Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Intensive Care in the Elderly

  • Chapter
Intensive and Critical Care Medicine

  • 1820 Accesses

Abstract

The ageing demographic in developing countries provides an unprecedented challenge for practitioners of Intensive Care Medicine (ICM). Over 10 years ago Callahan stated: “The future goal of medicine in the care of the aged should be that of improving the quality of their lives, not seeking ways to extend their lives. In its long standing ambition to forestall death, medicine has, in the care of the aged, reached its last frontier” [1].

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Callahan D (1988) Aging and the ends of medicine. Ann New York Acad Sciences 530:125–132

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Quinlan N (2008) “Older” or “elderly”? Are medical journals sensitive to the wishes of older people? J Am Geriat Soc 56:1983

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. World Health Organization definition of an older or elderly person. [Online] Available from: http://www.who.int/healthinfo/survey/ageingdefnolder/en/index.html. [Accessed 10th March 2008]

    Google Scholar 

  4. Roebuck J (1979) When does “Old age begin?”: The evolution of the English definition. J Social History 12:416–428

    Google Scholar 

  5. Nemmers T (2005) The influence of ageism and ageist stereotypes on the elderly. J Physical Occupational Ther Geriatrics 22:11–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. McDonald P (2008) The multigenerational workforce. Internal Auditor 65:60–67

    Google Scholar 

  7. Kalache A (1999) Active ageing makes the difference. Curr Opin Psychiatr 12:449–450

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Bowling A (2007) Honour your father and mother: Ageism in medicine. Brit J Gen Pract 57(538):347–348

    Google Scholar 

  9. Piercy K (2007) Characteristics of strong commitments to intergenerational family care of older adults. J Gerontol 62B:S381–387

    Google Scholar 

  10. American Geriatrics Society Core Writing Group of the Task Force on the Future of Geriatric Medicine (2005) Caring for older Americans: the future of geriatric medicine. J Am Geriatr Soc 53:S245–S256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Sawhney R, Sehl M, Naeim A (2005) Physiologic aspects of aging: impact on cancer management and decision making, part 1. Cancer J 11:449–460

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Ritz P (2000) Physiology of aging with respect to gastrointestinal, circulatory and immune system changes and their significance for energy and protein metabolism. Eur J Clin Nutrition 54:S21–S25

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Prendergast H, Jurivich D, Edison M et al (2008) Preparing the front line for the increase in the aging population: geriatric curriculum development for an Emergency Medicine Residency Program. J Emerg Med (epub)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Westmoreland G, Counsell S, Sennour Y et al (2009) Improving medical student attitudes toward older patients through a “council of elders” and reflective writing experience. J Am Geriatr Soc 57:315–320

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Cohen E (2001) The complex nature of ageism: What is it? Who does it? Who perceives it? Gerontologist 41:576–577

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. John S, Koelmeyer T (2001) The forensic pathology of nonagenarians and centenarians. Do they die of old age? Am J Forensic Med Pathol 22:150–154

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Boumendil A, Somme D, Garrouste-Orgeas M, Guidet B (2007) Should elderly patients be admitted to the intensive care unit? Intensive Care Med 33:1252–1262

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Schwartz W, Seidler A (1997) Typology of disease in old age — Consequences for preventive concepts. Z Gerontol Geriatr 30:10–17

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Shannon M, Lehman C (1996) Protecting the skin of the elderly patient in the intensive care unit. Crit Care Nursing Clinics North Am 8:17–28

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Angus D, Barnato A, Linde-Zwirble W et al (2004) Use of intensive care at the end of life in the United States: an epidemiologic study. Crit Care Med 32:638–643

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Levin P, Sprung C (2006) Intensive care triage — The hardest rationing decision of them all. Crit Care Med 34:1250–1251

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. de Rooij S, Abu-Hanna A, Levi M, de Jonge W (2007) Identification of high-risk subgroups in very elderly intensive care unit patients. Crit Care 11:R33

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Escher M, Perneger T, Chevrolet J (2004) National questionnaire survey on what influences doctors’ decisions about admission to intensive care. BMJ 329:425

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Sprung C, Woodcock T, Sjokvist P, et al. (2008) reasons, considerations, difficulties and documentation of end-of-life decisions in European intensive care units: The ETHICUS Study. Intensive Care Med 34:271–277

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Hubbard R, Lyons R, Woodhouse K et al (2003) Absence of ageism in access to critical care: a cross-sectional study. Age Ageing 32:382–397

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Original data from the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society (ANZICS) Database (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Hennessy D, Juzwishin K, Yergens D et al (2005) Outcomes of elderly survivors of intensive care. Chest 127:1764–1774

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Evans R (1983) Health care technology and the inevitability of resource allocation and rationing decisions, Part I. JAMA 249:2208–2219

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Tsuchiya A, Dolan P, Shaw R (2003) Measuring people’s preferences regarding ageism in health: some methodological issues and some fresh evidence. Soc Sci Med 57:687–696

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Lloyd C, Nietert P, Silvestri G (2004) Intensive care decision making in the seriously ill and elderly. Crit Care Med 32:649–654

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Goold S (1996) Allocating health care: cost-utility analysis, informed democratic decision making, or the veil of ignorance? J Health Polit Policy Law 21:69–98

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Shalowitz D, Garrett-Mayer E, Wendler D (2006) The accuracy of surrogate decision makers: a systematic review. Arch Intern Med 166:493–497

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Jacobson T (2006) Overcoming “ageism” bias in the treatment of hypercholesterolaemia: a review of safety issues with statins in the elderly. Drug Safety 29:421–448

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Iversen A, Jensen J, Scharling H, Schnohr P (2009) Hypercholesterolaemia and risk of coronary heart disease in the elderly: impact of age. The Copenhagen City Heart Study. Eur J Intern Med 20:139–144

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Jolobe O (2008) Intensity of anticoagulation in octogenerians with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. JAGS 56:1967–1968

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Wong D, Lurie F, Wong L (2008) The effects of clopidogrel on elderly traumatic brain injured patients. J Trauma 65:1303–1308

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Kirsch M, Vrabec G, Marley R et al (2004) Preinjury warfarin and geriatric orthopedic trauma patients: a case-matched study. J Trauma 57:1230–1233

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Asher W (1972) Chapter 10 The dangers of going to bed. In: Talking sense. Pitman Medical, London, pp 119–123

    Google Scholar 

  39. Morris P, Herridge M (2007) Early intensive care unit mobility: future directions. Crit Care Clinics 23:97–110

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Caplan G, Meller A, Squires B et al (2006) Advance care planning and hospital in the nursing home. Age Ageing 35:581–585

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Intensive Care Unit, Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, Sydney, Australia

    C. Foot & M. Fisher

Authors
  1. C. Foot
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. Fisher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department and School of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Catania School of Medicine and University-Hospital, Catania, Italy

    Antonino Gullo

  2. Department of Anesthesiology, Keck Medical School, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Philip D. Lumb

  3. Department of Critical Care Medicine, Hospital Centro Medico de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela

    José Besso

  4. World Federation of Critical Care Nurses C/-Nursing Administration, Gold Coast Health, Southport, Queensland, Australia

    Ged F. Williams

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer-Verlag Italia

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Foot, C., Fisher, M. (2009). Intensive Care in the Elderly. In: Gullo, A., Lumb, P.D., Besso, J., Williams, G.F. (eds) Intensive and Critical Care Medicine. Springer, Milano. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-1436-7_37

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-1436-7_37

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Milano

  • Print ISBN: 978-88-470-1435-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-88-470-1436-7

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation