Disability is associated with emergency room visits in the elderly: a population-based study

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Public Health
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Emergency room (ER) visits and hospitalizations for elderly individuals with chronic conditions and disabilities are on the rise.
• This trend places a significant burden on healthcare systems and necessitates an understanding of contributing factors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between functional disability and rates of ER visits and hospitalizations among older adults.
• To determine if limitations in daily activities correlate with increased healthcare utilization in the elderly population.

Main Methods:

• A study was conducted on 342 individuals aged 75 and above in Tuscania, Italy.
• Functional disability was assessed using the Katz's activities of daily living (ADLs) and Lawton and Brody's instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) scales.
• Disability was defined as dependence in two or more ADLs or IADLs, and its association with 1-year ER visits and hospitalizations was analyzed.

Main Results:

• Disability in activities of daily living (ADLs) was significantly associated with an increased risk of ER visits (RR 2.12).
• ADLs disability also predicted a higher number of ER visits (IRR 2.56).
• However, ADLs disability did not show a significant association with hospital admission rates (RR 1.50).

Conclusions:

• Functional disability is a key factor associated with increased emergency room utilization in community-dwelling elderly individuals.
• The findings suggest that healthcare providers should consider functional status during triage to identify unmet social needs in older patients.
• Further research into social interventions targeting disabled elderly populations is recommended to reduce ER access rates.