Julkaisut
2026
-
What can we learn from cannabinoid trials?
No abstract -
A survey of medical student education in dementia and delirium in Europe
CONCLUSION: While dementia and delirium are broadly included in participating European institutions' medical student curricula, limited teaching time, infrequent interprofessional and experiential learning, and significant content gaps highlight the need for greater consistency and comprehensiveness to meet future healthcare needs. -
From memory clinics to Brain Health Services: implications for older adults and the future of cognitive care in Europe
CONCLUSIONS: Brain Health Services should be reframed through a gerontologically informed lens that prioritises function, independence, quality of life, and equitable access alongside prevention. Integration with comprehensive geriatric assessment and existing older persons' care pathways is essential. Future research should focus on pragmatic real-world evaluation, inclusive outcome measures, and personalised approaches that account for heterogeneity in ageing. Ultimately, the success of BHS... -
Recent breakthroughs in blood-based biomarkers of Alzheimer disease: opportunities and challenges in older adults
Recent advances in Blood-Based Biomarkers (BBMs) are transforming the diagnostic landscape of Alzheimer Disease (AD), with plasma p-tau217 emerging as a highly accurate and scalable diagnostic marker of AD pathology. Across multiple analytical platforms, plasma p-tau217 has demonstrated consistently strong diagnostic performance for the detection of amyloid pathology. The interpretation of BBMs in older adults presents unique challenges due to the high prevalence of multimorbidity, chronic... -
Protocol for the health economic evaluation of nature-based social prescribing against loneliness alongside the RECETAS trials
BACKGROUND: Loneliness has become a global public health problem associated with serious diseases and early mortality. A promising non-medical group-based strategy to address loneliness is nature-based social prescribing (NBSP). The aim of this paper is to describe the design of a health economic evaluation of NBSP interventions alongside trials conducted in the EU H2020 project RECETAS. -
Brain magnetic resonance imaging biomarkers for future frailty; sub-study of FINGER trial
INTRODUCTION: Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) biomarkers for dementia exist, but little is known about their association with future frailty. We investigated whether baseline brain MRI findings associate with pre-frailty/frailty over 11 years. -
Effects of Nature-based Group Intervention on Cognition and Nature Connectedness Among Lonely Older Adults Living in Assisted Living Facilities-Secondary Analyses of an RCT
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Group intervention according to the FiN method improved participants' cognition and nature connectedness compared with controls. The nature-based group intervention can be implemented in ALFs by training professionals to be facilitators of the FiN method. -
Loneliness, social inactivity and social isolation of older adults in assisted living facilities
CONCLUSIONS: Loneliness is very common in ALFs and indicates poor PWB. Loneliness, social inactivity, and social isolation are only partly overlapping. Loneliness should be asked about to intervene on it. -
Effectiveness of nature-based group intervention in loneliness and health-related quality-of-life in lonely older adults living in assisted living facilities-a randomised controlled trial
CONCLUSIONS: Group intervention with nature contacts had favourable effects on loneliness and sleep amongst physically and cognitively frail, lonely older adults in ALFs. -
Impact of multidomain lifestyle intervention on dynamics of cognitive frailty: post hoc analysis of the FINGER trial
CONCLUSIONS: The 2-year multidomain lifestyle intervention was effective in preventing and reversing CF. Participants with MCI or pre-frailty/frailty were both at increased risk for CF compared with healthy participants.
