Centre for Policy on Ageing



A two-year follow-up of geriatric consults in the emergency department
Author(s)	G Sinoff, A M Clarfield, H Bergman
Journal title	Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, vol 46, no 6, June 1998
Pages	pp 716-720
Keywords	Accident & emergency depts ; Admission ; Institutional accommodation ; Death ; Longitudinal surveys ; United States of America.
Annotation	Older people tend to use health services, including the hospital emergency department (ED), disproportionately. This Canadian study investigated the characteristics of 326 older ED patients for whom a geriatric consultation had been requested, and examined the status of those patients after a 2-year follow-up. The results revealed a particularly high hospital admission rate (63.5%) among those older patients consulted by the geriatric consultation team. The high prevalence rates for the classic geriatric syndromes of falls, incontinence, iatrogenic events, and confusional states suggest a need to address these problems early. A two-year follow-up showed high mortality rates (33.7%) as well as a long-term institutionalisation rate if 52%. The results of the study highlight the need for multidisciplinary intervention early on in the course of an older patient's ED visit as well as close follow-up after hospital discharge. (AKM).
Accession Number	CPA-981005404 A
Classmark	LD6: QKH: KV: CW: 3J: 7T
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.