Although elderly populations have the highest hospitalization and death rates from the flu, older patients in the hospital may be less likely to get tested for the flu, according to a study published in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
The study authors analyzed data from 1,422 adults hospitalized with a respiratory illness or a high fever at four Tennessee hospitals during the flu seasons from 2006-12. The researchers tested all patients for influenza, regardless of whether their physicians had ordered tests.
Here are five findings from the study.
1. Overall, the study found physicians ordered flu tests for only 399 patients. Of these patients, 77 had the flu.
2. The tests the researchers ordered were positive for flu in an additional 59 patients, which was roughly six percent of the group whose physicians did not order flu tests.
3. Patients whose physicians ordered flu tests tended to be younger, approximately 58 years old on average, versus 66 years old on average for patients who did not receive tests.
4. The findings suggest a number of the older patients who had the flu would have gone undiagnosed and untreated, senior study author H. Keipp Talbot, MD, told Reuters.
5. Patients were more likely to get flu tests orders by their physicians if they had flu-like illness than if they did not. However, the study found classic flu symptoms were less common in older adults than in younger patients.