Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Annals of Surgery logoLink to Annals of Surgery
. 1988 Apr;207(4):380–386. doi: 10.1097/00000658-198804000-00003

Surgical procedures among those greater than or equal to 90 years of age. A population-based study in Olmsted County, Minnesota, 1975-1985.

M A Warner 1, M P Hosking 1, C M Lobdell 1, K P Offord 1, L J Melton 3rd 1
PMCID: PMC1493434  PMID: 3258506

Abstract

Persons greater than or equal to 90 years of age represent a rapidly growing subset of the population, but little data exist on their utilization of the health care system. Population-based data capabilities of the Rochester/Olmsted County Epidemiology Project were used to study the performance of surgery among persons greater than or equal to 90 years of age for the 11-year period, 1975-1985. During this time, 224 residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota underwent 301 separate operations. The annual operation rate increased over the course of the study (trend test, p less than 0.001), reaching a plateau of 89.0 per 1000 person-years. This suggests a potential for nearly 91,000 operations annually in this age group based on 1987 U.S. Census estimates. Ninety-two per cent were discharged from the hospital alive, and 5-year survival was consistent with that expected (23% vs. 17%). Increased longevity of the general population, combined with increased performance of surgery in this rapidly growing segment of the population, may have significant implications for health care planning.

Full text

PDF
380

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Denney J. L., Denson J. S. Risk of surgery in patients over 90. Geriatrics. 1972 Jan;27(1):115–118. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Kurland L. T., Molgaard C. A. The patient record in epidemiology. Sci Am. 1981 Oct;245(4):54–63. doi: 10.1038/scientificamerican1081-54. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Marx G. F., Mateo C. V., Orkin L. R. Computer analysis of postanesthetic deaths. Anesthesiology. 1973 Jul;39(1):54–58. doi: 10.1097/00000542-197307000-00010. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Melton L. J., 3rd Selection bias in the referral of patients and the natural history of surgical conditions. Mayo Clin Proc. 1985 Dec;60(12):880–885. doi: 10.1016/s0025-6196(12)64794-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Owens W. D., Felts J. A., Spitznagel E. L., Jr ASA physical status classifications: a study of consistency of ratings. Anesthesiology. 1978 Oct;49(4):239–243. doi: 10.1097/00000542-197810000-00003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Relman A. S. Determining how much medical care we need. N Engl J Med. 1980 Nov 27;303(22):1292–1293. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198011273032209. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Torrey B. B. Sharing increasing costs on declining income: the visible dilemma of the invisible aged. Milbank Mem Fund Q Health Soc. 1985 Spring;63(2):377–394. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Vacanti C. J., VanHouten R. J., Hill R. C. A statistical analysis of the relationship of physical status to postoperative mortality in 68,388 cases. Anesth Analg. 1970 Jul-Aug;49(4):564–566. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. WHITE K. L., WILLIAMS T. F., GREENBERG B. G. The ecology of medical care. N Engl J Med. 1961 Nov 2;265:885–892. doi: 10.1056/NEJM196111022651805. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Annals of Surgery are provided here courtesy of Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins

RESOURCES