Investigation of geriatric syndromes in very elderly people in Beijing community / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the geriatric syndromes in the very elderly people in Beijing community,in order to provide the basis for management of geriatric syndromes and rational use of medical resources.Methods All community-dwelling residents aged 95 years and over living in Haidian district and some residents aged 85 years and over living in Haidian,Chaoyang and Xicheng districts were investigated in household in Beijing.The survey included the general condition,functional status and geriatric syndromes such as falls,senile urinary incontinence,chronic pain syndrome,chronic constipation and malnutrition occurrence.Results 336 seniors with the mean age of (96.0± 3.0) years were investigated.The percentage of people who had falls within 1 year,chronic pain,and chronic constipation was 27.2％ (88/324),37.3％ (122/327) and 47.6％ (160/336) respectively.The incidence of urinary incontinence was 37.1％ (118/318),with 33.3 ％ (46/138) in males and 40.0％ (72/180) in females,and there was no significant gender difference in the incidence of urinary incontinence (P=0.220).The incidences of malnutrition and malnutrition risks was 10.4％ (31/299) and 50.5％ (151/299).37.2％ of subjects could walk outdoor with a better physical function.The self-rated health satisfaction was lower in elderly people with malnutrition and urinary incontinence than in subjects without those diseases (40.0％ vs.70.4％,34.0％ vs.64.6％,x2 =25.20,25.30,both P＜0.001).26％ of them had never heard of geriatrics.Conclusions Geriatric syndromes are common in community-dwelling older seniors.It is urgent to spread the geriatric knowledge and set a reasonable goal for diagnosis and treatment in the seniors.