Latest news with #olderadults
Medscape
7 hours ago
- General
- Medscape
Wildfire Smoke Linked to Respiratory Admissions in Seniors
Among older adults in the western United States, exposure to high concentrations of smoke-related fine particulate matter (PM2.5) was associated with increased rates of hospitalizations for respiratory diseases, with weaker but suggestive ties to cardiovascular hospitalizations. METHODOLOGY: Researchers carried out a retrospective cohort study to analyze the association between exposure to smoke-specific PM2.5 and cause-specific hospitalizations in older adults in the United States. They used inpatient claims data of 10,369,361 Medicare beneficiaries (mean age, 74.7 years; 53.1% women) across 11 western United States during wildfire seasons from 2006 to 2016, with 57,974,120 person-months of follow-up. The causes of unscheduled hospitalizations were inferred from International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes and classified into various disease categories. codes and classified into various disease categories. Daily concentrations of surface-level smoke-specific PM2.5 were estimated through machine learning models that utilized ground measurements, satellite data, and reanalysis data sources. The associations between causes of hospitalization and smoke-specific PM2.5 were characterized by examining daily county-level rates of unscheduled hospitalization by disease category, modeling hospitalization rates according to same-day and prior-week smoke-specific PM2.5 exposure. TAKEAWAY: The leading cause of unscheduled hospitalizations was cardiovascular disease, with a mean daily rate of 7.92 per 100,000 persons, followed by digestive system disease at 3.62 and respiratory disease at 3.53 per 100,000 persons. Respiratory hospitalizations increased as smoke-specific PM2.5 exceeded 25 μg/m 3 , with average daily rates increasing by 2.40 (95% CI, 0.17-4.63) per 100,000 persons when PM2.5 levels rose from 0 to 40 μg/m 3 over a week. , with average daily rates increasing by 2.40 (95% CI, 0.17-4.63) per 100,000 persons when PM2.5 levels rose from 0 to 40 μg/m over a week. Hospitalizations due to cardiovascular diseases were unrelated to smoke-specific PM2.5 at exposure levels < 20 μg/m 3 but showed an increasing trend at higher concentrations. but showed an increasing trend at higher concentrations. No significant associations were seen for hospitalizations related to injuries, digestive issues, neuropsychiatric conditions, or endocrine disorders. IN PRACTICE: 'This information can be used by both policymakers and clinicians to design policies and guidelines to protect vulnerable older adults from the escalating health threats posed by wildfire smoke,' the authors wrote. SOURCE: This study was led by Sofia L. Vega, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston. It was published online on April 30, 2025, in JAMA Network Open . LIMITATIONS: Estimating concentrations of smoke-specific PM2.5 proved challenging due to the lack of direct measurements. County-level exposure measures may not have accurately reflected the exposures experienced by individual residents. This study did not include information on wildfires from recent years when their intensity increased. DISCLOSURES: This study was supported by the Harvard Climate Change Solutions Fund and grants from the National Institutes of Health. One author reported receiving support through an environmental fellowship at the Harvard University Center. The authors reported having no conflicts of interest.
