A 3-year retrospective analysis of elderly patients with heat illness

Background:Heat illness in elderly patients has frequently occurred. Because of the difficulties in diagnosis and treatment, it is necessary for us to understand the clinical characteristics of elderly patients with heat illness.Objective:This study presents the demographic, clinical, and laboratory data for elderly patients who presented to our emergency department with heat illness and compares elderly group and non-elderly group to find out characteristics of elderly patient.Methods:We retrospectively analyzed the data of the elderly heat illness patients who had been presented to the emergency department of Jinshan Hospital, Fudan University, between 1 July 2014 and 1 October 2016.Results:There were 64 patients in the study in total and 25 elderly patients (39.1%). The mean age of the elderly patients was 72.8 ± 6.7 years; 18 cases (72%) were male and 7 cases (28%) were female. There were 5 mild cases (20%) and 20 severe cases (80%) in the elderly, which included 1 with heat cramps (5%), 4 with heat e...