Elderly Patient Trends in a Chronic Mental Hospital and Accompanying Medical Diseases

Ju, Sae Han; Kim, Shin Kyum; Byun, Won Tan; Jung, Bong Joo; Park, Young Min; Seo, Jae Won; Kim, Se Hoon

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
It investigated the tendency of the increase of elderly patients in a psychiatric hospital. In this regard, it examined whether the number of patients with outpatient consultant, discharge, medical diseases, and neurocognitive disorder increased or not.
METHODS
It retrospectively reviewed inpatient medical records for the years 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017. To investigate the changes of elderly patients admitted to psychiatry, it examined the changes of patients who are older than 50 or 60 years in addition to the people who are older than 65 years. It analyzed diagnosis, discharge, medical diseases, and outpatient consultant of the three groups respectively.
RESULTS
It confirmed that the number of elderly patients who are older than 50, 60, and 65 years has increased in mental hospital for 10 years. There was a significant increase in the number of neurocognitive disorder patients, the ratio of consultant outpatient, and the mean number of outpatient consultant. Diabetes increased in all three groups. Especially it has significantly increased for patients who are older than 50 and 60 years. In the case of patients discharged due to transfer, the number of patients increased in all three groups but it was statistically significant for the patients who are older than 50 years.
CONCLUSION
The study shows that the number of elderly patients increased with the trend of aging society. In relation to this, the rate of outpatient consultant and discharge, including diabetic and dementia patients, also increased. Therefore, if the mental health department provides a system to manage the elderly ward or nursing ward to respond to the increase of elderly patients, or to manage the accompanying chronic diseases such as diabetes and its complications, it could solve the inconvenience of patients due to the consultation outside a hospital or discharge.