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Physical examination plays an integral role in the patient’s diagnosis, whereby the correct diagnosis in the patient is reached through a conglomeration of the examination findings with the detailed history collected from the patient. The diagnosis obtained is then confirmed through a detailed laboratory diagnostic workup. In that regard, understanding the physical aspects to look up for in certain diseases is thus key for the clinician. The physical findings of an individual largely differ depending on various factors, and one of the vital factors to consider is the patient’s age. Geriatric physical examination may reveal different findings from those of young adults, and knowledge of some of the differences that one should expect is key in ensuring that they do not misinterpret the examination findings.
One of the key physical findings that varies among young adults is skin turgor. The elderly population usually has decreased skin turgor, which does not necessarily indicate dehydration, as it might indicate at some ages (Kaçmaz et al., 2022). The skin turgor in the elderly population results from some skin changes, such as the loss of the elastic component of the skin with the aging process. In addition to that, the muscle tone of the geriatric population changes significantly, whereby there can be a notable increase in the muscle tone. The increased muscle tone in young adults usually manifests as a neurological complication that might indicate a motor neuron lesion. However, even in the elderly, the jerky and cogwheel rigidity are usually abnormal findings, and they should be investigated further for any underlying neurological condition (Soto-Perez-de-Celis et al., 2018). In addition, there is an eventual decrease in the bulk muscle mass among the elderly population that results from the continued failure to engage in physical exercise. Such a change in the young population usually indicates an underlying pathology that needs further investigation.
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Write my essayThus, the clinician needs to consider various factors during the examination of the patient, and one of those key factors is the patient’s age. Understanding the implications of the patient’s age on the physical findings ensures that the findings from the patient's examination are not misinterpreted and thus makes the resulting diagnosis more reliable. The clinician should thus be aware of what to look for when examining various age groups and should be guided by the physical manifestation of the disease that they are investigating the patient for.
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- Kaçmaz, H. Y., Karadağ, A., Kahraman, H., Döner, A., Ödek, Ö., & Akın, S. (2022). The prevalence and factors associated with skin tears in hospitalized older adults: A point prevalence study. Journal of Tissue Viability, 31(3), 387-394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtv.2022.06.001
- Soto-Perez-de-Celis, E., Li, D., Yuan, Y., Lau, Y. M., & Hurria, A. (2018). Functional versus chronological age: geriatric assessments to guide decision making in older patients with cancer. The Lancet Oncology, 19(6), e305-e316. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30348-6
