Prevalence of nonmedical problems among older adults presenting to the XXXX .

@entity1 @entity341 @entity158 @entity734 @entity130
OBJECTIVES: Health outcomes among older @entity341 ( @entity341 ) @entity1 may be influenced by physical, economic, and psychological problems not routinely identified during the @entity341 visit. The objective of this study was to characterize such problems among older adults presenting to the @entity341 . METHODS: This was a prevalence study with enrollment during 4-hour periods randomly selected between 9  a.m. and 9  p.m. on random  days of the week over a period of 8  weeks at an academic @entity341 in the southeast United States. @entity1 were noninstitutionalized, cognitively intact adults aged 65  years or older without life-threatening @entity130 . Consenting @entity1 were asked about the frequency of 10 prespecified problems during the past year. RESULTS: @entity1 (N  =  138) were non-Hispanic white (69%) and female (57%) and almost all had primary providers (95%) and health insurance (98%). Forty percent reported their overall health as fair (21%) or poor (19%). Hazardous drinking habits were reported by 10% of @entity1 . The prevalence of problems occurring either "sometimes" or "often" in the past year were @entity158 (60%), difficulty walking (47%), lack of money (32%), isolation and loneliness (14%), lack of transportation (12%), difficulty scheduling a doctor's appointment (4%), difficulty getting prescriptions filled (4%), and lack of dental care (6%). Nine @entity1 (7%) reported experiencing physical or @entity734 at some point in the past year. Females, minorities, and individuals living in urban areas reported higher rates of most problems. CONCLUSIONS: Nonmedical problems are common among cognitively intact, independent living, non-critically ill older @entity1 presenting to an @entity341 in the southeast United States.