2025
-
Reply to Letter to the Editor 'Comment on: Analgesic and Adjuvant Co-Prescribing in Australian and Finnish Residential Care Homes'
No abstract -
Reply to: Letter to the Editor: Short- and Long-Term Effect of Multidomain Lifestyle Intervention on Frailty
No abstract -
Analgesic and adjuvant co-prescribing in Australian and Finnish residential care homes
CONCLUSIONS: Analgesic and adjuvant co-prescribing was more prevalent for Australian than Finnish residents, which was largely driven by acetaminophen co-prescribing to more than three quarters of analgesic or adjuvant users in Australia. Central nervous system-active polypharmacy arising from high rates of adjuvant and opioid co-prescribing warrants further attention. -
Short- and Long-Term Effect of Multidomain Lifestyle Intervention on Frailty: Post Hoc Analysis of an RCT
CONCLUSIONS: A 2-year multimodal lifestyle intervention effectively prevented phenotypic pre-frailty/frailty, with sustained benefits observed up to 7 years. Continuous support for a healthy lifestyle may be necessary to prevent late-life pre-frailty or frailty. -
Mortality and causes of death among long-term care residents in Helsinki, Finland 2017-2021, a longitudinal cohort study
CONCLUSIONS: Male sex and younger age were associated with a higher SMR. Residents most frequently died of dementia. End-of-life care in LTC needs to be tailored to meet the needs of people with dementia. -
Change of primary health care service provider model in Vantaa: the impact on mortality and causes of death among older adults - a register-based follow-up study
CONCLUSIONS: The transition to the restricted-list GP model was associated with a lower SMR and fewer excess deaths in older adults. These findings highlight the importance of ongoing assessment of PHC models to ensure they meet evolving healthcare demands. -
Impact of frailty status on the effect of a multidomain lifestyle intervention on cognition
CONCLUSIONS: A multidomain intervention is likely to be beneficial to cognition regardless of frailty status. Prefrail participants seemed particularly responsive to preventive intervention. Thus, an optimal time for a multidomain lifestyle intervention may be at the prefrailty stage. -
Management of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia: a pragmatic scoping review of European guidelines and literature
CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a broad, inclusive overview of current European guidelines for the management of BPSD, demonstrating significant variability. Clinical practice in dementia care throughout Europe needs to be optimised and standardised. -
Association of oral frailty with falls in long-term care residents
CONCLUSIONS: No association was found between severe OFr and falls over a 12-month follow-up. -
Prevalence of strong anticholinergic use in residents with and without cognitive impairment and frailty: Analysis from 106 nursing homes in 12 Asia-Pacific and European countries
CONCLUSIONS: One in six residents who were most frail and living with cognitive impairment used a strong anticholinergic. However, there was a 20-fold variation in prevalence across the 12 countries. Targeted deprescribing interventions may reduce potentially avoidable medication-harm.
2024
-
Association of oral frailty with falls in long-term care residents
CONCLUSIONS: No association was found between severe OFr and falls over a 12-month follow-up. -
Participants' baseline characteristics and feedback of the nature-based social intervention "friends in nature" among lonely older adults in assisted living facilities in finland: a randomised controlled trial of the RECETAS EU-project
CONCLUSIONS: We have successfully randomised 319 lonely residents in assisted living facilities into a trial about the effects of nature experiences in a group-format. The feedback from participants was favourable. The trial will provide important information about possibilities of alleviating loneliness with peer-related nature-based experiences in frail residents. -
Prevalence of strong anticholinergic use in residents with and without cognitive impairment and frailty: Analysis from 106 nursing homes in 12 Asia-Pacific and European countries
CONCLUSIONS: One in six residents who were most frail and living with cognitive impairment used a strong anticholinergic. However, there was a 20-fold variation in prevalence across the 12 countries. Targeted deprescribing interventions may reduce potentially avoidable medication-harm. -
Secular trends in frailty among community-dwelling 75-95-year-old cohorts over three decades in Helsinki, Finland
CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of frailty among community-dwelling individuals aged 75, 80, 85 and 90 years-but not among those aged 95 years-has significantly decreased over the last decades. This positive trend may have important implications for health policies in societies with increasing longevity. -
Prescribing Appropriate Medicines to Older Adults: A Finnish Experience with the Web-Based Meds75+ Database
The Finnish web-based Meds75+ database supports rational, safe and appropriate prescribing to older adults in primary care. This article describes the content and updating process of Meds75+ and demonstrates its applicability in everyday clinical practice. Meds75+ contains a classification (A-D) and recommendation texts for 450-500 drug substances when used in the treatment of older adults aged 75 years or older. The content of Meds75+ is continually updated. Each assessment of a drug substance... -
Changes in location and number of nurse consultations as the supply of general practitioners decreases in primary health care: six-year register-based follow-up cohort study in the city of Vantaa, Finland
CONCLUSIONS: It appears that in primary health care, medical consultations have shifted from GPs to nurses with lower education levels, and from care during office-hours to emergency care. -
A multimodal precision-prevention approach combining lifestyle intervention with metformin repurposing to prevent cognitive impairment and disability: the MET-FINGER randomised controlled trial protocol
CONCLUSION: MET-FINGER is the first trial combining a multimodal lifestyle intervention with a putative repurposed disease-modifying drug for cognitive impairment prevention. Although preliminary, its findings will provide crucial information for innovative precision prevention strategies and form the basis for a larger phase-III trial design and future research in this field. -
Oral frailty among dentate and edentate older adults in long-term care
CONCLUSIONS: Edentulousness and high ODB are equally harmful conditions and may predispose to OFr. This study suggests that maintaining healthy natural teeth and good oral health (low ODB) may protect against OFr.
