Ageing and disorders of the locomotor system.

Many aspects of rheumatic disorders are specific for the elderly population. The prevalence of many chronic disorders increases with age and the incidence of some rheumatic disorders is highest in the elderly. The spectrum of rheumatic disorders of age-specific groups varies between levels of the health care system. The onset of many inflammatory rheumatic diseases is different and the clinical appearance may be further modified by other concomitant diseases in the elderly. Therapeutic approaches have to consider changes of drug metabolism and multipharmacy. Finally, the variation of organ function increases with age making "normality" more difficult to evaluate in the elderly. Decline of function may result in both overdiagnosis and underdiagnosis.