Medscape
a day ago
- Business
- Medscape
Home Healthcare Common for People With Dementia
The use of home healthcare services is common among people with dementia, especially for community-initiated care, a new analysis of Medicare data showed. Between 2010 and 2019, use of community-initiated home healthcare increased by 17%, while use of home healthcare for postacute care rose by 21%. Use decreased after 2020, which investigators said could be linked to staffing shortages in the home healthcare industry. METHODOLOGY: Researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis, including over 13 million older adults (mean age, 79.4 years; 60% women; 86% White individuals) who were enrolled for traditional Medicare and received home healthcare between 2010 and 2022. The frequency and duration of home healthcare spells were analyzed and compared between individuals with dementia (28%) and those without dementia (72%). Postacute care was defined as home healthcare instituted within 14 days of discharge from a hospital, nursing home, or other facility. All other home healthcare use was classified as community-initiated. TAKEAWAY: Between 2010 and 2022, there were 30,998,653 home healthcare spells (mean, 2.2 home health spells per beneficiary). Individuals with dementia used community-initiated home healthcare more frequently than postacute care (54% vs 46%). Among individuals with dementia, the number of community-initiated care spells increased from 35.4 to 40.2 per 1000 beneficiaries and that of postacute care spells increased from 28.9 to 35.1 per 1000 beneficiaries (2010-2019) and then fell to 33.6 and 28.5 per 1000 beneficiaries by mid-2022, respectively. Between 2010 and 2019, the number of community-initiated care spells among individuals without dementia decreased by 20%, while postacute care spells decreased by 21% in this population. Home healthcare spells were consistently longer for individuals with dementia than those without it (47-52 days vs 44-50 days for community-initiated care and 40-43 days vs 32-34 days for postacute care). IN PRACTICE: 'Despite increasing use of home health care during this time period, people may receive incomplete support for their home healthcare needs through Medicare, which is centered on needs for skilled care, or Medicaid, which entails strict asset and income tests. Decreasing rates of home healthcare use since 2020 in this high-need population point to a need for ongoing monitoring of service use and outcomes for people with dementia,' the investigators wrote. SOURCE: The study was led by Rachel M. Werner, MD, PhD, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. It was published online on May 16 in JAMA Network Open . LIMITATIONS: The study relied on claims data for dementia diagnosis. The COVID-19 pandemic may have disrupted healthcare utilization, potentially leading to underdiagnosis of dementia toward the study's end. Additionally, the study only included traditional Medicare beneficiaries as those enrolled in Medicare Advantage typically use home healthcare at lower rates and for shorter periods, which may have influenced the observed trends. DISCLOSURES: The study was funded by the National Institute of Aging. One author reported receiving personal fees from City Block Health and Trinity Health outside the submitted work.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
The reality of AI's promise to curb older adults' loneliness
Brenda Lam uses an AI chatbot at least once a week. For the 69-year-old retired banker from Singapore, the chatbot brings her peace of mind. 'It motivates me,' says Lam, who communicates with AMI-Go, created by and in partnership with Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Lions Befrienders, a social service organization to support older adults. When Lam speaks with the bot, she usually asks questions to get suggestions and ideas for how to enjoy life. 'What can I do to live life to the fullest?' is one of her latest questions. The chatbot responded with tips, including getting exercise outside and picking up a hobby like gardening, reading, or sewing. 'The responses encourage me,' she says. Though she has family and friends close by, Lam says the chatbot is always reliable. 'I feel it's a bit like a replacement if friends are not available to have time with me,' she says. 'When we have the chatbot, it's always there for us.' Lam's situation is not unique. Many older adults are struggling with loneliness, and one in three feel isolated from others, many of whom live alone, have retired, or don't have the same social connections as they once did. According to the University of Michigan's National Poll on Healthy Aging, 37% of older adults have felt a lack of companionship with others. It's a crisis that the former Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, warned about from the nation's capital with a 2023 advisory on the epidemic of loneliness and the healing effects of social connection and community. Research shows loneliness increases the risk of heart disease, dementia, and early mortality. It's led researchers and public health experts searching for novel solutions in the community—and digitally. So, are AI chatbots, that could function as friends and pals, going to solve the loneliness crisis for older adults? As we face massive demographic shifts—where the number of Baby Boomers is soon to outnumber young adults—Nancy Berlinger, PhD, a bioethicist at The Hastings Center for Bioethics, who studies aging populations, is in no short supply of work. With the number of adults 65 and older set to more than double by 2040, reaching 80 million, she is grappling with how rapid technological changes will affect this cohort. 