Comparison of complications in elderly and non-elderly patients with neurological diseases during admission to a rehabilitation hospital

Abstract

Medical complications seen in admitted patients in a one-year period in a rehabilitation hospital were evaluated, and patients with neurological diseases were subdivided with age in order to determine trends of complications with occurred in the aged patients. Ninety-five of 117 patients (81.2%) suffered from complications, the most common were respiratory diseases, genitourinary diseases and psychoneurological diseases and events. Infectious diseases were very common throughout all ages. Significantly more cases and occasions of complications occurred in the aged patients (ages 65 or more, n = 59) than in the younger patients (aged under 65, n = 58), which suggests that complications tended to recur in the same patient in the aged group. Genitourinary diseases, especially urinary tract infection, was far more common in the aged group, predominating in women. Recurrences of stroke or poststroke epilepsy were more frequently seen in patients aged under 65. Traumas and fractures related to falls occurred more commonly in the aged group. Elderly patients were more susceptible to complications not directly related to the illness for which they were admitted. Complications occur quite commonly in aged patients admitted to our rehabilitation hospital, and careful attention should be paid to conditions unrelated to the illness causing admission, such as infectious diseases, especially for aged patients.