EFFECT OF OLD AGE ON PNEUMONIA

Introduction: Pneumonia is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in older persons. In this study, the effect of age on various parameters was investigated within a sample of pneumonia patients followed by a pulmonology clinic. Materials and Method: In this study, the age, gender, comorbidities, white blood cell counts, albumin values and sputum culture results of the patients were recorded. These patients were divided into two groups (aged 65 years or older and under 65 years), and the recorded values were statistically compared between these groups. Results: Most of the patients were older persons, and the ratio of male patients was higher than that of female patients. Most patients had one or more comorbidities. A causative pathogen of pneumonia was detected in most of the patients for whom sputum cultures could be taken. When the two age groups were compared in terms of laboratory results, significant between-group differences were found only for albumin values and C-reactive protein/albumin ratios. Conclusions: In this study, the average age of the patients diagnosed with pneumonia was high, most of them were male, and most of them had one or more comorbidities. These findings indicate that preventive health services and control of additional diseases in older patient likely play important roles in preventing bad outcomes and reducing health costs associated with pneumonia. In addition, the findings of this study indicate that albumin and C-reactive protein/albumin ratio values can be used to evaluate the course of pneumonia or the inflammatory response pneumonia causes. Keywords: Pneumonia; Aged; Sputum.