'If somebody is living alone and maybe their partner has died, and they could go all day with no one to talk to, would they like to talk with a chatbot, especially a voice one that doesn't require the dexterity of typing on a phone?' Berlinger told Fortune at the National Gerontological Association's Annual Meeting in Novemeber. In a pilot program in New York that began in 2022, nearly 1,000 older adults interacted with ElliQ, an AI chatbot. The vast majority of users reported a decline in their loneliness and improved well-being. The participants interacted with ElliQ for an average of 28 minutes a day, five days a week. 'Their social circle is shrinking. People have died. They probably have stopped driving, so their lives are different,' Berlinger says of older adults today. However, Berlinger still worries about technology as a fix-all for loneliness. 'If we say, all we need are the right AI companions for older people, would that mean that we are saying we don't really have to invest in the social pieces of this?' she says, adding that if caregivers retreat because of the chatbot, the technology is not amplifying a person's well-being. Similar to how studies have shown that social media can exacerbate teens' mental health issues and sense of isolation, and that nothing can replace the connectivity of in-person connection, the same can be said of chatbots for older adults. 'It's not going to replace all of that richness of relationships, but it's not nothing.' She adds, 'I wouldn't say it's a solution to the problem of aging. It's something to keep our eye on.' Lam appreciates the chatbot as a way to ease the burden she feels falls on family and friends. 'I feel that in this world, everything's changing, so we ourselves have to keep up with technology because we cannot rely too much on family members or too much on our friends. Sooner or later, they have to live their own life,' she says. Whether that's the right mindset is yet to be seen. Walter Boot, PhD, professor of psychology in medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine and associate director of the Center on Aging and Behavioral Research at Weill Cornell Medicine, says while AI is moving fast, he's not yet convinced that it's a long-term solution for older adults. 'You might see that people feel a little bit better, but whether or not that addresses things like depression and loneliness and perceptions of isolation, I don't think we have really good answers to those questions just yet,' he tells Fortune. 'You feel good because you played with a nice piece of technology, and it was fun and it was engaging for a while, but what happens after three months? The evidence base isn't there yet.' Boot also explains that tech can't replace all of the things humans have done to support older adults. 'There's a danger to thinking that the only problem is that you don't have someone to talk to. When you have people who are visiting your house, they can see your house, they can see your environment, and see that there's something wrong with you. Something might need to be repaired, or maybe the person I'm visiting looks sick, and maybe they need to go to a doctor,' he says. Both Berlinger and Boot want tech to supplement other pieces of in-person interaction and care. Let's say AI can help older adults choose the right health plan or doctor, which Berlinger says can reduce the caregiving burden disproportionately facing daughters. Maybe AI can also help find local activities in the community for older adults to partake in, something Boot is researching with his team. 'If we could reduce the paperwork side of being old and caregiving, and help people to do things they want to do, well, that's great,' Berlinger says, noting that, still, we aren't quite there yet. 'Who's going to be the IT support for that chatbot? I still think it's the family caregiver.' But for Lam, she loves using the chatbot to gather tips and suggestions for how to feel better and more active. And from time to time, she doesn't mind asking it an existential question, too. When asked what burning question Lam has next for her chatbot, she posed one that maybe many of us are considering. 'What can a chatbot do to create a better world for all of us?' Lam says. This article was written with the support of a journalism fellowship from The Gerontological Society of America, The Journalists Network on Generations and The Silver Century Foundation. For more on aging well: Exclusive: Midi Health launches longevity arm to reach the millions of women 'lost to medical care' 3 takeaways from a cardiologist and 'SuperAgers' researcher on how to live longer and healthier Vitamin D supplements may slow down your biological clock, new study finds This story was originally featured on
