Unplanned early return to the emergency department by older patients: the Safe Elderly Emergency Department Discharge (SEED) project.
Age Ageing
; 45(2): 255-61, 2016 Mar.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-26764254
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
an emergency department (ED) visit is a sentinel event for an older person, with increased likelihood of adverse outcomes post-discharge including early re-presentation.OBJECTIVES:
to determine factors associated with early re-presentation.METHODS:
prospective cohort study conducted in the ED of a large acute Melbourne tertiary hospital. Community-dwelling patients ≥65 years were interviewed including comprehensive assessment of cognitive and functional status, and mood. Logistic regression was used to identify risk factors for return within 30 days.RESULTS:
nine hundred and fifty-nine patients, median age 77 years, were recruited. One hundred and forty patients (14.6%) re-presented within 30 days, including 22 patients (2.3%) on ≥2 occasions and 75 patients (7.8%) within 7 days. Risk factors for re-presentation included depressive symptoms, cognitive impairment, co-morbidity, triaged as less urgent (ATS 4) and attendance in the previous 12 months, with a decline in risk after 85 years of age. Logistic regression identified chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.02-3.11), moderate cognitive impairment (OR 2.07, 95% CI 1.09-3.90), previous ED visit (OR 2.11, 95% CI 1.43-3.12) and ATS 4 (OR 2.34, 95% CI 1.10-4.99) as independent risk factors for re-presentation. Age ≥85 years was associated with reduced risk (OR 0.81, 95% CI 0.70-0.93).CONCLUSION:
older discharged patients had a high rate of early re-presentation. Previously identified risk factors-increased age, living alone, functional dependence and polypharmacy-were not associated with early return in this study. It is not clear whether these inconsistencies represent a change in patient case-mix or strategies implemented to reduce re-attendance. This remains an important area for future research.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Alta do Paciente
/
Envelhecimento
/
Avaliação de Processos em Cuidados de Saúde
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Serviço Hospitalar de Emergência
/
Serviços de Saúde para Idosos
Tipo de estudo:
Etiology_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Região como assunto:
Oceania
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Age Ageing
Ano de publicação:
2016
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Austrália