Abstract

MARTINS, Sónia Cunha; SANCHES, Ana Rita  and  CARVALHO, Margarida Sousa. Centenarians in an Internal Medicine Ward: An 11 Years Analysis. Medicina Interna [online]. 2018, vol.25, n.2, pp.95-99. ISSN 0872-671X.  https://doi.org/10.24950/rspmi/original/252/2/2018.

Introduction: The aging of the population is an inescapable reality. Recently published statistical data shows that the population aged 100 years or over has shown a strong increase in Portugal. However, there are few studies characterizing such an elderly population which almost invariably is admitted to hospital at some point. Methods: A retrospective study of patients aged 100 years or over hospitalized in the department of Internal Medicine from 01/01/2006 to 31/12/2016. Results: In the period under analysis, there were 172 admissions (< 0.4% of the total) corresponding to 130 patients. The average age was 101.1 years, with 74.4% of the patients being female. A percentage of 51.7% of the patients came from their domiciles, and the degree of dependence for daily life activities evaluated as being “totally dependent” in 60.5% of cases. Analysis of the personal histories revealed that 46.7% of patients had 2 or 3 comorbidities, with arterial hypertension, heart failure and dementia being the most prevalent. Polypharmacy was present in 41.8% of patients. Infectious pathology of the respiratory system stood out as the reason for hospitalization (57.6%) and as the direct cause of death (52.1%). A mortality rate of 41.3% was found. Conclusion: Hospital admissions for centenarian patients have been steadily increasing over the years, and these are generally associated with a worsening degree of functional dependency and, consequently, higher socioeconomic costs. This study made it possible to better characterize this population in order to adopt more appropriate responses to these hospitalizations.

Keywords : Aged, 80 and over; Comorbidity; Hospitalization; Mortality.

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