Older medical outliers on surgical wards: impact on 6-month outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Medical patients are on occasion admitted transiently to surgical wards when more appropriate wards are at capacity, potentially leading to suboptimal care. The aim of this study was to compare 6-month outcomes in older adults diagnosed with medical conditions in the ED then admitted inappropriately to surgical wards (defined as outliers), with outcomes in comparable patients admitted to medical wards (controls). METHODS: In a matched cohort study, 100 consecutive medical outliers from the ED aged 75 years and over were matched according to age, sex and diagnosis to 200 controls. Collected data included number of diagnoses reported in acute care, level of patient illness severity, length of stay, mortality and destination of patients discharged from acute care units (home, rehabilitation facility, nursing home or palliative care facility). An assessment was made of patient vital status and living environment (home, nursing home or hospital) at 6 months post-ED admission. RESULTS: Mean age was 85.6 years. The most common ED diagnoses were gait disorders/falls (18%), neurological disorders (17%) and exhaustion (16%). Outliers displayed lower illness severity levels (0.001) and shorter lengths of stay from ED admission to acute care discharge (p=0.040). Subsequent to acute care, outliers were less commonly discharged home (45% vs 59%) and more commonly discharged to rehabilitation facilities (42% vs 28%). At 6 months post-ED admission, multivariable regression analysis showed that outlier status (OR=0.44 (0.25-0.83); p=0.011) and numbers of diagnoses reported in acute care (OR=0.87 (0.76-0.98); p=0.028) were independently associated with lower probability of living at home. CONCLUSION: Outlying of older patients to surgical wards negatively affects their prospects of living at home at 6 months after hospital admission. Older patients hospitalised via the ED are entitled to appropriate medical care.

Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of 821 Older Patients With SARS-Cov-2 Infection Admitted to Acute Care Geriatric Wards.

BACKGROUND: There is limited information describing the characteristics and outcomes of hospitalized older patients with confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHOD: We conducted a multicentric retrospective cohort study in 13 acute COVID-19 geriatric wards, from March 13 to April 15, 2020, in Paris area. All consecutive patients aged 70 years and older, with confirmed COVID-19, were enrolled. RESULTS: Of the 821 patients included in the study, the mean (SD) age was 86 (7) years; 58% were female; 85% had ≥2 comorbidities; 29% lived in an institution; and the median [interquartile range] Activities of Daily Living scale (ADL) score was 4 [2-6]. The most common symptoms at COVID-19 onset were asthenia (63%), fever (55%), dyspnea (45%), dry cough (45%), and delirium (25%). The in-hospital mortality was 31% (95% confidence interval [CI] 27-33). On multivariate analysis, at COVID-19 onset, the probability of in-hospital mortality was increased with male gender (odds ratio [OR] 1.85; 95% CI 1.30-2.63), ADL score <4 (OR 1.84; 95% CI 1.25-2.70), asthenia (OR 1.59; 95% CI 1.08-2.32), quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score ≥2 (OR 2.63; 95% CI 1.64-4.22), and specific COVID-19 anomalies on chest computerized tomography (OR 2.60; 95% CI 1.07-6.46). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides new information about older patients with COVID-19 who are hospitalized. A quick bedside evaluation at admission of sex, functional status, systolic arterial pressure, consciousness, respiratory rate, and asthenia can identify older patients at risk of unfavorable outcomes.