Acute care of patients aged 95 to 99 years: experience in a community teaching hospital

People older than 90 years represent an increasing segment of the US population, but little information exists on their hospitalization for acute illness.

We retrospectively analyzed the clinical characteristics of patients aged 95 through 99 years admitted during 1 year to a large teaching hospital.

Of 43 patients admitted at least once, 14 were admitted twice, 6 were admitted three times, and 1 was admitted four times; 35 (81%) were women, and 8 (19%) were men. Patients admitted more than once took a mean of 6.8 +/- 3.3 drugs compared with 4.4 +/- 2.6 drugs for patients admitted only once. Routine laboratory values were typically normal or mildly abnormal. Mean hospitalization was 5.6 +/- 3.5 days. Only 2 patients (5%) died. All 11 patients with a recent fall were discharged to a long-term nursing facility, compared with only 18 of 30 patients without a recent fall.

Patients aged 95 through 99 years generally have a favorable prognosis when hospitalized for an acute medical condition. However, patients with a recent fall are more likely to require placement in a long-term nursing facility, and patients taking six or more drugs on admission are more likely to be rehospitalized within 12 months.