[Recent psychophysical deterioration in the elderly patient: a potentially severe medical emergency. Assessment and attitudes].

An atypical presentation of diseases is common in the elderly patient. Also, a number of conditions in the elderly are commonly associated with deterioration of the functional status, that is, the independence level for daily life activities. This loss of autonomy occasionally calls the physicians attention, masking other symptoms. On the other hand, the high prevalence of social problems in the elderly adds a distorting element to the clinical evaluation of the patient. Four patients with a main complaint of recent physical and psychical deterioration are here reported. The complementary tests were inconclusive and patients were classified as social problems, thus posing the problem of home discharge. All patients were later demonstrated to have potentially severe conditions amenable to hospital admission (hypothyroidism, meningitis, arrhythmia, which prompted the implantation of a pacemaker, and digital intoxication). The recent loss of autonomy should be considered as a potentially severe medical emergency among the elderly. Failure to identify this problem may lead to minimizing the symptoms and overestimating the social problems, thus leading to inappropriate hospital discharges.