Hospice, Palliative, and End-of-Life Care Considerations in Geriatric Urology

Geriatric patients, defined as those over 65 years of age, account for about 65% to 70% of all encounters for urologists in general clinical practice. Urology consistently ranks in the top 3 of specialties, together with ophthalmology and cardiology, in terms of the overall volume of care provided for geriatric patients. Population demographics show that the number and percentage of older adults continues to rise exponentially. In fact, those over 85 years of age currently represent the fastest growing segment of the United States population. This is a worldwide trend.