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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Med.
Sec. Geriatric Medicine
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1428443

Clinical Profiles of Older Adults in French Caribbean Nursing Homes: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study.

Provisionally accepted
Denis Boucaud-Maitre Denis Boucaud-Maitre 1*Nadine Simo Nadine Simo 2Roxane Villeneuve Roxane Villeneuve 3Christine Rambhojan Christine Rambhojan 3Nathalie Thibault Nathalie Thibault 3Sarah-Priscilla Joseph Sarah-Priscilla Joseph 2Michel Bonnet Michel Bonnet 2Moustapha Dramé Moustapha Dramé 2larissa vainqueur larissa vainqueur 3Leila Rinaldo Leila Rinaldo 3laurys Letchimy laurys Letchimy 2jean-François Dartigues jean-François Dartigues 4Matteo Cesari Matteo Cesari 5Yves Rolland Yves Rolland 6Bruno Vellas Bruno Vellas 6Hélène Amieva Hélène Amieva 4Maturin Tabue-Teguo Maturin Tabue-Teguo 2
  • 1 Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier, Bron, France
  • 2 Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Martinique, Fort de France, France
  • 3 Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Guadeloupe, Pointe-à-Pitre, France
  • 4 Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France
  • 5 University of Milan, Milan, Lombardy, Italy
  • 6 Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, Toulouse, Occitanie, France

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Nursing homes in the Caribbean are scarce and the characteristics of their residents have not been previously documented. This study aimed to describe the clinical profiles of residents living in nursing homes in Guadeloupe and Martinique (French West Indies). Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of the baseline screening data from the KASEHPAD (Karukera Study of Ageing in nursing homes) study. Clinical characteristics and geriatric scale scores, including the Activities of Daily Living (ADL), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Mini Nutritional Assessment Short-Form (MNA-SF) and Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), were collected and analyzed. Results: A total of 332 older adults were recruited between September 2020 and November 2022. The mean age of the residents was 81.3 ± 10.1, with a male-female ratio of 1:1. Diabetes was reported in 28.3% of the residents, hypertension in 66.6% and heart disease in 18.4%. Dementia was diagnosed in 52.3% of the residents and 74.9% had a MMSE score ≤18. The prevalence of Parkinson’s disease was 9.0%. Additionally, 18.4% were unable to perform any basic activities of daily living (ADL score of 0). The prevalence of physical impairment (SPPB<8) was 90.0%. One-quarter of the residents were classified as undernourished (MNA-SF score ≤7). Conclusions: Residents in Caribbean nursing homes are younger than in metropolitan France, whereas they present quite similar clinical profiles. Notably, a high prevalence of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and neurodegenerative diseases was observed. This study represents a preliminary effort to address the knowledge gap regarding the aging trajectories of older adults in the Caribbean and could guide the development of future nursing homes in these countries.

    Keywords: Nursing Homes, older adults, dependency, Caribbean, Observational study (cross-sectional study)

    Received: 06 May 2024; Accepted: 23 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Boucaud-Maitre, Simo, Villeneuve, Rambhojan, Thibault, Joseph, Bonnet, Dramé, vainqueur, Rinaldo, Letchimy, Dartigues, Cesari, Rolland, Vellas, Amieva and Tabue-Teguo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Denis Boucaud-Maitre, Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier, Bron, France

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