2023
-
Correction: Relationship between oral frailty, health-related quality of life, and survival among long-term care residents
No abstract -
Relationship between oral frailty, health-related quality of life, and survival among long-term care residents
CONCLUSIONS: OFr was common among older long-term care residents and OFr severity predicts poorer outcomes. The six oral signs denoting OFr may be used at the bedside to screen residents at risk for OFr. -
Emerging disease modifying therapies for older adults with Alzheimer disease: perspectives from the EuGMS special interest group in dementia
No abstract -
Association of medication use with falls and mortality among long-term care residents: a longitudinal cohort study
CONCLUSION: Polypharmacy, opioid and anticholinergic medication use predicted incidence of falls in long-term care. The use of more than 10 medications predicted all-cause mortality. Special attention should be paid to both number and type of medications when prescribing in long-term care. -
Comparison of two GP service provider models in older adults: a register-based follow-up study
CONCLUSION: The rLGP model was unsuccessful in improving access to non-urgent scheduled appointments to GPs. -
Subgingival microbiome at different levels of cognition
Oral health and declining cognition may have a bi-directional association. We characterized the subgingival microbiota composition of subjects from normal cognition to severe cognitive decline in two cohorts. Memory and Periodontitis (MINOPAR) include 202 home-living participants (50-80 years) in Sweden. Finnish Oral Health Studies in Older Adults (FINORAL) include 174 participants (≥65 years) living in long-term care in Finland. We performed oral examination and assessed the cognitive level...
2022
-
Temporal Trends Over Two Decades in the Use of Anticholinergic Drugs Among Older Community-Dwelling People in Helsinki, Finland
CONCLUSIONS: The decrease in the use of DAPs on Duran's list is a welcome change. Although the use of old, strong DAPs has decreased, new DAPs have simultaneously emerged. Physicians need continuous education in prescribing DAPs and more recent information on the use and effects of DAPs is needed in order to decrease their exposure among the rapidly growing older population. -
Dietary fat intake and quality in long-term care residents in two cohorts assessed 10 years apart
CONCLUSIONS: The fat quality in long-term care residents in our study worsened in spite of official recommendations between the two measurement points. -
Relationship between frailty, nutrition, body composition, quality of life, and gender in institutionalized older people
Our aim was to explore the relationship between frailty, nutrition, body composition, and how gender modifies this relationship among long-term care facility residents. We further investigated how body composition correlates with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in both genders. In all, 549 residents (> 65 years of age) were recruited from 17 long-term care facilities for this cross-sectional study. Demographic information, diagnoses, use of medications, and nutritional supplements were... -
The geriatrician remains responsible for appropriate pharmacotherapy
No abstract -
Oral hygiene and health-related quality of life in institutionalized older people
CONCLUSIONS: Oral hygiene of older individuals in long-term care is insufficient. Poor oral hygiene is a marker for poor HRQoL. Residents also have a high burden of oral inflammatory diseases and a need for dental care. Older residents' oral hygiene and HRQoL may be improved with oral care education of caregivers and regular dental check-ups.
2021
-
Relationship between Fried's frailty phenotype and oral frailty in long-term care residents
CONCLUSIONS: OFr is related to Fried's frailty phenotype, general health, nutrition and need for help with daily activities. -
Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Pain and Analgesic Treatment Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Changes from 1999 to 2019
CONCLUSIONS: Pain remains undertreated in the community-dwelling older population, although the use of regular prescribed analgesics increased between 1999 and 2019. The use of NSAIDs has decreased, while the use of paracetamol has increased. Daily opioid use has remained modest. -
Oral hygiene and health-related quality of life in institutionalized older people
CONCLUSIONS: Oral hygiene of older individuals in long-term care is insufficient. Poor oral hygiene is a marker for poor HRQoL. Residents also have a high burden of oral inflammatory diseases and a need for dental care. Older residents' oral hygiene and HRQoL may be improved with oral care education of caregivers and regular dental check-ups. -
Oral Health and Frailty Among Older Long-Term Care Residents in Finland
No abstract -
Temporal trends in nutrition intake among older long-term care residents
CONCLUSIONS: Whereas the energy intake remained at the same level in the observation years, the ratio of macronutrient intake changed in an unfavorable way. The intake of protein and some vitamins were lower whereas the relative proportion of fat was higher in 2017-8 compared to 2007. As long-term care residents become more disabled in the future, more attention should be paid to diet quality. -
Relationship between Anticholinergic Burden and Health-Related Quality of Life among Residents in Long-Term Care
CONCLUSION: In primary analysis there was an association between ARS score and HRQoL. However, this relationship disappeared after stratification by dementia, nutritional status and dependency. The reasons behind the interaction concerning dementia or dependency remain unclear and warrant further studies.
