Aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of the overall QOL

Aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of the overall QOL and of the HRQOL to predict several adverse health outcomes at a one-year follow-up in an older outpatient population living in the community.

Methods: We carried out a prospective

cohort study on 210 community-dwelling outpatients aged 65+ (mean age 81.2 yrs) consecutively referred to a geriatric clinic in Milan, Italy. At baseline participants underwent a comprehensive geriatric assessment including evaluation of overall QOL and HRQOL by means of the Older People’s Quality of Life (OPQOL) questionnaire. At a one-year follow-up, between June and December 2010, we investigated nursing home placement and death in all 210 participants as well as any fall, any admission to the emergency learn more department (ED), any

hospitalisation and greater functional dependence among the subset of subjects still living at home.

Results: One Fosbretabulin year after the visit 187 subjects were still living at home (89%) while 7 had been placed in a nursing home (3.3%) and 16 had died (7.7%). At multiple logistic regression analyses the lowest score-based quartile of the OPQOL total score at baseline was independently associated with a greater risk of any fall and any ED admission. Also, the lowest score-based quartile of the health-related OPQOL sub-score was associated with a greater risk of any fall as well as of nursing home placement (odds ratio [OR] 10.03, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.25-80.54, P = 0.030)

and death (OR 4.23, 95% CI 1.06-16.81, P = 0.041). The correlation with the latter two health outcomes was found after correction for age, sex, education, income, living conditions, comorbidity, disability and the frailty syndrome.

Conclusions: In an older outpatient population in Italy the OPQOL total score and its health-related sub-score were independent predictors of several adverse health outcomes at one year. Notably, poor HRQOL predicted both nursing home placement and death even after correction for the frailty syndrome. These findings support and enhance the prognostic relevance of QOL measures.”
“Empirical studies have demonstrated the importance of maternal characteristics to egg and larval viability in Atlantic cod (Godus PD0332991 morhua) and other marine teleosts. The effects of these advantages on total reproductive output of individual fish have not yet been studied. A model of an Atlantic cod population was constructed to determine the contribution of offspring by spawners of different spawning experience. First-, second-, and third-time spawners consisted of cod ages 1-9 years old and experienced spawners consisted of ages 10 and 11. Experienced spawners contributed 10.1-12.4 times more offspring surviving to age 1 than did less experienced spawners. Reproductive efforts by first- and second-time spawners were relatively unimportant.

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