Ulcer disease among geriatric inpatients with positive faecal occult blood test and/or iron deficiency anaemia. A prospective study.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and type of lesions in the upper gastrointestinal tract and to identify characteristics associated with ulcer disease among geriatric inpatients with positive faecal occult blood test and/or iron deficiency anaemia. Two thousand five hundred and four patients aged 60-98 (mean, 82) years admitted to a geriatric clinic for rehabilitation were screened by faecal occult blood test, for B-haemoglobin, and, in a case of anaemia, analyses of serum levels of mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration, iron, and total iron-binding capacity. One hundred and seventy patients were included in the study. A high prevalence of ulcer disease (22%) was found. Significantly higher proportions of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and steroid users and of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthrosis were found among ulcer patients than among patients without ulcerative upper gastrointestinal lesions. The clinical picture of ulcer disease differed from the classic presentation: abdominal pain occurred in only 7 of 38 patients (18%), whereas appetite and weight loss and nausea/vomiting were common. It is important to be aware of the high prevalence and the clinical picture of ulcer disease among geriatric inpatients with iron deficiency anaemia and/or occult gastrointestinal bleeding.