Experience in applying the clinical method to elderly people

Abstract

The clinical method is the most effective tool available to physicians. There are elements that distinguish the application of the clinical method in older adults. The individual presenting the problem is someone whose long lifespan, in close interaction with their environment, has brought about changes that, more than in any other age group, imprint a unique and unrepeatable character. The objective of this article is to systematize the characteristics of applying the clinical method to older adults. The most powerful diagnostic tool is the patient interview. Multiple studies confirm that physicians obtain more than 80% of the information necessary for diagnosis from the interview and physical examination. In older adults, physiological changes occur in the different systems and organs of the body that significantly influence how the clinical method is applied. An essential feature of the clinical method in geriatrics is the use of clinimetrics through scales, indices, psychometric tests, and physical performance tests. It is concluded that an elderly person is an individual category whose biopsychosocial qualities, shaped by more than 60 years of life, further distinguish them. Physiopathological reasoning constitutes the most reliable approach for constructing diagnostic hypotheses.