TY - JOUR AU - Castellani, Chiara AU - Molteni, Emanuele AU - Colafrancesco, Serena AU - Conti, Fabrizio AU - Priori, Roberta AU - Scrivo, Rossana PY - 2020 DA - 2020/11/18 TI - Rheumatic Diseases in the Elderly JO - OBM Geriatrics SP - 139 VL - 04 IS - 04 AB - Musculoskeletal conditions represent one-third to more than one-half of all non-communicable disease multimorbidities in the elderly, worsening their disability because of pain and limited physical function, often concurring with their mental decline. Musculoskeletal conditions significantly contribute to frailty and global disability, second only to mental health conditions. Furthermore, premature mortality, generally due to an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, has been documented in several rheumatic diseases, including osteoarthritis, gout, vasculitis, etc., which largely affect older people. In the elderly, rheumatic diseases cover a spectrum of conditions affecting all age groups, especially those are seen more often in the aging population. This non-systematic review focuses on the elderly and may hopefully contribute to raising awareness of these issues beyond the rheumatology community. We believe that this constitutes a critical step for prompt and proper diagnosis and referral of patients to ameliorate their overall long-term outcome. SN - 2638-1311 UR - https://doi.org/10.21926/obm.geriatr.2004139 DO - 10.21926/obm.geriatr.2004139 ID - Castellani2020 ER -