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Exploring patterns of personal alarm system use and impacts on outcomes
Nadine E Andrew1,2, Yun Wang1,3, Ken Teo2,4
1Department of Medicine, Central Clinical School, Peninsula Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Objectives:
To describe the patterns of personal emergency response systems (PERS) use in a statewide cohort of older Australians.
Methods:
PERS data from clients enrolled in the Personal Alarm Victoria program between January 2014 and June 2017 were analysed. Alarm activation reasons were extracted, and a medical record audit was performed for a sub-cohort of patients admitted to a local hospital following an alarm event. Descriptive statistics were used.
Results:
There were 42,180 clients enrolled during the study (mean age 80 years, 80% female, 93% living alone). An ambulance attended 44% of the fall-related events and 81% of events coded as unwell. Activation reasons were distributed equally between a fall and feeling unwell, and a repeating pattern of activation reasons was observed. In our sub-cohort (n = 92), the majority of admissions (86%) followed an alarm activation coded as unwell.
Conclusion:
We demonstrated recurring patterns associated with the reasons for alarm use.
