Common Diarrheal Illnesses in the Elderly

Enad Dawod; Carl V Crawford

doi:10.1016/j.cger.2020.08.008

Common Diarrheal Illnesses in the Elderly

Clin Geriatr Med. 2021 Feb;37(1):103-117. doi: 10.1016/j.cger.2020.08.008. Epub 2020 Nov 2.

Authors

Enad Dawod¹, Carl V Crawford²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York Presbyterian Hospital, 1305 York Avenue, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10021, USA.
² Division of Gastroenterology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York Presbyterian Hospital, 1305 York Avenue, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10021, USA. Electronic address: cvc9002@med.cornell.edu.

PMID: 33213765
DOI: 10.1016/j.cger.2020.08.008

Abstract

Diarrhea is a fairly common problem among the elderly that has a higher morbidity and mortality compared with the general population. There are multiple reasons for diarrhea in the elderly that can be stratified by different mechanisms: infectious, osmotic, secretory, inflammatory, and malabsorptive. Oral hydration and dietary management are the basic management principles for all forms of diarrhea but specific treatment should address the root cause of diarrhea in order to improve outcomes.

Keywords: Clostridioides difficile infection; Diarrhea; Elderly; Geriatrics; Infectious diarrhea; Malabsorption; Osmotic diarrhea; Secretory diarrhea.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Age Distribution
Age Factors
Aged
Diarrhea* / diagnosis
Diarrhea* / etiology
Diarrhea* / therapy
Dysentery* / diagnosis
Dysentery* / microbiology
Dysentery* / therapy
Humans
Malabsorption Syndromes* / diagnosis
Malabsorption Syndromes* / etiology
Malabsorption Syndromes* / therapy