Urological hospitalization reasons and outcomes of octogenarians and nonagenarians: does age really matter?

Purpose: Since some urological diseases are age-dependent, these patients are admitted to urology wards for treatment more frequently as an inevitable result of aging. In this study, the urological hospitalization reasons and outcomes patients in octogenarian and nonagenarian age groups were evaluated in comparison with younger adult patients.

Methods: After examining a total of 5615 urology ward admissions of individuals aged 18-99 years, we included 443 (7.7%) patients aged 80-89 years in the octogenarian group and 32 (0.6%) patients in the nonagenarian group. Ten percent of the remaining 5150 adults were randomly selected to form the control group.

Results: The mean ages of the control, octogenarian, and nonagenarian groups were 55.4 ± 16, 83.3 ± 2.6, and 91.9 ± 1.8 years, respectively. The most frequent reasons for the hospitalization were a history of or active bladder tumors in the octogenarian and nonagenarian groups [117 (38.5%) and 3 (21.4%), respectively]. The incidences of any complication in the control, octogenarian, and nonagenarian groups were 61 (12.2%), 63 (15.7%), and 12 (42.9%), respectively. Mortality was seen in five (1%) patients in the control group, 11 (2.5%) in the octogenarians, and five (15.6%) in the nonagenarians. The complication and mortality rates of the nonagenarian group were statistically significantly higher than the remaining two groups (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Due to additional problems that increase with aging, the urology hospitalizations of octogenarian and nonagenarian patients result in more complications. Mortality rates also increase with age. It is aimed to contribute to the literature by revealing the needs and outcomes of octogenarian and nonagenarian patients in the urology clinic.