Cardiovascular diseases in the elderly in a consultant outpatient cardiac clinic

The incidence of cardiovascular disease increases with age, and visits by elderly patients to the outpatient cardiac clinic are becoming more frequent.

To characterize cardiovascular pathologies of patients 70 years of age and over who visit the outpatient cardiac clinic.

We investigated cardiovascular pathologies, risk factors, and medications in new patients over a 2 month period.

The study population comprised 290 patients: 139 (47.9%) were older than 70 years. Among the cardiovascular pathologies, aortic stenosis, angina pectoris, congestive heart failure, s/p coronary artery bypass graft, and stroke were more frequent in the elderly patients than in those under age 70. Among the risk factors for ischemic heart disease, only hypertension was more frequent in the elderly population, whereas fewer in this group were active smokers. The mean number of medications administered was 3.51 +/- 1.63 among the elderly patients compared to 1.99 +/- 1.7 among the younger ones (P = 0.0001). Beta-blockers were the most frequently used cardiovascular drugs both in the elderly (59.7%) and in the younger patients (43%) (P = 0.0046).

Patients over age 70 represent about half the visits in our outpatient clinic. Their multiple cardiovascular pathologies and therapeutic requirements raise the issue of developing the cardiology service to meet the special needs of geriatric patients.