Emergency Room Visit Prevention for Older Patients with Parkinsonism in a Geriatric Clinic

Older persons with parkinsonism (PWP) are at high risk for hospitalization and adverse outcomes. Few effective strategies exist to prevent Emergency Department (ED) visits and hospitalization. The interdisciplinary Geriatrics Clinic for Parkinson's ("our clinic") was founded to address the complexity of parkinsonism in older patients, supported by a pharmacist-led telephone intervention (TI) service. Our primary objective was to study whether TI could avert ED visits in older PWP.

Using a prospective, observational cohort, we collected data from all calls in 2016, including who initiated and reasons for the calls, patient demographics, number of comorbidities and medications, diagnoses, duration of disease, and intervention provided. Calls with intention to visit ED were classified as "crisis calls". Outcome of whether patients visited ED was collected within 1 week, and user satisfaction by anonymous survey within 3 weeks.

We received 337 calls concerning 114 patients, of which 82 (24%) were "crisis calls". Eighty-one percent of calls were initiated by caregivers. Ninety-three percent of "crisis calls" resolved without ED visit after TI. The main reasons for "crisis calls" were non-motor symptoms (NMS) (39%), adverse drug effects (ADE) (29%), and motor symptoms (18%). Ninety-seven percent of callers were satisfied with the TI.

Pharmacist-led TI in a Geriatrics Clinic for Parkinson's was effective in preventing ED visits in a population of older PWP, with high user satisfaction. Most calls were initiated by caregivers. Main reasons for crisis calls were NMS and ADE. These factors should be considered in care planning for older PWP.