Elderly emergency patients presenting with non-specific complaints: Characteristics and outcomes.

Autor: Wachelder JJH; Department of Internal Medicine, Máxima Medical Centre, Eindhoven, the Netherlands.; Department of Health Services Research, and CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht, the Netherlands., Stassen PM; Department of Health Services Research, and CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht, the Netherlands.; Department of Internal Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Section Acute Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, the Netherlands., Hubens LPAM; Department of Internal Medicine, Máxima Medical Centre, Eindhoven, the Netherlands., Brouns SHA; Department of Internal Medicine, Máxima Medical Centre, Eindhoven, the Netherlands.; Department of Health Services Research, and CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht, the Netherlands., Lambooij SLE; Department of Internal Medicine, Máxima Medical Centre, Eindhoven, the Netherlands., Dieleman JP; Máxima Medical Centrum Academy, Máxima Medical Centre, Veldhoven, the Netherlands., Haak HR; Department of Internal Medicine, Máxima Medical Centre, Eindhoven, the Netherlands.; Department of Health Services Research, and CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht, the Netherlands.; Department of Internal Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Section Acute Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PloS one [PLoS One] 2017 Nov 30; Vol. 12 (11), pp. e0188954. Date of Electronic Publication: 2017 Nov 30 (Print Publication: 2017).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0188954
Abstrakt: Background: Non-specific complaints (NSC) are common at the emergency department, but only a few studies have shown evidence that these complaints are associated with a poor prognosis in elderly emergency patients.
Objective: To describe patient characteristics and outcomes in a cohort of elderly emergency patients presenting with NSC. Outcomes were: patient characteristics, hospitalization, 90-day ED-return visits, and 30-day mortality.
Method: A retrospective cohort study was conducted amongst elderly patients present to the Internal Medicine Emergency Department (ED) between 01-09-2010 and 31-08-2011. NSC were defined as indefinable complaints that lack a pre-differential diagnosis needed to initiate of a standardized patient evaluation. Cox regression was performed to calculate Hazard Ratios (HR) and corrected for confounders such as comorbidity.
Results: In total, 1784 patients were enrolled; 244 (13.7%) presented with NSC. Compared to those with SC, comorbidity was higher in the NSC-group (Charlson comorbidity index 3.0 vs. 2.4, p<0.001). The triage level did not differ, but ED-length of stay was longer in the NSC-group (188 vs. 178 minutes, p = 0.004). Hospitalization was more frequent (84.0 vs. 71.1%, p<0.001) and the length of hospital stay (9 vs. 6 days, p<0.001 was longer in the NSC- than in the SC-group. The number of ED-return visits were comparable between both groups (HR 0.8, 95%CI 0.6-1.1). Mortality within 30-days was higher in the NSC- (20.1%) than in the SC-group (11.0%, HR 1.7 95%CI 1.2-2.4).
Conclusion: Elderly patients present with NSC at the ED regularly. These patients are more often hospitalized and have a substantially higher 30-day mortality than patients with SC.
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz: