Turkish Journal of Geriatrics 2012 , Vol 15, Issue 2
COMORBID DISEASES AND DRUG USAGE AMONG GERIATRIC PATIENTS PRESENTING WITH NEUROLOGICAL PROBLEMS AT THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT
AyÅŸe Semra DEMÄ°R AKCA1, Ufuk EMRE2, Aysun ÃœNAL3, Esra ACIMAN4, Fatih AKCA5
1Karaelmas Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Aile Hekimliği Anabilim Dalı ZONGULDAK
2Karaelmas Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Nöroloji Anabilim Dalı ZONGULDAK
3Namık Kemal Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Nöroloji Anabilim Dalı TEKİRDAĞ
4Diyarbakır Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi Nöroloji Kliniği DİYARBAKIR
5Gökçebey İlçe Hastanesi Aile Hekimliği ZONGULDAK
Introduction: Our objective in this study is to determine the presenting complaints, identify the comorbid diseases and the rate of drug usage among geriatric patients admitted to the emergency service and received a diagnosis of a neurological disorder.

Materials and Method: A descriptive, and retrospective study was planned. Demographic characteristics, present diseases, use of medications, neurological diagnoses were recorded from the patients' files.

Results: Geriatric patient group constituted 58.78% of the cases. Emergency department Of the 439 patients transferred to the neurology ward 239 (54.4 %) were female and 200 (45.6%) were male. The rates of comorbid diseases were found to be as follows; hypertension 315 (71.8%), coronary artery disease 127 (28.9 %), diabetes mellitus 102 (23.2 %), history of stroke 111 (25.3%), dyslipidemia 37 (8.4%) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 35 (8.0%). 352 (80.2%) of the cases were using drug regularly.

Conclusion: Chronic diseases and associated complications drug usage and adverse effects increase by aging. Awareness of these features in the geriatric population will increase the success in the treatment and follow-up. In addition, treatment costs will be reduced. Keywords : Comorbidity; Geriatrics; Nervous System Disease