New horizons in geriatric urology.

Abstract

As the human life-span grows longer with developments in modern medicine and the birth rate slows, the rapid aging of the world population has become a major global demographic trend [1]. Korea is no exception. According to the National Statistics Office, the Korean population over the age of 65 years in 2014 accounted for 12.7% of the total population [2]. This figure increased more than twice compared with 5.1% in 1990. In 2026, about 20% of the total population is expected to be more than 65 years old. This means that in 11 years, one in five people in Korea will be elderly. As the elderly population increases, their health problems have emerged as important personal and social problems. The number of people with age-related disease has increased substantially [3]. Many elderly persons experience disease, disability, and dependency, with high costs for health and social care [4]. With the aging of the population, other specialties such as dementia have been emphasized because they tend to serve the geriatric population. However, Dugan et al. [5] propose that urology holds a unique position in the provision of geriatric care because urologists manage personal, often very “private,” aspects of the elderly adult’s physical and emotional well-being, such as control of urination. Drach and Griebling [6] refer to urologists as the “hidden providers” of geriatric care, ultimately sought out by many geriatric patients. In urology, the percentage distribution of patients by physician specialty by those aged 65 years and older and enrolled in Medicare is 46.2%, whereas the corresponding