Acopia

Introduction[edit | edit source]

Frail elderly person

The word 'acopia' is often used to describe a patient’s inability to cope with activities of daily living. This term is disrespectful, implying fault on the part of the patient. Such patients are likely to be frail with co-morbidities and have an acute (potentially reversible) illness. Frail older persons should be assessed using the principles of Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment, informed by an understanding of the concept of frailty and of geriatric syndromes, for example, falls and delirium.

  • The term 'acopia' may bias clinicians thought processes and cause diagnosis to be missed and reversible pathology to be underdiagnosed.[1][2]
  • A study carried out within an NHS District General Hospital found that nearly half of patients described as having ‘acopia’ presented with geriatric syndromes, such as falls, immobility and confusion.[3] The authors argued that the definition of acopia should be an inclusive term to describe the frail elderly patient with multiple medical problems, enabling health professionals to identify when specialist intervention is needed within the multi-disciplinary team.

Viewing[edit | edit source]

This 6 minute video highlights the negative aspects of using Acopia as a word.

[4]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Obeid J, Ogle S. Acopia: a useful term or not? Australasian Journal of Aging 2000;19:195-8.
  2. Hodges Z. Diagnosis of “acopia”: prescription for neglect?. The Journal of Adult Protection. 2021 May 18.
  3. Keel YK, Rippingale C. The prevalence and characteristic of patients with ‘acopia'. Age Ageing 2009; 38(1): 103-105.
  4. Association for elderly education. Acopia- the diagnosis for doctors who can't cope. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f53F-dAg_5Q (last accessed 5.5.2019)