Dear Editor, In our country, with a billion population, older-aged people and senior citizens constitute a significant proportion among all age groups. One of the most common scenes in hospital are helpless elderly people seeking medical care. Due to aging, atrophy and degeneration of body organs occurs leading to various diseases.1 Among the various ailments for which older people seek medical care, otorhinolaryngological diseases constitute an important category. Both elective and emergency ear, nose, and throat (ENT) cases of the geriatric age group are attended by otorhinolaryngologists Figure 1. In an ENT outpatient department, one often will encounter an elderly patient requesting the doctor to cure his tinnitus or explaining his difficulty in hearing or sharing the ridiculing behavior of family members for hearing loss. An otorhinolaryngologist will often encounter an elderly patient with complaints of dysphagia. There are many patients of geriatric age group who come to the emergency department with hypertensive epistaxis. In addition, elderly patients report to the emergency with balance disorders and maxillofacial trauma. The management of illnesses and injuries in the elderly is more complex compared with younger patients because of more comorbid conditions.2Figure 1: Important ear, nose, and throat disorders seen in geriatric age group patients (Geriatric Otorhinolaryngology Clinic)Old-age people are just like small children who require special care. Geriatric otorhinolaryngology deals with the ENT complaints of elderly adults. A lot of publications have been done on the subject of geriatric otorhinolaryngology. A search on PubMed shows an upward trend from 7 in 2011 to 88 in 2016.3 We have a high volume of geriatric patients at present in India, which is expected to increase further in the future. With government policies being developed that prioritize the care of senior citizens, reforms are required in the specialty of ENT so as to provide the best possible healthcare to older adults presenting with ENT disorders. Although data on geriatric ENT disorders are available in textbooks and literature, we have to develop data on ENT disorders of geriatric patients from both urban and rural setups of India. The development of the Geriatric Otorhinolaryngology subspecialty in India will help in utilizing the services of MBBS students, ENT postgraduates, ENT faculty, and Medical Officers for the development of a database of ENT pathology of geriatric patients from peripheral rural setups, small hospitals, tertiary care hospitals, and medical colleges of India.Key Messages Geriatric otorhinolaryngology clinics should be functional within the Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) Department. ENT national and state conferences must include geriatric otorhinolaryngology in their agenda. More original clinical trials should be conducted in medical colleges, National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences, Accredited Diplomate of National Board in Otorhinolaryngology, ENT Institutes, and peripheral health centers on the topic of geriatric otorhinolaryngology. Postgraduate thesis may include topics of geriatric otorhinolaryngology. Special issues should be published in ENT Journals focusing on geriatric otorhinolaryngology. Development of a nodal center in India for research on geriatric otorhinolaryngology. Financial support and sponsorship Nil. Conflicts of interest There are no conflicts of interest.
Soumick Ranjan Sahoo (Tue,) studied this question.