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[DERMATOLOGICAL DISEASES IN ELDERLY HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS IN THE GALILEE MEDICAL CENTER - COMPARISON BETWEEN TWO AGE GROUPS].

INTRODUCTION
Although dermatologic conditions bring relatively few people to the Emergency Department, hospitalized patients, especially older people, often suffer from skin problems that contribute to their morbidity.


AIMS
We wanted to identify the frequency, clinical course, treatment and influence on hospitalization of dermatologic conditions in patients hospitalized in internal and geriatric departments in Galilee Medical Center. We concentrated on two groups of adults, aged 40-65 years (adult group) and above 65 years (elderly group), in order to understand differences in the cause of referral, type of diagnosis and mode of treatment.


METHODS
We performed a retrospective review of 82 hospitalized patients who were referred for dermatological consultation between May-September 2013. Of the 82 patients, 47.6% made up the 'adult' group and 52.4% the 'elderly' group; 62.2% of patients were independent, 18.3% partially independent and 19.5% needed nursing care.


RESULTS
Skin infections (38.3%), allergy (mostly drug induced) (23.5%) and trophic disorders (18.5%) were the most common diagnoses. 'Elderly' were less often referred to dermatological consultation than 'adults' (44.3% vs. 55.7%, respectively); skin infections were more common in the 'elderly' (44.8% vs. 55.7%). Nursing care patients (19.5%) were least referred to dermatological consultation, but severity of skin condition (the number of diagnoses and number of treatments per patient) was greater in nursing care patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The clinical course between the independent and nursing care patients varies in the number of requests, the different type of diagnoses, the severity of the conditions and the number of treatments provided.


DISCUSSION
Our study emphasizes the importance of skin examination by a dermatologist, considering the high number of referrals for dermatological consultations. On the other hand, there was a significant difference between the 'elderly' and 'adult' groups, with fewer referrals for dermatological consultations by the medical staff in the 'elderly' group. Our results resemble those in the literature, having identified the most common skin problems in two groups of hospitalized patients.