The importance of diagnostic procedures to ensure quality of health care in geriatric medicine. Examples from recent studies.

Abstract

Within the health care of the elderly with prevention, diagnosis, therapy, rehabilitation, nursing care and social service, diagnostic procedures are of great importance to avoid under- and over-diagnosis. Many diagnostic difficulties exist in elderly patients such as changed reference values, changed normal values and changed signs and symptoms. Well-known examples of conditions which are likely to be under-diagnosed include depression and urinary incontinence. Examples are given from the cardiopulmonary field where e.g. dyspnoea showed to be very common, but in only 36% of males and 52% in females related to cardiac failure or pulmonary disease. The most common symptom of acute myocardial infarction in elderly patients was shown to be dyspnoea, whereas chest pain occurred in only one fifth of the cases. In another study of patients with ulcer disease loss of appetite and weight, nausea and anemia were more common than abdominal pain and heartburn. In peritonitis patients, abdominal pain was observed in only just more than half of the cases and guarding and/or abdominal rigidity in about one third. In patients with suspect age dementia a detailed investigation showed the prevalence of organic dementia to be 89% whereas 3% had treatable dementia and 8% non-dementia conditions. In geriatric long-term patients the mean hearing loss in the speech area was about 50 dB, in spite of the fact that only about 10% of the patients had hearing aids. The need for nursing diagnosis is also obvious. It is concluded that a detailed multidisciplinary diagnostic investigation procedure is very important in geriatric medicine.