1 - Older Person's Medicine Flashcards
How do you take a collateral history for dementia/delirium?
What tool is being used to replace the HASBLED tool to quantify the risk of bleeding with anticoagulation in AF? Also, how do you use this tool?
ORBIT!
How do you perform a mental state exam?
ASEPTIC
How do you do an MMSE and how would you interpret the result?
How do you test someone for postural hypotension?
- Lie for 5 minutes
- Stand and take BP at 1 min, 3 min and 5 mins
What document needs to be signed to make a DNACPR decision legally binding?
ADRT
Advanced Decision to Refuse Treatment
What assessment should you do for a holistic view of an elderly patient?
Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment
What are some tools that can be used to see how well a patient is coping with their ADLs?
- Barthel Index
- Nottingham Extended activities of daily living
What is the clinical frailty scale?
Become ‘frail’ from 5/6
What is frailty?
Frailty is a distinctive health state related to the ageing process in which multiple body systems gradually lose their in-built reserve
Patient’s are unable to bounce back from minor infections quickly and likely to have long term impacts from simple things such as UTI
What is the PRISMA-7 tool?
If 3 or more ‘yes’ then need to consider frailty so further clinical review!
How is constipation diagnosed?
ROME IV Criteria
What are some causes of constipation in the elderly?
Primary: no organic cause, dysregulation of colon or anorectal muscles
Secondary: diet, drugs, metabolic, endocrine or neurological disorder or obstruction
What type of stool is present in constipation?
Type 1 or 2
Type 7 if overflow
What are some red flags with constipation?
May indicate GI malignancy if:
- Weight loss
- Loss of appetite
- Abdominal mass
- Dark stool
What are some treatment options for constipation?
- Exclude underlying causes including colorectal cancer
- Lifestyle modification e.g. dietary improvements, increase exercise
- Enemas if impaction present e.g. sodium citrate
- Suppositories e.g. glycerol
- Bulk laxatives e.g. ispaghula husk, methylcellulose
- Stool softeners e.g. docusate sodium
- Osmotic laxative e.g. lactulose, macrogol
- Stimulant laxatives e.g. senna, bisacodyl
What opioids should you use in CKD and why?
Buprenorphine or Alfentanil as Morphine is renally excreted so risk of opioid toxicity
Tramadol is hepatically and renal excreted so can use this too
What are some causes of postural hypotension?
- Drugs: particularly vasodilators, diuretics, negative inotropes, antidepressants, opiates
- Chronic hypertension: due to loss of baroreceptor reflexes
- Dehydration
- Sepsis
- Autonomic nervous dysfunction: e.g. Parkinson’s
- Adrenal insufficiency
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How is postural hypotension managed?
- Hydration
- Review polypharmacy
- Reduce adverse outcomes from falls (e.g. fall alarm, soft flooring)
- Behavioural changes (e.g. rising from sitting slowly)
- Compression stocking
- Fludrocortisone (poor evidence base) or Midodrine
What are some drugs that can lower the seizure threshold?
- Antibiotics: penicillins, cephalosporins, metronidazole, isoniazid
- Antipsychotics
- Antidepressents: Bupropion, Tricyclics, Venlafaxine
- Tramadol
- Fentanyl
- Ketamine
- Lidocaine
- Lithium
- Antihistamines
What are some risk factors for a subdural haemorrhage?
What can Trimethoprim do to the kidneys in the elderly population?
False AKI
Transient rise in creatinine levels by reducing the creatinine excretion of the kidneys. This does NOT reflect the actual GFR and therefore this phenomenon is not reflective of an Acute kidney injury but rather the calculated eGFR
How does viagra work and what are some side effects of this?
- PDE5 inhibitor: enhances effect of nitric oxide causing smooth muscle relaxation and subsequent penile erection due to inflow of blood
- Contra-indicated in patients taking nitrates
- Side effects: flushing, headache, dyspepsia, nasal congestion, dizziness, diarrhoea, rashes and UTIs
What are the six domains of cognition?
- executive function
- learning and memory
- perceptual-motor function
- language
- complex attention
- social cognition
What are some examples of BPSD in dementia?
- Affective: agitation, hoarding, wandering, screaming, crying, depression
- Psychotic: delusions and hallucinations
- Hyperactive: aggressive, disinhibition, refusing care
- Apathetic: indifference, appetite issues
What are the most common types of hallucination in dementia?
- Visual
- Tactile
What are some questions to ask in the history in the memory clinic?
- What is the course of symptoms over time?
- Any impact on day to day life?
- Why have they come now?
- Any changes in general health?
What investigations may you do at memory clinic?
- Bloods
- ECG (look for contraindications)
- CT head/MRI brain to assist dementia subtype
What are different levels of mental health observations?
Level 1 - Hourly
Level 2 - Could be 2:15, 2:30
Level 3 - Within eye’s sight at all times
Level 4 - Within arm’s reach at all times
What are some different types of memory in memory clinic that you need to assess?
- Procedural
- Episodic
- Short
- Long
- Faces
- Names
- Words
How would you describe dementia to a patient in clinic OR OSCE?
(image important)
Umbrella term for damage to the brain. What causes the damage determines what type of dementia it is
Cannot get diagnosis from CT, can only get post-mortem by taking a brain sample, however CT can show patterns that point towards one disease process over the other
It is irreversible but we can do A, B, C to support
We can also refer you to the (e.g OT, physio, social services) who can help you with A, B, C
Assess carer strain!!
What cognition tests can be done in memory clinic?
- ACE-III
- Mini-ACE
- MoCA
- MMSE
- AMTS (OSCE - MEMORISE THIS!!!)
- 6CIT
What is the inverse care law?
What are the main differences between acute confusion, dementia and delirium?
What are some adaptations you can make when taking a history from a patient with cognitive impairment?
What is a CGA and what are the advantages and disadvantages of using this?
A multidimensional interdisciplinary diagnostic process focused on determining a frail elderly person’s medical, psychological and functional capability in order to develop a coordinated and integrated plan for treatment and long-term follow-up
Fill in the following table.
What are the 5 domains of a falls risk assessment?
- *1) History and examination**
- *2) Drug review**
- *3) Specific review of medical risk factors**
- *4) Functional and Mobility assessment**
- *5) Psychological effects of fall** (may reduce mobility to prevent falls but this in turn causes muscle weakness)
What are some different pharmacological options for constipation?
senna is usually given to people with short term constipation from opioids as opiodis temporarily slow down the digestive track. and senna can lose effect after a while
What antipsychotic is used in BPSD in dementia and what are the side effects?
Must document risk/benefit discussion, including S.E. with patient/carers
- Extrapyramidal symptoms
- Over-sedation
- Falls
- Prolonged QTc interval
- CVA- especially with atypicals
How can we improve the uptake of COVID vaccines?
What is the definition of mild cognitive impairment?
What issues do we need to think about when feeding in dementia?
What are the different types of imaging you can do if you are suspecting a certain type of dementia?
What investigations needs to be done before starting anti-dementia medication?
Memantine used when severe Alzheimer’s!!!!