2020
-
Neuropsychiatric Symptoms as Predictors of Falls in Long-Term Care Residents With Cognitive Impairment
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The results of this study show that NPS, especially NPS severity, may predict falls and fall-related negative consequences. Severity of NPS should be taken into account when assessing fall risk in long-term care residents with cognitive impairment. -
Changes in prevalence of loneliness over time in institutional settings, and associated factors
CONCLUSION: Loneliness is common in institutional settings. It remained stable, and not decreased over time. Because loneliness impairs the well-being, quality of life and health of residents, it needs to be addressed. Screening loneliness and developing interventions to alleviate it, is essential. -
Delirium Café: interactive learning to enhance delirium care
CONCLUSION: Delirium Café seems to be both feasible and applicable as a new interactive-learning method in postgraduate medical teaching. -
European Academy for medicine of ageing session participants' report on malnutrition assessment and diagnostic methods; an international survey
CONCLUSIONS: Nutritional assessment is systematically performed in geriatrics; but differs widely among geriatricians and countries. Harmonizing guidelines with the new international consensus might provide best-evidence care for older people across Europe. -
Temporal Trends in the Use of Anticholinergic Drugs Among Older People Living in Long-Term Care Facilities in Helsinki
CONCLUSIONS: Despite increased knowledge of the harms of DAPs, they remain widely used. Physicians seem to be aware of the harms of DAPs among people with dementia, and some other favorable trends in prescribing were also observed. Clinicians should especially consider the indications behind the use of DAP antidepressants and antipsychotics, and carefully weigh their potential benefits and harms.
2019
-
Severity of both neuropsychiatric symptoms and dementia is associated with quality of life in nursing home residents
CONCLUSION: Dementia severity and NPS burden are important determining factors of HRQoL in long-term care. NPS have a distinct impact on HRQoL at different stages of dementia. In severe dementia, higher NPS and better HRQoL indicate better functioning and higher vitality. -
The Summer Book: perspectives on communication and connecting
No abstract -
European Academy for medicine of ageing session participants' report on malnutrition assessment and diagnostic methods; an international survey
CONCLUSIONS: Nutritional assessment is systematically performed in geriatrics; but differs widely among geriatricians and countries. Harmonizing guidelines with the new international consensus might provide best-evidence care for older people across Europe. -
Energy Intake and Severity of Dementia Are Both Associated with Health-Related Quality of Life among Older Long-Term Care Residents
Our aim was to investigate how energy intake modifies the association of the stage of dementia with health related quality of life (HRQoL) among institutionalized older people. A cross-sectional sample of 538 older long-term care residents with dementia in Helsinki, Finland were assessed with HRQoL (15D), energy intake (from one to two days), and the stage of dementia by the clinical dementia rating (CDR) scale. The energy intakes were standardized by z-scores to include both men and women in... -
Use of Anticholinergic Drugs According to Various Criteria and Their Association With Psychological Well-Being and Mortality in Long-Term Care Facilities
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: DAP use and PWB appear to be negatively associated. When combining several criteria of DAPs, their burden predicted mortality. Clinicians should carefully consider the potential benefits and harms when prescribing DAPs to older persons. -
Fourteen-Year Trends in the Use of Psychotropic Medications, Opioids, and Other Sedatives Among Institutionalized Older People in Helsinki, Finland
CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: NHs show a favorable trend in psychotropic drug use, but the rates of psychotropic use remain high in both NHs and ALFs. In addition, the rates of opioid use have almost tripled, leading to a high sedative load among LTC residents. Clinicians should carefully consider the risk-to-benefit ratio when prescribing in LTC.
2018
-
Relationship of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms with Falls in Alzheimer's Disease - Does Exercise Modify the Risk?
CONCLUSION: Exercise may decrease the risk of falling in community-dwelling individuals with AD and NPS. Future exercise trials should confirm this finding in participants with significant NPS. -
Use of Anticholinergic Drugs and its Relationship With Psychological Well-Being and Mortality in Long-Term Care Facilities in Helsinki
CONCLUSIONS: Despite DAP users being younger and having better cognition, they had poorer PWB. Clinicians should carefully consider the potential benefits and harm when prescribing DAPs to older people.
2017
-
Use of Anticholinergic Drugs and its Relationship With Psychological Well-Being and Mortality in Long-Term Care Facilities in Helsinki
CONCLUSIONS: Despite DAP users being younger and having better cognition, they had poorer PWB. Clinicians should carefully consider the potential benefits and harm when prescribing DAPs to older people.