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E-ISSN: 2651-2661 ISSN: 2651-2653
Difficulties on follow-up of rheumatologic diseases in geriatric patients
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Clinical Research Article
VOLUME: 9 ISSUE: 0
P: 1-5
December 2017

Difficulties on follow-up of rheumatologic diseases in geriatric patients

J Turk Soc Rheumatol 2017;9(0):1-5
DOI: 10.2399/raed.17.21939
Neslihan Yılmaz 1
Banu Özulu Türkmen 2
Mehtap Üçer 3
Aslı Çurgunlu 2
Şule Yavuz 1
1. İstanbul Bilim Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Romatoloji Bilim Dalı, İstanbul
2. İstanbul Bilim Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Geriatri Bilim Dalı, İstanbul
3. İstanbul Bilim Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, İç Hastalıkları Anabilim Dalı, İstanbul
No information available.
No information available
Received Date: 23.03.2017
Accepted Date: 22.08.2017
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ABSTRACT

Objective:

Musculoskeletal disorders are one of the most common problems in elderly and also an important cause of morbidity. The aim of our study is define characteristics of rheumatic problems in the elderly.

Methods:

In this study, patients with a diagnosis of rheumatologic diseases over 65 years of age and followed between 2013 and 2017 were retrospectively evaluated.

Results:

A total of 148 patients (female: 105, male: 43) were included to our study. The mean age was 75.3±6.5 years. Rheumatoid arthritis was identified as the most frequent rheumatologic disease in this group. All patients had at least one concommittant disease and the most common were hypertension and osteoporosis. Patients has long-term follow-up were evaluated seperately for drug side effects. In this subgroup; almost all patients were using corticosteroids (87/90, 96.6%) and synthetic disease modifying drugs (DMARDs) (85/90, 94.4%) and, a small number of patients (9/90, 10%) were treated with biological drugs. We observed severe infection in 3, hyperglisemia in 7 and myopathy in 1 patients due to steroids. Severe gastrointestinal bleeding was observed in 1 patient using non-steroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID). Only mild side effects, recovering after reducing the dose or changing the drug, were determined due to synthetic DMARDs.

Conclusion:

Rheumatoid arthritis was found to be the most common elderly onset inflammatory rheumatologic disease. Choosing the appropriate treatment option can be difficult due to comorbidities in geriatric patients. The most significant side effects were observed in high dose corticosteroid and NSAIDs usage. However, in study group synthetic DMARDs were generally well tolerated.