EPIDEMIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF GERIATRIC PATIENTS IN EMERGENCY

Introduction: The increasing proportion of elderly individuals in the population due to increased life expectancy has necessitated greater provision of health care. Here we aimed to determine patient characteristics, reasons for referral, and outcomes of emergency department visits and hospitalization in patients aged ? 65 years with referrals to emergency departments.Materials and Method: This prospective, multicenter observational study was conducted over one week at the emergency departments of 13 Turkey hospitals. All patients aged ? 65 years who were referred to emergency departments with acute medical or surgical issues during the study period were included. Patients aged <65 years or those referred for trauma were excluded.Results: In total, 1299 patients with a mean age of 74.8 +/- 7.3 years were included. Of these, 51.9% (n=674) were aged 65-74 years, 67.5% (n=877) were discharged from the hospital, and 5.8% (n=75) died during admission. The most frequently diagnosed disorders in the emergency departments were cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and pulmonary diseases. A significant difference in age was observed between the survival and non-survival groups (p=0.001), with no significant differences in gender distribution (p=0.259), length of stay in intensive care units (p=0.605), or length of stay in hospital (p=0.055).Conclusion: With an increased proportion of elderly individuals in the general population, the number of elderly patients referred to emergency departments continues to increase. This study presents the demographic features and clinical course of elderly patients referred to study centers

Rapid Emergency Medicine Score: A novel prognostic tool for predicting the outcomes of adult patients with hepatic portal venous gas in the emergency department.

This study aims to evaluate the performance of Rapid Emergency Medicine Score (REMS), Rapid Acute Physiology Score (RAPS), and Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) in ascertaining the severity of illness and predicting the mortality of adult hepatic portal venous gas (HPVG) patients presenting to the emergency department (ED). This will assist emergency physicians (EPs) in risk stratification.Data for 66 adult HPVG patients who visited the EDs of 2 research hospitals between October 1999 and April 2016 were analyzed. REMS, RAPS, and MEWS were calculated based on data in the ED, and probability of death was calculated for each patient based on these scores. The ability of REMS, RAPS, and MEWS to predict group mortality was assessed by using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and calibration analysis.The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for each scoring system were 92.1%, 89.3%, and 90.9% for REMS, 86.8%, 82.1%, and 84.8% for RAPS, and 78.9%, 89.3%, and 83.3% for MEWS respectively. In the ROC curve analysis, the areas under the curve for REMS, RAPS, and MEWS were 0.929, 0.877, and 0.856 respectively.Our study is the largest series performed in a population of adult HPVG patients in the ED. The results from this study demonstrate that REMS is superior in predicting the mortality of these patients compared to RAPS and MEWS. We therefore recommend that REMS be used for outcome prediction and risk stratification of adult HPVG in the ED

A European Research Agenda for Geriatric Emergency Medicine: a modified Delphi study

Purpose: Geriatric Emergency Medicine (GEM) focuses on delivering optimal care to (sub)acutely ill older people. This involves a multidisciplinary approach throughout the whole healthcare chain. However, the underpinning evidence base is weak and it is unclear which research questions have the highest priority. The aim of this study was to provide an inventory and prioritisation of research questions among GEM professionals throughout Europe. Methods: A two-stage modified Delphi approach was used. In stage 1, an online survey was administered to various professionals working in GEM both in the Emergency Department (ED) and other healthcare settings throughout Europe to make an inventory of potential research questions. In the processing phase, research questions were screened, categorised, and validated by an expert panel. Subsequently, in stage 2, remaining research questions were ranked based on relevance using a second online survey administered to the same target population, to identify the top 10 prioritised research questions. Results: In response to the first survey, 145 respondents submitted 233 potential research questions. A total of 61 research questions were included in the second stage, which was completed by 176 respondents. The question with the highest priority was: Is implementation of elements of CGA (comprehensive geriatric assessment), such as screening for frailty and geriatric interventions, effective in improving outcomes for older patients in the ED? Conclusion: This study presents a top 10 of high-priority research questions for a European Research Agenda for Geriatric Emergency Medicine. The list of research questions may serve as guidance for researchers, policymakers and funding bodies in prioritising future research projects