Final Diagnosis and Outcomes in Old Patients Admitted to the Infectious Diseases Ward

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Infectious diseases, Golestan University of Medical Sciences,Gorgan,

2 Assistant Professor of Community medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan,

3 MD, Golestan University of Medical Sciences,Gorgan,

4 Pharm.D, Golestan University of Medical Sciences,Gorgan,

5 PhD Student, Golestan University of Medical Sciences,Gorgan,

Abstract

Introduction
Infectious diseases have always been considered as a serious public health concern. In particular,the elderly are more vulnerable to infection due to physiological changes of aging and alteration of host defense mechanisms.  The aim of this study was to assess the final diagnosis and outcomes in old patients referred to the infectious diseases ward of 5th of Azar hospital of Gorgan
Materials and Methods
In this cross-sectional study, patients aged 65 and above admitted to 5 Azar hospital between March 2009 and June 2010 with the impression of an infectious disease were selected by looking at the medical records. Moreover, information on chief complaints, underlying diseases and past drug history were collected. Data were entered to computer using SPSS (v.13) and Chi-square and One-Way ANOVA tests were used for analysis.
Results
A total of 128 patients were recruited with the mean age of 75 years. Final diagnosis in most of participants was pneumonia. About 85% of patients were recovered and eight deaths were reported. The cause of death in most of cases (62.5%) was unknown and sepsis was the second frequent cause (25%). Final diagnosis in most of recovered patients (33.3%) showed that, after the unknown causes, pneumonia was the most common cause (24.8%). The proportion of recovered cases was reduced with increasing age. There was a significant relationship between final diagnosis and outcome (P-value= 0.01).
Conclusion
We found a lower proportion of recovery in older patients. This may negatively affect the disease outcome. Therefore, more attention should be paid to appropriate diagnosis, treatments and follow-up in these patients.

Keywords

References

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medical journal of mashhad university of medical sciences
Volume 55, Issue 3 - Serial Number 3
March and April 2012
Pages 158-163

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