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
The reality of AI's promise to curb older adults' loneliness
Brenda Lam uses an AI chatbot at least once a week. For the 69-year-old retired banker from Singapore, the chatbot brings her peace of mind. 'It motivates me,' says Lam, who communicates with AMI-Go, created by and in partnership with Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Lions Befrienders, a social service organization to support older adults. When Lam speaks with the bot, she usually asks questions to get suggestions and ideas for how to enjoy life. 'What can I do to live life to the fullest?' is one of her latest questions. The chatbot responded with tips, including getting exercise outside and picking up a hobby like gardening, reading, or sewing. 'The responses encourage me,' she says. Though she has family and friends close by, Lam says the chatbot is always reliable. 'I feel it's a bit like a replacement if friends are not available to have time with me,' she says. 'When we have the chatbot, it's always there for us.' Lam's situation is not unique. Many older adults are struggling with loneliness, and one in three feel isolated from others, many of whom live alone, have retired, or don't have the same social connections as they once did. According to the University of Michigan's National Poll on Healthy Aging, 37% of older adults have felt a lack of companionship with others. It's a crisis that the former Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, warned about from the nation's capital with a 2023 advisory on the epidemic of loneliness and the healing effects of social connection and community. Research shows loneliness increases the risk of heart disease, dementia, and early mortality. It's led researchers and public health experts searching for novel solutions in the community—and digitally. So, are AI chatbots, that could function as friends and pals, going to solve the loneliness crisis for older adults? As we face massive demographic shifts—where the number of Baby Boomers is soon to outnumber young adults—Nancy Berlinger, PhD, a bioethicist at The Hastings Center for Bioethics, who studies aging populations, is in no short supply of work. With the number of adults 65 and older set to more than double by 2040, reaching 80 million, she is grappling with how rapid technological changes will affect this cohort. 'If somebody is living alone and maybe their partner has died, and they could go all day with no one to talk to, would they like to talk with a chatbot, especially a voice one that doesn't require the dexterity of typing on a phone?' Berlinger told Fortune at the National Gerontological Association's Annual Meeting in Novemeber. In a pilot program in New York that began in 2022, nearly 1,000 older adults interacted with ElliQ, an AI chatbot. The vast majority of users reported a decline in their loneliness and improved well-being. The participants interacted with ElliQ for an average of 28 minutes a day, five days a week. 'Their social circle is shrinking. People have died. They probably have stopped driving, so their lives are different,' Berlinger says of older adults today. However, Berlinger still worries about technology as a fix-all for loneliness. 'If we say, all we need are the right AI companions for older people, would that mean that we are saying we don't really have to invest in the social pieces of this?' she says, adding that if caregivers retreat because of the chatbot, the technology is not amplifying a person's well-being. Similar to how studies have shown that social media can exacerbate teens' mental health issues and sense of isolation, and that nothing can replace the connectivity of in-person connection, the same can be said of chatbots for older adults. 'It's not going to replace all of that richness of relationships, but it's not nothing.' She adds, 'I wouldn't say it's a solution to the problem of aging. It's something to keep our eye on.' Lam appreciates the chatbot as a way to ease the burden she feels falls on family and friends. 'I feel that in this world, everything's changing, so we ourselves have to keep up with technology because we cannot rely too much on family members or too much on our friends. Sooner or later, they have to live their own life,' she says. Whether that's the right mindset is yet to be seen. Walter Boot, PhD, professor of psychology in medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine and associate director of the Center on Aging and Behavioral Research at Weill Cornell Medicine, says while AI is moving fast, he's not yet convinced that it's a long-term solution for older adults. 'You might see that people feel a little bit better, but whether or not that addresses things like depression and loneliness and perceptions of isolation, I don't think we have really good answers to those questions just yet,' he tells Fortune. 'You feel good because you played with a nice piece of technology, and it was fun and it was engaging for a while, but what happens after three months? The evidence base isn't there yet.' Boot also explains that tech can't replace all of the things humans have done to support older adults. 