Serious health problems are often forgotten in older adults

Nearly half of adults aged 65 and over have at least two of the following symptoms: pain, fatigue, depression, anxiety, breathing difficulties, and sleep problems. And one in four seniors has three or more.

But a new study reveals that clinicians often forget about these symptoms and the more serious health problems they can possibly predict, as patients only discuss one symptom per visit.

The results are published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

"Our study shows that multiple symptoms are common among older adults and increase the risk of adverse health consequences over time, such as falls and hospitalization," said Dr. Kushang Patel, lead author pain medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

The national study included 7,609 Medicare beneficiaries in the United States. The researchers badessed participants' annual physical performance over a six-year period and tracked falls, disabilities, hospitalizations, nursing home admissions, and mortality.

The study defined "symptoms" as negative experiences related to health, reported by patients but not observed by clinicians. Symptoms explain most outpatient visits and are among the leading causes of disability, the researchers said.

And while many symptoms can be attributed to a specific disease or condition, such as chest pain with heart disease, they often have multiple causes and may reinforce each other.

For example, when older patients ask to see a provider for pain control, they may also be tired and have trouble sleeping, Patel said. In fact, these three symptoms are the most common triad, affecting 4.7 million older Americans, researchers report.

"Our results indicate that the clinician should take into account the overall burden of symptoms, as this could have an impact that would not only appear when one would treat illnesses and symptoms individually, one by one," said Patel.

"For many seniors, the symptoms often prevent them from carrying out their daily activities. Treating the symptoms gives clinicians the opportunity to identify the patient's goals and priorities, which can then help guide treatment decisions. "

But that does not mean that all Americans will have symptoms as they age. A quarter of older Americans have none of these symptoms, Patel said.

But for nearly 50% of older Americans who suffer from two or more symptoms, the paper is a call to action on how health care is provided to seniors, according to an accompanying editorial. .

Patel hopes the new study will contribute to efforts to improve integrated and patient-centered care for vulnerable seniors.

Source: University of Washington Health Sciences / UW Medicine

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