How aging related frailty will influence the quality of care. Results from a 15-year follow-up of 70-year-old people in Gothenburg, Sweden.
This report exemplifies how aging in itself, frailty, and morbidity influence need of quality of care in the age interval 70-85 according to results obtained at the study of representative samples of elderly in Gothenburg, Sweden. A significant proportion of the elderly in the age interval 70-79 were lacking symptoms due to definable disease, which made possible studies of "normal aging" and a differentiation of manifestations of aging from symptoms of disease in the elderly. Usage of such knowledge is essential for the improvement of quality of care. The trainability of older people was generally good. Much more can be done to reactivate the older patient after episodes of acute disease. "Long-term care" should be considered as programs differentiated according to the need; shorter more active or longer forms of "long-term care." Many frail elderly need longer periods of reactivation than available in hospitals. Certain risk factors precipitate into functional decline only when we are old. Preventive/postponing measures are relevant also for the elderly.
Svanborg
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Department of Medicine, University of Illinois, Chicago.
D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016330:Frail Elderly; D005853:Geriatrics / Q000592:standards*; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008134:Long-Term Care / Q000592:standards; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000592:standards; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000592:standards; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013548:Sweden; D014505:Urban Population