Prevalence of geriatric syndromes in elderly wards in social hospitals in the southern regions of the Kyrgyz Republic

BACKGROUND. Geriatric syndromes are fairly common clinical conditions in the elderly that do not fall into certain categories of diseases. Recently their list has expanded to include senile frailty, sarcopenia, anorexia, and cognitive impairment.

OBJECTIVE. To identify the prevalence of senile asthenia syndrome in the wards of social inpatient institutions in the southern regions of the Kyrgyz Republic using a screening questionnaire.

MATERIALS AND METHODS. Our work was carried out in social inpatient institutions of the Kyrgyz Republic. During the study, geriatric status was determined in 206 patients at these institutions. The first group of the study consisted of 144 elderly patients (60 to 74 years old), and the second group consisted of 62 elderly patients (75 to 90 years old). Using the computer program “Optimization of care in geriatrics depending on the degree of senile asthenia”, the main geriatric syndromes such as motor disorders, balance parameters, cognitive impairment; frequency and risk of malnutrition syndrome were studied. Factors related to morale and the degree of independence of the elderly in everyday life were also studied.

RESULTS. Symptoms of senile asthenia (Table 1) of various degrees were found in (95.6 ± 1.4) % of patients (n = 197); asthenia was not detected in (4.4 ± 1.4) % of subjects (n = 9). Moderate asthenia was the most common, found in (25.2 ± 3.0) % of the subjects (n = 52). Mild and severe cases had a high frequency of (24.3 ± 2.9) %; p ≥ 0.05) (n = 50) each. Senile preasthenia accounted for (15.0 ± 2.4) % of cases, (p < 0.01), (n = 31); severe asthenia accounted for (6.8 ± 2.1) % of cases, (p < 0.01), (n = 14).

Table 1. Prevalence rate of senile asthenia syndrome of different degrees of severity

Note: n is an absolute number, P ± m is the frequency of severity of senile asthenia syndrome.

The table was compiled by the authors based on their own data.

CONCLUSION. The medical contingent of the medical and sanitary unit of social inpatient institutions of the Kyrgyz Republic should take into account the results of our research when providing medical and sanitary care to the wards.