Post by Lαrα on Jul 12, 2015 1:34:33 GMT -8
I remember when I was at college and carrying out a social study on the issues around an increasingly ageing population. The strain on resources on local authorities and lack of adequate care etc.
Many older people want to remain in their own homes and are out of the radar of the authorities, many have 'old' children who are unable to care for their relatives.
Due to individuals trying to stay independent there is a significant amount of falls happening in this age group and many are causing Spinal Cord Injury. Sadly, the will to keep their independence isnt matching their physical capability.
There has been research carried out that has identified that the older the individual is, the less likely they are to be given surgery as a younger person would.
Dr. Henry Ahn
The number of people with traumatic spinal cord injuries over age 70 is increasing, and it’s projected that people in this age group will make up the majority of new spinal cord injuries, mostly from falls. Most spinal cord injuries now occur in people between the ages of 16 and 30.
These patients were more likely to have fallen compared with younger patients (83.1 per cent vs. 37.4 per cent) and to have a longer stay in an acute care hospital, according to the paper published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Younger patients were more likely to have severe injuries resulting in paralysis below the trauma site whereas older patients had less severe injuries.
The time between injury to arrival at an acute care centre was about twice as long for older patients than younger patients. Once admitted, older patients also waited about twice as long for surgery as younger patients
.
“These delays may be due to delays in recognizing the less severe injuries in seniors or they may reflect a potential age related therapeutic bias,” said study author Dr. Henry Ahn.
Older patients were also significantly more likely to die from a traumatic spinal cord injury than younger people.
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