[Elderly in an acute geriatric unit]
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Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Assessment of Dependence in Activities of Daily Living Among Older Patients in an Acute Care Unit
Published on: September 30, 2020
Luis Romero Rizos1, Pedro Manuel Sánchez Jurado, Pedro Abizanda Soler
1Sección de Geriatría, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Albacete, Albacete, España.
Abstract:
Although the implementation of acute geriatric units (AGUs) in general hospitals has a grade A of evidency, in Spain, only 12% of them have this resource. The estimation of geriatric especializad beds for the care of acute frail elderly people is of 2.6/1000 inhabitants older than 75 years. AGUs have demonstrated to reduce the functional loss associated with the hospitalization and to increase the percentage of older people that can return home, without increases in mortality nor costs. In this review we present the characteristics of patients who benefit from AGUs, the services offered, the structure and functioning of the unit, the role of the professionals that work in it and the quality indicators that must be acomplished.
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