The Ultrasound-Assisted Physical Examination in the Periodic Health Evaluation of the Elderly

Abstract

Conventional physical examination (PE) in the elderly usually does not have sufficient sensitivity to be useful as part of the periodic health evaluation. Except for a few specific segments of the head-to-toe examination, the evidence suggests that physical examination does not detect enough conditions in time to have a favorable impact on the outcome of patient's health. The ultrasound examination had shown greater sensitivity and specificity in numerous studies on various patients' groups. The purpose of this study is to determine whether an examination in which conventional and ultrasound techniques might be feasible and useful in the periodic health evaluations of senior citizens who, in particular, might have a higher incidence of findings. Methods: 211 elderly individuals presenting for periodic health evaluations are the subject of this work: That included in addition to conventional screening physical examination, pelvic and abdominal ultrasound study. Results: 75.4% of individuals were found to have abnormal US finding in the form of: Hepatobiliary abnormalities (62.6%), Genital abnormalities (19%), Urinary abnormalities (17.5%), pleural effusion (0.9%), atherosclerotic tortuous Aorta (0.47%) and dissecting Aortic aneurysm (1.4%). Conclusion: The study concluded that Ultrasound is a very valuable, informative and a recommended tool for Periodic Health Evaluation of elderly population.