Geriatrics emphasis in physical therapy. A historical survey

The number of elderly individuals and the health care needs of elderly persons are rapidly growing. Are physical therapists interested and involved in meeting the needs of this geriatric group? One measure of physical therapists' interest is the quantity of geriatrics-related articles that appear in our profession's journal. The purpose of this study was to conduct a historical review of the number of geriatrics-related articles published in Physical Therapy. All articles indexed under "geriatrics" between January 1921 and June 1987 were identified and categorized in five-year time intervals to assess trends over time. Geriatrics-indexed articles generally appeared infrequently in the Journal, averaging one article every two years. All Physical Therapy articles published between January 1980 and June 1987 were read to determine whether they exhibited a geriatrics orientation. An average of six geriatrically oriented articles appeared in the Journal annually (about 5% of all articles annually). An increased number of geriatrics articles appeared in the Journal between 1980 and 1987. An imbalance clearly exists when an age group that comprises 25% of our patient population receives attention in only 5% of the Journal articles. As a profession, we must examine our attitudes toward and perceptions about elderly persons if we are to address their needs responsibly.