XML | Respond to this article | Alert & updates | Request permissions | Email to a friend |
Background: Emergency department (ED) is one of the most crucial department to take care of the elderly patients. However, there is limited data about the characteristics of emergency elderly patients in Asia as well as the factors that have impact on the need of life-saving intervention (LSI) and hospital admission.
Objective: To study characteristics and factors that affect the need of LSI and hospital admission of the elderly patients who visit the ED.
Materials and Methods: This retrospective descriptive study conducted at 2 hospitals, 1) Srinagarind hospital, Faculty of medicine, Khon Kaen University, Thailand, and 2) Khon Kaen Hospital, a tertiary-care center of Northeast region of Thailand. All patients aged >65 years old who visited the ED from any causes between 1st January and to 31st December 2015 were enrolled. Demographic data and clinical characteristics were collected.
Results: A total of 657 elderly patients was enrolled, average age was 73.5 years old, 57.7% were women. Ten percent of the patients were in the resuscitation level. Nearly one-fourth (23.9%) received the life-saving intervention. The admission rate was 24.7%. The significant factors that related with receiving the LSI were: 1) using emergency medical service (EMS) (OR 11.87, 95% CI 7.47 to 18.87), 2) having comorbidities (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.58), and 3) respiratory infection (OR 5.98, 95% CI 3.28 to 10.92). And,
significant factors that related with hospital admission were: 1) age >65 years old (OR 0.91, 95% CI 0.87 to 0.91), and 2) using EMS (OR 55.90, 95% CI 31.30 to 99.85).
Conclusion: The elderly patients with respiratory infection should have a thorough clinical observation as well as patients aged >65 years old, patients with comorbidities and patients who used EMS to reach the ED because these patients tended to have poorer prognoses.
Keywords: Geriatric, Elderly, Thai, Emergency room