L’ASSISTENZA SANITARIA ALLA POPOLAZIONE ANZIANA IN ITALIA: IL PROGETTO U.L.I.S.S.E. (UN LINK INFORMATICO SUI SERVIZI SANITARI ESISTENTI PER L’ANZIANO)

Health care for older people in Italy: The U.L.I.S.S.E. Project (Un link informatico sui servizi sanitari esistenti per l'anziano - a computerized network on health care services for older people).

OBJECTIVES: The U.L.I.S.S.E. study is aimed at describing older patients who are cared for in hospitals, home care or nursing homes in Italy. DESIGN: The U.L.I.S.S.E. study is an observational multicenter prospective 1-year study. SETTING: Overall, 23 acute geriatric or internal medicine hospital units, 11 home care services and 31 nursing homes participated in the study. MEASUREMENTS: The patient's evaluation was performed using comprehensive geriatric assessment instruments, i.e. the interRAI Minimum Data Set, while data on service characteristics were recorded using ad-hoc designed questionnaires. RESULTS: The older subjects who are in need of acute and long term care in Italy have simil…

When the amnestic mild cognitive impairment disappears: characterisation of the memory profile

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Subjects affected by mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may improve during the observation period. This is the first study investigating qualitative features of memory deficits in subjects affected by reversible MCI [reversible cognitive impairment (RCI)]. METHODS: Baseline cognitive and memory performances of 18 subjects affected by amnestic MCI who had normalized cognitive performances at follow-ups were compared with those of 76 amnestic MCI subjects who still showed impaired cognitive performances at the 24-month follow-up (MCI) and with those of a group of 87 matched control subjects (normal controls). RESULTS: Compared with normal controls the memory deficit in the…