The Older Population and the Aged Patient

Modern medical practice requires that the physician and other members of the health team have full appreciation of the impact of disease and disability upon identifiable groups of patients and recognize how nonmedical factors affect treatment and prognosis. It is important for the physician to have some idea of the patient\u27s socioeconomic status and the actual and potential number of patients with not only a common diagnosis, but also similarities in their living conditions. With such knowledge, the physician can be much more realistic and efficient in his therapeutic efforts. Persons 65 years of age and over are commonly referred to as the older population. Brotman (1968) recently identified the special characteristics of those 75 years of age and over, referring to these people as the aged. This subdividing of the older population is of considerable value, as the important health and socioeconomic facts common to a specific group can be lost in the mass of the older population