Clinical characteristics of 150 elderly patients with coronary heart disease and their nursing strategy

Objective To evaluate the clinical characteristics,risk factors and nursing strategy of very elderly patients with coronary heart disease（CHD）. Methods A total of 150 elderly patients diagnosed with CHD between January 1993 and June 2006 were studied. The age of patients,complications,types of CHD,clinical symptoms,risk factors,and relation between risk factors and types of CHD were analyzed. Results Hypertension was the main complication of CKD（72.7%）, unstable angina pectoris was the main type of CHD（60%）, and the ratio of untypical clinical symptoms was high（41.3%）. Diabetes mellitus,history of myocardial infarction,cerebral infarction were significantly different in different types of CHD（P＜0.05）. Conclusion Diabetes mellitus,history of myocardial infarction,cerebral infarction are the risk factors for different types of CKD. Very elderly CHD patients have more complications. The nursing of such patients is difficult,and high nursing skill and specific nursing staff are needed.