Clinical trial NCT03596580: Validation of a Screening Tool to Assess Dehydration in Hospitalized Older Population
Official title: Clinical Validation of a Screening Tool to Assess Dehydration in Older Population
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Conditions: Dehydration Hypertonic
Aged
Keywords: Screening tool
Lead sponsor: Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda, Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2018-07-24
Enrollment: 222
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 65
Standard ages: OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Observational model: OTHER
Time perspective: CROSS_SECTIONAL
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: The study will concern people aged 65 or over, admitted to the medical departments of the Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico. Critical, pediatric and psychiatric areas are excluded.

Brief summary: The study aims to verify the sensitivity and specificity of a tool to assess the state of hydration of the older person to identify those at risk of dehydration.

Detailed description: Dehydration is the result of insufficient ﬂuid intake and can be consequent to an alteration of thirst mechanisms or ﬂuid loss from the intestinal and respiratory tracts. The use of diuretics can lead to dehydration too. The risk of dehydration induced by acute or chronical diseases is increased in older people because of the reduced capacity to maintain a proper fluid balance. Lower muscle mass, reduced kidney function, physical and cognitive disabilities, blunted thirst, and polytherapy are recognized as main factors for dehydration risk in older people.For these reasons, coordinated efforts are necessary to develop comprehensive assessment tool to monitor hydration in hospitalised older adults. We need to develop a pathway of screening to detect early stage dehydration in older patients in order to correct it precociously. Presently, no standardized clinical dehydration assessment method exists and there are relatively few papers investigating hydration status. A new tool was created: the Geriatric Dehydration Screening Tool - Modified doesn't require laboratory parameters, and thus its use is feasible outside hospital settings. The aim of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the Geriatric Dehydration Screening Tool - Modified in the assessment of the hydration status of hospitalized older population.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Complete blood tests: Urea, Glucose, Sodium, Potassium reported not more than 24 hours before the observation;
* Absence of known cognitive impairments (Mini-Mental State Examination \> 24).

Exclusion Criteria:

* Age \< 65;
* Mini-Mental State Examination \< 24.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Diagnostic accuracy
timeFrame: baseline
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Milan
country: Italy
facility: Fondazione Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico
Study officials:
References:
citation: Vivanti A, Harvey K, Ash S. Developing a quick and practical screen to improve the identification of poor hydration in geriatric and rehabilitative care. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2010 Mar-Apr;50(2):156-64. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2009.03.003. Epub 2009 Apr 23.
citation: Rodrigues S, Silva J, Severo M, Inacio C, Padrao P, Lopes C, Carvalho J, do Carmo I, Moreira P. Validation analysis of a geriatric dehydration screening tool in community-dwelling and institutionalized elderly people. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2015 Mar 2;12(3):2700-17. doi: 10.3390/ijerph120302700.
citation: Hooper L, Abdelhamid A, Attreed NJ, Campbell WW, Channell AM, Chassagne P, Culp KR, Fletcher SJ, Fortes MB, Fuller N, Gaspar PM, Gilbert DJ, Heathcote AC, Kafri MW, Kajii F, Lindner G, Mack GW, Mentes JC, Merlani P, Needham RA, Olde Rikkert MG, Perren A, Powers J, Ranson SC, Ritz P, Rowat AM, Sjostrand F, Smith AC, Stookey JJ, Stotts NA, Thomas DR, Vivanti A, Wakefield BJ, Waldreus N, Walsh NP, Ward S, Potter JF, Hunter P. Clinical symptoms, signs and tests for identification of impending and current water-loss dehydration in older people. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015 Apr 30;2015(4):CD009647. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD009647.pub2.