'There's a danger to thinking that the only problem is that you don't have someone to talk to. When you have people who are visiting your house, they can see your house, they can see your environment, and see that there's something wrong with you. Something might need to be repaired, or maybe the person I'm visiting looks sick, and maybe they need to go to a doctor,' he says. Both Berlinger and Boot want tech to supplement other pieces of in-person interaction and care. Let's say AI can help older adults choose the right health plan or doctor, which Berlinger says can reduce the caregiving burden disproportionately facing daughters. Maybe AI can also help find local activities in the community for older adults to partake in, something Boot is researching with his team. 'If we could reduce the paperwork side of being old and caregiving, and help people to do things they want to do, well, that's great,' Berlinger says, noting that, still, we aren't quite there yet. 'Who's going to be the IT support for that chatbot? I still think it's the family caregiver.' But for Lam, she loves using the chatbot to gather tips and suggestions for how to feel better and more active. And from time to time, she doesn't mind asking it an existential question, too. When asked what burning question Lam has next for her chatbot, she posed one that maybe many of us are considering. 'What can a chatbot do to create a better world for all of us?' Lam says. This article was written with the support of a journalism fellowship from The Gerontological Society of America, The Journalists Network on Generations and The Silver Century Foundation. For more on aging well: Exclusive: Midi Health launches longevity arm to reach the millions of women 'lost to medical care' 3 takeaways from a cardiologist and 'SuperAgers' researcher on how to live longer and healthier Vitamin D supplements may slow down your biological clock, new study finds This story was originally featured on
Medscape
4 days ago
- General
- Medscape
One Third of Older Veterans Who Use Cannabis Have CUD
About 36% of older veterans who recently used cannabis screened positive for cannabis use disorder (CUD), with a higher risk observed among younger respondents, individuals with anxiety, and frequent users, a new analysis showed. Investigators said the findings suggest asking about cannabis use during all routine health exams could help identify patients for treatment. METHODOLOGY: This cross-sectional study included data of 4503 older adults (weighted mean age, 73.3 years; 85% men; 78% non-Hispanic White individuals) from the Veterans Health Administration in the United States using interviews and medical records (2020-2023). Participants were assessed for the use of cannabis in different forms (smoking, vaping, dabbing, or edibles) in the past 30 days and screened for CUD, defined as meeting at least two criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fifth Edition) . . Covariates included sociodemographic and health variables. TAKEAWAY: Overall, 57% of participants reported lifetime cannabis use, with 29% citing medical reasons, with pain management the most common reason for medical use. Cannabis use in the past 30 days was reported by 10.3% of participants, with 52% using cannabis for at least 20 days in a month. Among those with past 30-day use, 36% screened positive for CUD, with higher odds among men, respondents younger than 76 years, individuals with anxiety, and individuals who reported any illicit drug use or frequent cannabis use. Compared with any recreational use, lifetime cannabis use for exclusively medical reasons was associated with lower odds of any CUD. Past 30-day use of inhaled cannabis was associated with higher odds of CUD than that of edibles only (adjusted odds ratio, 3.56; 95% CI, 1.12-11.26). IN PRACTICE: 'Older veterans may be at risk for THC intoxication. Prevention of problematic cannabis use and CUD is also crucial in older veterans due to the elevated risk of suicide ideation and exacerbation of mental health concerns experienced by aging populations. Routine health screening for cannabis use in Veterans Health Administration clinical settings is necessary to identify older adults with cannabis use,' the investigators wrote. SOURCE: The study was led by Vira Pravosud, PhD, MPH, MS, Center for Data to Discovery and Delivery Innovation, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health Care System, San Francisco. It was published online on May 14 in JAMA Network Open . LIMITATIONS: The study was limited by its cross-sectional design, low generalizability, reliance on self-reported data, and potential recall and social desirability bias. DISCLOSURES: The study received support from National Institutes of Health and Tobacco Related Disease Research Program. One author declared receiving nonfinancial support from the San Francisco VA Health Care System during the study. Another received nonfinancial support from the New York State Psychiatric Institute during the study and research support from Syneos Health outside the submitted work.
