Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Porto, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Largo Professor Abel Salazar, 4100-099, Porto, Portugal.
Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Fernando Pessoa, Porto, Portugal.
Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2023 Jan;280(1):461-467. doi: 10.1007/s00405-022-07641-y. Epub 2022 Sep 12.
To determine the main symptoms leading to referral of geriatric patients from primary care to otorhinolaryngology.
Retrospective, observational study performed on patients aged 65 and older, referred from Primary Care to the Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery department of a tertiary centre during 2019 and 2020. Symptoms leading to otorhinolaryngological referral were categorized as "Oto-neurological symptoms", "Nasal symptoms", "Pharyngolaryngeal symptoms", "Other Head and Neck symptoms" and "Other Reasons". Data regarding age, gender and whether patients maintain follow-up or have been discharged was also collected.
The study population included a total of 1304 patients (697 female; 607 male). Oto-neurological symptoms were found to be the most prevalent symptoms, with 65% of patients reporting oto-neurological symptoms as at least one of the reasons for referral. Hearing loss was the most commonly reported symptom, with an association found between this symptom and age (p < 0.001). Results also showed an association between the female gender and vertigo/dizziness (p < 0.001) and tinnitus (p = 0.007). An association between the male gender and nasal symptoms was also found (p = 0.018), particularly nasal obstruction (p = 0.003) and epistaxis (p = 0.028). No statistically significant associations were found among the pharyngolaryngeal group.
This retrospective observational study allowed for a better understanding of the type of otorhinolaryngological symptoms affecting elderly patients and driving otorhinolaryngology evaluation, cementing hearing loss as one of the major complaints among older adults and allowing for a better preparation by otorhinolaryngologists for the changing needs of this subset of the population.
确定导致老年患者从初级保健转诊至耳鼻喉科的主要症状。
回顾性观察性研究，纳入 2019 年至 2020 年期间从初级保健转诊至三级中心耳鼻喉科和头颈外科的 65 岁及以上患者。将导致耳鼻喉科转诊的症状分为“耳神经症状”、“鼻部症状”、“咽喉症状”、“其他头颈部症状”和“其他原因”。还收集了有关年龄、性别以及患者是否保持随访或已出院的数据。
研究人群共包括 1304 名患者（697 名女性；607 名男性）。耳神经症状是最常见的症状，65%的患者报告至少有一种耳神经症状是转诊的原因之一。听力损失是最常见的症状，与年龄之间存在关联（p<0.001）。结果还显示，女性与眩晕/头晕（p<0.001）和耳鸣（p=0.007）之间存在关联。还发现男性与鼻部症状之间存在关联（p=0.018），特别是鼻塞（p=0.003）和鼻出血（p=0.028）。咽喉症状组之间未发现统计学显著关联。
这项回顾性观察性研究使我们更好地了解了影响老年患者的耳鼻喉科症状类型以及导致耳鼻喉科评估的原因，证实听力损失是老年人的主要主诉之一，并使耳鼻喉科医生更好地为这部分人群不断变化的需求做好准备。
