Clinical profile of geriatric patients in medical wards at a rural tertiary care hospital in South India

Background: Health problems associated with ageing are multiple and sparse data are available on this topic from India. Methods: We carried out an observational study in 200 of geriatric patients (age ?60 years) at our medical college teaching hospital at Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh during the period November 2012 and October 2013. Results: Most patients (31%) were in age group 65-69 years. The most common disease conditions noted were hypertension (49%), diabetes mellitus (47%), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (37%). Majority of the patients (82.5%) had more than one co-morbid condition. Conclusions: Cardiovascular and respiratory diseases are important causes for hospital admission in geriatric patients. The majority of cases had three or more diagnoses necessitating admission contributing to higher disease burden in the elderly.