULTS
Author(s) -
Meyer Oanh,
Le Kim,
Ho Janis,
Dinh Bao-Tran,
Ho Kim,
Nguyen Sherry Ngoc,
Sun Mengxue
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2018.06.1996
Subject(s) - presentation (obstetrics) , vietnamese , medicine , gerontology , wilcoxon signed rank test , psychology , healthy aging , philosophy , linguistics , radiology , mann–whitney u test
Background:Many community-dwelling older adults take multiple prescription medications (e.g. polypharmacy). Polypharmacy (e.g. taking Cevimeline for glaucoma concurrent to taking with Donepezil for Alzheimer’s disease and Aclidinium for COPD) has been associated with decrease cognitive and neurological function, which are two key biological systems among the Five Systems of Dysphagia (Winchester & Winchester, 2015). The interaction of polypharmacy, dysphagia (e.g. difficulty swallowing) and repeat hospitalization is clear. Hospital admissions in response to adverse drug reactions have risen in the last 20yrs, particularly for patients that are more than 80yrs old. In frail elderly individuals, adverse drug reactions may present as major geriatric syndromes, such as falls and delirium. Falls and cognitive dysfunction are also associated with complications due to dysphagia. Methods:The functional management of the Five Systems of Dysphagia is critical to reducing the likelihood for repeat hospital admissions through the management of aspiration and aspiration pneumonia risk. Results: The consequences of dysphagia can be severe and include dehydration, malnutrition, aspiration, choking, pneumonia and death. Here, we elucidate the relationship among cognitive decline, polypharmacy and the likelihood for going back to the hospital multiple times with increased morbidity and risk for mortality due to aspiration pneumonia. Conclusions:We propose ways to utilize the Interdisciplinary Rehabilitation Team to better serve the aging population suffering from MCI, Alzheimer’s disease and/or other forms of cognitive decline.