Abstract

D 'HYVER DE LAS DESES, Carlos; LEON, Teresa  and  MARTINEZ-GALLARDO PRIETO, Lorenza. Prevalence of geriatric syndrome among elderly patients attended in ABC Medical Center, 2010. Rev. Fac. Med. (Méx.) [online]. 2011, vol.54, n.5, pp.4-11. ISSN 2448-4865.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of geriatric syndromes in elderly patients over 80 years of age in the ABC Medical Center IAP, a Private Institution, and compare it with that found five years earlier, and compare both with the one reported in the literature. Patients and methods: A retrospective, descriptive, cross-sectional study of adults over 80 years of age admitted to the ABC Medical Center IAP from March 2009 to July 2010, who underwent a comprehensive geriatric assessment. Results: 369 patients were included, mean age 84.49 ± 4.4, 216 were women (58.5%). The assessment allowed the identification of 23 geriatric syndromes; the most frequent was polypharmacy with a prevalence of 56.91% and the less frequent was abuse with a prevalence of 0%. Most syndromes decreased, compared to 5 years ago. However, the prevalence of some geriatric syndromes like falls, immobility, gait disturbance, cognitive impairment, malnutrition, obesity, poor vision, hearing, caregiver collapse, and abuse/ ill-treatment were similar to those reported five years ago. Depression and hearing loss maintained similar levels as those reported in medical literature. Conclusions: The prevalence of geriatric syndromes in our population is determined by the socioeconomic level and by age itself (old-old). Knowledge of the main geriatric syndromes allows the implementation of specific actions to reduce their occurrence, through educational and informative programs addressed to health professionals, families and the very patient.

Keywords : geriatric syndromes; elderly; hospitalized.

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