MDNews - Greater Boston

A NUMERIC A L P OR T R A I T WITH ONE IN FIVE AMERICANS FORECAST TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR MEDICARE BY 2030, THE NEED FOR SPECIALIZED GERIATRIC CARE IS POISED FOR ASTONISHING GROWTH. By Hannah Stuart Geriatric Emergency Rooms As of 2012, approximately 43 million Americans were age 65 and older, according to the CDC. The fi rst emergency room in the United States geared specifi cally to this age group opened in 2008. By early 2014, the number of geriatric emergency rooms had increased enough that standardized guidelines were released by the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American Geriatrics Society, the Emergency Nurses Association and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. Depression and the Elderly The Geriatric Mental Health Foundation estimates that clinical depression affects roughly 15 of every 100 adults over the age of 65 in the United States, including more than 50 percent of nursing home residents. Approximately 2 million cases of depression are diagnosed in adults over 65 each year, representing about 6 percent of that demographic. Often, however, depressive illness is diffi cult to diagnose in older adults because some of its symptoms — headaches, fatigue, insomnia, gastrointestinal conditions and arthritis, among others — can also be symptoms of pre-existing medical conditions. ■ REMAINING LIFE EXPECTANCY Y E A RS U . S . ME N A G E 6 5 C U R R E N T G E R I AT R I C I A N S I N T H E U N I T E D S TAT E S E S T I M AT E D G E R I AT R I C I A N S N E E D E D B Y 2 0 3 0 Y E A RS U . S . W O ME N A G E 6 5 17.8 7,500 43 30,000 20.3 MORE THAN 20 PERCENT OF OLDER ADULTS HAVE AT LEAST FIVE COEXISTING CHRONIC CONDITIONS, SUCH AS HEART DISEASE, DIABETES, ARTHRITIS, OSTEOPOROSIS AND DEMENTIA. ESTIMATED NUMBER OF U.S. ADULTS 65+ WITH CLINICAL DEPRESSION 15 / 100 PERCENTAGE OF HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS ACCOUNTED FOR BY GERIATRIC EMERGENCY PATIENTS A 22,500- PHYSICIAN GAP Geriatrics: SOURCES: CDC, THE AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF EMERGENCY PHYSICIANS M D N E W S . CO M ■ MD NEWS Greater Boston | 1 5

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