[The elderly patient at the General Hospital of Santo António. Analysis of one year of admissions].

A retrospective analysis was made on 3850 elderly patients who were admitted to the Santo António General Hospital during one year. There were 2029 women and 1821 men. Their mean age was 74 years. They represented 16.4% of the totality of the patients admitted in the same period of time at the same hospital. The main diagnosis presented on each discharge register was made according to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Injuries and Causes of Death, 9th Revision. For each of the 17 groups of diagnosis found and for the total group were drawn: number of cases, sex, mean age, the average length of stay, mortality and Departments they were admitted to. The circulatory diseases were the most frequent (24.4%). The average length of stay was 15 days. The mortality was 14.1%. The elderly patients represented about 30% of the admissions to the Departments of Internal Medicine, Cardiology, Vascular Surgery, Ophthalmology and Urology. The results were interpreted and some ideas about future medical care for this group of patients are presented.