Morbilidad y mortalidad geriátricas en el Hospital San Juan de Dios de Bogotá

Abstract

In order to establish the main characteristics and features of the patients over 65 years of age seen at the Hospital San Juan de Dios of Bogotá, Colombia, 632 medical records were restrospectively reviewed. The mean age of the patients was 73.1 years. The commonest entity was cerebrovascular disease (8.2%). However, if all the diseases of the cardiovascular system are added up in a single group, they represent 14% of the pathology in these patients; that is, the commonest pathology. Total mortality was 8.9%; cerebro-vas cular disease and heart failure, each with 12 cases, were the two leading causes. The third cause of death was sepsis. It was found a direct relationship between age and length of hospital stay; the average hospital stay for this group of patients was 15.9 days. The authors conclude that it is necessary to promote clinical research in this population group.