What does geriatrics mean?
Geriatrics is the branch of medicine concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of illness in older adults. It takes a broad approach to health, recognizing that later life brings not only greater medical risk but also changes in physiology, medication tolerance, mobility, cognition, and social circumstances. A geriatrician may coordinate care for patients with several chronic conditions and place particular emphasis on prevention, rehabilitation, and maintaining independence. The word is normally used as the name of a medical discipline or department: “Geriatrics is advising the hospital on fall-prevention policies,” for example. It is distinct from gerontology, which studies ageing more broadly through medicine, psychology, sociology, and other fields. Geriatrics is also distinct from “geriatric,” an adjective describing care, services, or patients associated with older people. In everyday use, the field is closely associated with elder care, but its clinical remit includes healthy ageing and the prevention of avoidable disability, not merely the treatment of frailty.
nounThe branch of medicine concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of illness in older adults, especially where age-related physical and social factors affect care.
- The branch of medicine concerned with the health, treatment, and care of older adults.
"The hospital's department of geriatrics specializes in treating complex health problems in older patients."
"She pursued a career in geriatrics after completing her medical training."
"Researchers in geriatrics are studying ways to reduce falls and preserve independence among older adults."
Although it has a plural-looking ending and is occasionally treated as a plural in older usage, modern standard English normally treats it as a singular noun naming a medical field.
"Geriatrics is an increasingly important specialty in hospitals serving large older populations."
Geriatrics literally joins “old age” with “physician”: it is medicine’s branch devoted to ageing well.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does geriatrics come from?
Geriatrics combines the Greek géras, meaning “old age,” with iatrós, meaning “physician,” and the suffix -ics, used for a branch of study or medicine. English forms such as geriatric and gerontology also continue the Greek element géras, reflecting the long-standing practice of studying the health and conditions of older people.
Related word forms
How geriatrics is actually used
This is a formal medical term. When it names the discipline, it conventionally takes a singular verb even though its ending appears plural.
Easily confused with geriatrics
Geriatrics is the clinical medical specialty focused on the health and care of older adults, whereas gerontology is the broader interdisciplinary study of ageing and old age.