Health Management for Older Adults II - Early Detection & Intervention of Dehydration

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Dehydration is a frequent and costly medical problem not fully recognized
It has ranked in the top ten of the most frequent diagnoses for Medicare hospitalizations in 1991
In 1991, 6.7% of Medicare hospitalizations carried a diagnosis of dehydration
In 1.4%, this was the primary diagnosis
Greater than 18% of patients died within 30 days of hospitalization with dehydration with a mortality increase proportional to increasing age