Delirium is a neuropsychiatric syndrome associated with increased morbidity and mortality in older patients. The aim of this study was to review predictive biomarkers of delirium in older patients to gain insights into the pathophysiology of this syndrome and provide guidance for future studies. Two authors independently and systematically searched MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science and Scopus databases up to August 2021. A total of 32 studies were included. Only 6 studies were eligible for the meta-analysis, pooled results showed a significant increase in some serum biomarkers (C-reactive protein [CRP], tumour necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α] and interleukin-6 [IL-6]) among patients with delirium (odds ratio = 1.88, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.637; I2 = 76.75%). Although current evidence does not favour the use of any particular biomarker, serum CRP, TNF-α, and IL-6 were the most consistent biomarkers of delirium in older patients.

The growing geriatric population presenting with coronary artery disease poses a primary challenge for healthcare services. This is a highly heterogeneous population, often underrepresented in studies and clinical trials, with distinctive characteristics that render them particularly vulnerable to standard management/approaches. In this review, we aim to summarize the available evidence on the treatment of acute coronary syndrome in the elderly. Additionally, we contextualize frailty, comorbidity, sarcopenia, and cognitive impairment, common in these patients, within the realm of coronary artery disease, proposing strategies for each case that may assist in therapeutic approaches.

Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease that can increase the risk of fractures, leading to adverse health and socioeconomic consequences. However, current clinical methods have limitations in accurately estimating fracture risk, particularly in older adults. Thus, new technologies are necessary to improve the accuracy of fracture risk estimation. In this observational study, we aimed to explore the association between serum cytokines and hip fracture status in older adults, and their associations with fracture risk using the FRAX reference tool. We investigated the use of a proximity extension assay (PEA) with Olink. We compared the characteristics of the population, functional status and detailed body composition (determined using densitometry) between groups. We enrolled 40 participants, including 20 with hip fracture and 20 without fracture, and studied 46 cytokines in their serum. After conducting a score plot and two unpaired t-tests using the Benjamini-Hochberg method, we found that Interleukin 6 (IL-6), Lymphotoxin-alpha (LT-α), Fms-related tyrosine kinase 3 ligand (FLT3LG), Colony stimulating factor 1 (CSF1), and Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 7 (CCL7) were significantly different between fracture and non-fracture patients (p < 0.05). IL-6 had a moderate correlation with FRAX (R² = 0.409, p < 0.001), while CSF1 and CCL7 had weak correlations with FRAX. LT-α and FLT3LG exhibited a negative correlation with the risk of fracture. Our results suggest that targeted proteomic tools have the capability to identify differentially regulated proteins and may serve as potential markers for estimating fracture risk. However, longitudinal studies will be necessary to validate these results and determine the temporal patterns of changes in cytokine profiles.

The aim of this article is to present the research protocol for a study that will evaluate the feasibility of implementation of Health Arcade prototype multidomain intervention based on physical and cognitive training using gamification technologies at improving care for older people hospitalized with an acute illness. A total of 40 older people will be recruited in a tertiary public hospital at Pamplona, Spain. The intervention duration will be four to nine consecutive days. Additionally, the patients will receive encouragement for maintaining active during hospital stay and for reducing sedentary time. Primary implementation-related outcomes will be the adherence to treatment (i.e., number of games and days completed during the intervention period), reaction or response time, and number of success and failures in each game per day. Secondary implementation-related outcomes will be self-perceived grade of difficulty, satisfaction, enjoyment per game and session, and self-perceived difficulties in handling the prototype hardware. Other health-related outcomes will also be assessed such as functional capacity in activities of daily living, mood status, quality of life, handgrip strength, physical activity levels, and mobility. The current study will provide additional evidence to support the implementation of multidomain interventions designed to target older persons with an acute illness based on friendly technology. The proposed intervention will increase accessibility of in-clinical geriatrics services, improve function, promote recovery of the health, and reduce economic costs.