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The Older Population And The Aged Patient, Ewald W. Busse

MCV/Q, Medical College of Virginia Quarterly

Modern medical practice requires that the physician and other members of the health team have full appreciation of the impact of disease and disability upon identifiable groups of patients and recognize how nonmedical factors affect treatment and prognosis. It is important for the physician to have some idea of the patient's socioeconomic status and the actual and potential number of patients with not only a common diagnosis, but also similarities in their living conditions. With such knowledge, the physician can be much more realistic and efficient in his therapeutic efforts. Persons 65 years of age and over are commonly referred …