Treatment selection for squamous cell carcinoma patients aged over 84 years is controversial. This retrospective chart review examined and compared characteristics of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma in very elderly (over 84 years) and younger patients (approximately 65 years). The secondary objective was to further evaluate the outcome of radiotherapy as a treatment modality in this patient population.

Of all 23 very elderly patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma treated with radiotherapy, with or without surgery, in the Davidoff Cancer Center, from 1992 to 2012, 19 had sufficient data for analysis, and comprised the study group.

Median age at diagnosis was 86 years. Disease stage at diagnosis was I, II, III and IVA in 53 per cent, 21 per cent, 21 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively. Median radiotherapy dose was 60 Gy given in 25 fractions. Three patients had recurrence. No patient discontinued treatment because of toxicity. Median overall survival was 3.6 years (range, 0–10 years).

Very elderly laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma patients may derive a similar survival advantage as younger counterparts. Modern radiotherapy is effective and safe for treating laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma in this study population. Further, large-scale studies are needed.

Elderly people have always presented physiological changes and suffered from many diseases. There are few studies focused on this growing particular population, especially with mental pathologies. Thus, psychiatric hospitalization of the elderly population is more frequent nowadays.

The aim of this study is to establish the socio-demographic characteristics of elderly patients hospitalized in psychiatry.

Retrospective and descriptive study over a period of 20 years and 6 months on patients aged over 65 years old hospitalized in the psychiatry “B” department of the Hedi Chaker University hospital in Sfax, Tunisia, for a psychiatric disorder, selected according to the DSM 5 diagnosis criteria.

The number of records identified was 62, out of 4019 patients (15.4%). The mean age of patients was 71.1 years old and the sex ratio (Male / Female) = 0.67. Patients were originally from Sfax in 58.1% and from rural areas in 58.1% of cases. Most of patients (78.4%) were living at least with one member of their family. They were married in 53.2% of cases. The average number of children was 5.21. The majority of patients were illiterate (61.3%) and never had a professional activity in 45.2% of cases. Social coverage concerned 96.8% of our sample.

Elderly patients hospitalized in our department were mainly illiterate, females and living with their family. Despite everything, family involvement in care is still necessary for this category of patients.

No significant relationships.

The psychoses in patients with dependence of alcohol are in many cases polyethiologic, this is especially common in the elderly due to accumulation of various somato-neurological pathologies.

88 men, with alcohol withdrawal syndrome accompanied by delirium; the average age - 70,4 ± 3,9 years, duration of alcohol abuse - 27,4 ± 6,5 years.

clinical, psychopathological and statistical

The psychoses in patients with dependence of alcohol are in many cases polyethiologic, this is especially common in elderly due to accumulation of various somato-neurological pathologies. One of such factors is alcohol dependence syndrome and alcohol withdrawal. ICD-10 allows sharing out delirium with mixed etiology F05.8; this category can include patients when there is a severe alcohol withdrawal condition and somato-neurological pathology that can be an independent factor in the delirious syndrome. 88 elderly patients with were examined in state of alcohol withdrawal. All patients had delirious syndrome. Patients were divided into 2 groups: 1st – patients with a condition of alcohol withdrawal with delirium; 2nd - patients with a delirium of mixed etiology (the factor of the presence of dyscirculatory encephalopathy, was considered a competing factor in the onset of delirium). Some differential-diagnostic signs of the studied disorders were established. In the case of prolongation of psychosis, the clinical picture was similar in both groups, which was explained by exacerbation of the existing somatic pathology.

Estimation of the leading factor in the emergency of acute psychosis in patients with alcohol withdrawal syndrome is of great practical importance for selection of therapeutic tactics.

The aim of this study was to explore elderly patients’ and general practitioners’ (GPs’) perceptions of communication about polypharmacy, medication safety and approaches for empowerment.

