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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Use of the diagnosis "failure to thrive" in older veterans | | Author(s) | Jeanne K Hildebrand, Sandra K Joos, Melinda A Lee |
| Journal title | Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, vol 45, no 9, September 1997 |
| Pages | pp 1113-1117 |
| Keywords | Ill health ; Mental disorder ; Diagnosis ; Interpretation ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | Failure to thrive (FTT) is commonly used as a diagnosis in older patients, but clinicians have no clear diagnostic criteria or firm research to guide them. This review of veterans 65 years and older admitted to the Portland VAMC (Veterans Affairs Medical Center), Oregon, October 1990-September 1993 aimed to describe the clinical presentation, underlying aetiologies, diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, and discharge outcomes of FTT. 98% were male, mean age 76 years ± 9years. Weight loss was a key feature in 67%. Anaemia was present in 55%, low cholesterol in 50%, and low albumin in 44%. Lymphopenia was present in 66%. Most patients (83%) were admitted from home. On admission, most were dependent in at least one ADL (activity of daily living); 36% were cognitively impaired. Cancer was the most common underlying diagnosis (30%), followed by infection (18%), dehydration (13%) and depression (12%). Only 46% of subjects were discharged home, while 34% went to nursing homes. 14% died during hospitalisation, 11% within 30 days of discharge, and 30% within a year after discharge. FTT may constitute a discrete syndrome in older people, but given absence of diagnostic criteria, there is subjective variation in its application. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-981127209 A |
| Classmark | CH: E: LK7: 4CC: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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