A retrospective study of 82 elderly "failure to thrive" (FTT) inpatients suggests that FTT is diagnosed when the elderly patient's functional ability to live with multisystem diseases, cope with the ensuing problems, and manage his/her own care are remarkably diminished and no longer responsive to health care interventions. In an attempt to clarify the clinical picture of FTT, we used standardized questionnaires to abstract data from medical charts.