Characteristics of the Admissions of Old-old Patients to the Emergency Department

Aim: Through advances in technology and medicine, life expectancy is longer than before. The area covered by elderly people in the population pyramid has been changing over the years. Emergency departments are often used by elderly patients. It increases the density and fullness in already-crowded departments. In this study, we aimed to examine characteristics of the admissions of old-old people through the EDs and we wanted to discuss the precautions and regulations that might be taken in order to improve the quality of care and management.

Methodology: This study was carried out cross-sectionally and retrospectively in the one-year period between 01.01.2017-31.12.2017 in a department of emergency medicine. Patients' age, gender, the hours of admissions to the emergency department, the month of admissions, reasons for admissions, diagnoses, consultations, final status, the place of hospitalization, the name of the hospitalization department and the number of readmissions in a one-year period were recorded in the study form. The study data were analyzed with SPSS for Windows 22.0. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: 4331 of these patients were included in the study. The mean age of the patients was 85.25 ± 3.90 and 60.5% of them were female. According to the months, the first three of the admission months were December, November and October (9.7%, 9.6%, 9.2% respectively). The most common admission was in the 08: 00-15: 59 time zone with 47%, followed by 41.8% with the 16: 00-23: 59 time zone.4331 patients included in the study admitted to the emergency department 12.988 times during the study period. 46.2% of the patients admitted to the department once, 53.8% of them admitted 2 times and more. The discharge rate of patients who were admitted only once was 84.2% and the rate was 88.4% for twice and more admissions.

Conclusion: The existence and increasing number of this population should not be forgotten in changes to be made in emergency departments and other parts of the health system. Efforts should be made to improve the quality of care and to train staff to manage these patients more quickly and safely.