UNDERSTANDING THE PREVALENCE OF OTOLARYNGOLOGICAL PROBLEMS IN ELDERLY POPULATION

*Dr. Neelakshi Choudhury, MBBS, MS Otorhinolaryngology and Dr. Kalpana Sharma, MBBS, DLO, MS Otorhinolaryngology

ABSTRACT

Introduction: There is an emerging population of senior citizens with improving standards of living and health facilities. Objective: The objective is to study the prevalence of otolaryngological diseases in the elderly age group. Methods: This is a 5 year retrospective study of patients aged 65 years and above who had been admitted to the in patient ward of department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, Guwahati, Assam. Results: 989 patients were studied from the in patient case records available at our department. The percentage of geriatric admissions were 6.7% of the total admissions. Epistaxis was the most common presentation followed by laryngeal growth with respiratory distress and dysphagia. Anaemia, hypertension and diabetes were the most common co morbid conditions in the elderly age group. Conclusion: With improving health standards, the longevity of geriatric population has increased and so has the different systemic problems along with the age related disorders. As the life expectancy improves, the number of geriatric otolaryngologic patients will increase. Awareness of the pattern of otolaryngologic disorders in these patients will make for better management and outcome.

Keywords: Geriatric otolaryngology; epistaxis in elderly; elderly diseases; anaemia in elderly population; systemic comorbidity in elderly.