TITLE:
Characteristics of Associated Diseases in Older Patients with Cardiovascular Disease
AUTHORS:
Shrooq S. Alyami, Abrar Algharbi, Salem Alsuwaidan
KEYWORDS:
Cardiovascular Disease, Elderly, Comorbidities, Associated Disease
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Aging Research,
Vol.11 No.6,
November
24,
2022
ABSTRACT: Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) affects the
heart and blood vessels. Older people are considerably more likely to suffer
from a heart attack or stroke or to develop coronary heart disease (commonly
called heart disease) and heart failure than younger people. Caring for older
patients with cardiac conditions is markedly different from caring for younger
patients with the same diagnosis. Objective: This study aimed to explore the characteristics and prevalence
of CVD and its associated comorbidities in older patients. Methods: This study reviewed the medical files of
all patients aged 65 years and older with CVD. Data such as sociodemographic
characteristics and CVD findings were collected from 1614 patients with CVD.
Design and Setting: Single-center retrospective cross-sectional study. Subjects: Almost two-thirds (1044, 64.7%) of the
patients were male, and one-third (570, 35.3%) were female; all had various
comorbidities. Results: Two main comorbidities associated with CVD were
hypertension (HTN) (1092, 67.7%) and diabetes mellitus (DM) (927, 57.4%). The
mean number of comorbidities associated with CVD was 2.61 (±1.1 SD), with a
higher average in males than in females (2.74 [±1.07] vs. 2.54 [±1.06]). Conclusion: Up to six associated comorbidities were
found in older patients with CVD, mostly with three comorbidities per patient.
Males accounted for two-thirds of the overall study population. HTN and
diabetes mellitus were the main CVD-associated comorbidities. Furthermore,
almost 95.2 patients were reduced every 5 years of age progression.