To manage polypharmacy, GPs need to know patients’ real medication consumption. However, previous research has shown that patients do not always volunteer all information about their medication regimen, for example, such as the intake of over-the-counter medication or the alteration or discontinuation of prescribed medication.

A qualitative interview study including patients of at least 65 years old with polypharmacy (⩾5 medications) and their GPs in a German Primary Healthcare Centre. The transcripts from the semi-structured interviews (n=6 with patients; n=3 with GPs) were analysed using a framework analytical approach.

We identified three themes: differing medication plans: causes?; dialogue concerning medication: whose responsibility?; supporting patients’ engagement: how? While GPs stated that patients do not always report or might even conceal information, all patients reported that they could speak openly about everything with their GPs. In this context, trust might act as a double-edged sword, as it can promote open communication but also prevent patients from asking questions. Both GPs and patients could name very few ways in which patients could be supported to become more informed and active in communication concerning polypharmacy and medication safety.

This study shows that patients’ awareness of the significance of their active role in addressing polypharmacy needs to be increased. This includes understanding that trusting the doctor does not preclude asking questions or seeking more information. Thus, interventions which improve patients’ communication skills and address specific issues of polypharmacy, particularly in elderly patients, should be designed. GPs might support patients by ‘inviting’ their contribution.

Older patients may be more vulnerable to the deleterious effect of depressive episodes on delayed narrative memory, a cognitive task which reflects hippocampal activity. We aimed to disentangle which factors could explain such increased vulnerability in the elderly, including the poorer response to treatment, a longer lifetime exposure to past depressive episodes, and lower baseline memory skills.

From an initial sample of 8,229 depressed outpatients, we focused on the 2,424 treatment responders, and compared older (65 years old and over, N = 233) to younger (N = 2,191) ones. These patients were included through general practitioners’ assessment and tested for the Wechsler delayed paragraph recall index, a valid and sensitive test assessing verbal declarative memory (and a marker of the hippocampal function), at baseline and after six weeks of treatment.

As expected, older patients after response to antidepressants showed decreased narrative memory abilities compared to younger ones. As baseline memory performance and residual depressive symptoms were also found in excess in this sample, they could act as confounders. Indeed, after controlling for these two factors, the role of age in memory performance after treatment response was ruled out.

The potential “toxicity” of a depressive episode to cognitive functions related to the hippocampus may not be more critical in older patients compared to younger ones. Limiting remaining depressive symptoms in older depressed patients might be a way to counteract the observed worsening of memory functions in depressed patients.

Poor nutrition and limited sunlight exposure (season) can be related to reduced serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations. Thus, elderly people in the Nordic countries might be at high risk for vitamin D deficiency. The aims of the study were to describe the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in elderly hospitalized patients in Reykjavik, Iceland, and to investigate the effects of nutritional status and season on serum 25(OH)D.

Cross-sectional study. Nutritional status was assessed and fasting blood was drawn and analysed for serum 25(OH)D and other clinical routine measurements.

Departments of Geriatrics, Landspitali-University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland.

Sixty hospitalized patients (mean age 83·0 (sd 7·9) years) were randomly assigned.

Of the patients, 12·3 % suffered from vitamin D deficiency (serum 25(OH)D < 25 nmol/l) and 71·9 % suffered from hypovitaminosis D (serum 25(OH)D = 25–75 nmol/l). There were no significant effects of gender or nutritional status on serum 25(OH)D. Anthropometric variables correlated significantly with serum 25(OH)D, but on stepwise linear regression modelling for the prediction of serum 25(OH)D, BMI remained the only predictor variable (B = −1·454, 95 % CI −2·535, −0·373, P = 0·009).

BMI was significantly negatively associated with serum 25(OH)D in hospitalized elderly patients. Neither nutritional status nor season significantly affected serum 25(OH)D in our patient group. Higher levels of serum 25(OH)D in elderly subjects with lower BMI are most likely explained by volume of distribution rather than by mobilization of vitamin D from its storage in adipose tissue due to age and disease-related catabolism.