A Survey of Geriatric Hospitalization due to Infectious Diseases

Background and Infections are responsible for 30% of deaths in geriatric population. This study was conducted to investigate the epidemiology, etiology, and clinical and laboratory findings in geriatrics hospitalized due to infectious diseases.
In this descriptive study, the records of patients over 65 years of age who were admitted to Razi Hospital (during 2012 -2013) have been studied. Data was collected including personal information, clinical findings, laboratory findings, and diagnoses. Data was then analyzed in SPSS V.16 applying t-test and Chi-square.
A total of 447 patients’ records was investigated. The patients were 239 males (53.5%). The mean age of the patients was 77.82 ± 6.77 years. The most common presenting complaints of patients were cough, sputum, and fever. Pneumonia was found to be the most common diagnosis (39.14%), followed by skin and soft tissue infections (8.9%). Among the cases, 65.3% had an underlying disease. Diabetes was the most common underlying disease in 19% of the patients.
Due to the increasing number of geriatric people, screening of predisposing factors to infectious diseases such as diabetes and kidney failure are necessary. Also, awareness of the most common and major symptoms of the involved organs could be of great benefit in making a quick diagnosis and appropriate treatments and reducing the rate of fatalities in this population.