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Assessment of Dependence in Activities of Daily Living Among Older Patients in an Acute Care Unit
Published on: September 30, 2020
Emergency demand and repeat attendances by older patients.
J Lowthian1, A Curtis, J Stoelwinder
1Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. judy.lowthian@monash.edu
Internal Medicine Journal
|January 3, 2013
Summary
Older adults disproportionately use emergency departments (ED) and have increasing return visits. Identifying risk factors for frequent ED use is crucial for improving care.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Public Health
- Emergency Medicine
Background:
- Population ageing impacts health services, particularly Emergency Departments (ED).
- Older patients exhibit a high rate of return visits to EDs.
- Understanding ED utilization patterns in older adults is essential.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare ED utilization between older (≥70 years) and younger (15-69 years) adults.
- To quantify the proportion and rate of return visits to EDs by older adults.
- To analyze trends in ED use over a decade.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of metropolitan public hospital ED data (1999/2000-2008/2009).
- Calculated patient numbers, presentations, re-presentations, and rates per 1000 population.
- Compared ED utilization metrics between older and younger adult cohorts.
Main Results:
- ED presentations increased by 72% for older adults vs. 59% for younger adults.
- Older adults (≥70 years) had higher ED presentation rates (39% vs. 17% in 2008/2009).
- Frequent ED attenders (≥4 times) doubled, driving 27% of the increase in older adult presentations and contributing to 23% of all older presentations.
Conclusions:
- Older patients are overrepresented in ED attendances.
- There is an increasing tendency for older patients to re-present to ED.
- Identifying risk factors for ED re-attendance is critical for targeted interventions.
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