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A Risk Index for Geriatric Acute Medical Admissions (RIGAMA)
R Romero-Ortuno1, C O'Dwyer, D Byrne
1Division of Internal Medicine, St James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Aim:
to create and validate a Risk Index for Geriatric Acute Medical Admissions (RIGAMA) for those aged ≥ 65, based on accumulation of deficits.
Methods:
we retrospectively validated a 30-item RIGAMA against inpatient mortality, length of stay (LOS), discharge to long-term care (LTC) and 30-day readmission, adjusted for age.
Results:
≥ 1 RIGAMA deficit was superior to age in predicting mortality and prolonged LOS, with a clear incremental effect. The latter was true for ≥3 deficits in predicting 30-day readmission. Three to 5 deficits predicted discharge to LTC better than age.
Conclusions:
RIGAMA is easy to collect by the admitting junior doctor and may help trigger early senior support and inform the appropriate use of hospital resources by older patients.
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