Background: Emergency rooms (ERs) overcrowded by older adults have been the focus of public health policies during the recent COVID-19 outbreak too. This phenomenon needed a change in the nursing care of older frail people. Health policies have tried to mitigate the frequent use of ER by implementing community care to meet the care demands of older adults. The present study aimed to investigate the predictors of emergency room access (ERA) and not-urgent emergency room access (NUERA) of community-dwelling frail older adults in order to provide an indication for out-of-hospital care services.Method: Secondary analysis of an observational longitudinal cohort study was carried out. The cohort consisted of 1,246 community-dwelling frail older adults (over 65 years) in the Latium region in Italy. The ER admission rate was assessed over 3 years from the administration of the functional geriatric evaluation (FGE) questionnaire. The ordinal regression model was used to identify the predictors of ERA and NUERA. Moreover, the ERA and NUERA rate per 100 observations/year was analyzed.Results: The mean age was 73.6 (SD +/- 7.1) years, and 53.4% were women. NUERAs were the 39.2% of the ERAs; robust and pre-frail individuals (79.3% of the sample) generated more than two-third of ERAs (68.17%), even if frails and very frails showed the higher ER rates per observation/year. The ordinal logistic regression model highlighted a predictive role on ERAs of comorbidity (OR = 1.13, p < 0.001) and frailty level (OR = 1.29; p < 0.001). Concerning NUERAs, social network (OR 0.54, P = 0.015) and a medium score of pulmo-cardio-vascular function (OR 1.50, P = 0.006) were the predictors.Conclusion: Comorbidity, lack of social support, and functional limitations increase both ERA and NUERA rates generated by the older adult population. Overall, bio-psycho-social frailty represents an indicator of the frequency of ERAs. However, to reduce the number of ERAs, intervention should focus mainly on the robust and pre-frail needs for prevention and care.

Gentili, S., Emberti Gialloreti, L., Riccardi, F., Scarcella, P., Liotta, G. (2021). Predictors of Emergency Room Access and Not Urgent Emergency Room Access by the Frail Older Adults. FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH, 9, 1-8 [10.3389/fpubh.2021.721634].

Predictors of Emergency Room Access and Not Urgent Emergency Room Access by the Frail Older Adults

Emberti Gialloreti, Leonardo;Riccardi, Fabio;Scarcella, Paola;Liotta, Giuseppe
2021-09-01

Abstract

Background: Emergency rooms (ERs) overcrowded by older adults have been the focus of public health policies during the recent COVID-19 outbreak too. This phenomenon needed a change in the nursing care of older frail people. Health policies have tried to mitigate the frequent use of ER by implementing community care to meet the care demands of older adults. The present study aimed to investigate the predictors of emergency room access (ERA) and not-urgent emergency room access (NUERA) of community-dwelling frail older adults in order to provide an indication for out-of-hospital care services.Method: Secondary analysis of an observational longitudinal cohort study was carried out. The cohort consisted of 1,246 community-dwelling frail older adults (over 65 years) in the Latium region in Italy. The ER admission rate was assessed over 3 years from the administration of the functional geriatric evaluation (FGE) questionnaire. The ordinal regression model was used to identify the predictors of ERA and NUERA. Moreover, the ERA and NUERA rate per 100 observations/year was analyzed.Results: The mean age was 73.6 (SD +/- 7.1) years, and 53.4% were women. NUERAs were the 39.2% of the ERAs; robust and pre-frail individuals (79.3% of the sample) generated more than two-third of ERAs (68.17%), even if frails and very frails showed the higher ER rates per observation/year. The ordinal logistic regression model highlighted a predictive role on ERAs of comorbidity (OR = 1.13, p < 0.001) and frailty level (OR = 1.29; p < 0.001). Concerning NUERAs, social network (OR 0.54, P = 0.015) and a medium score of pulmo-cardio-vascular function (OR 1.50, P = 0.006) were the predictors.Conclusion: Comorbidity, lack of social support, and functional limitations increase both ERA and NUERA rates generated by the older adult population. Overall, bio-psycho-social frailty represents an indicator of the frequency of ERAs. However, to reduce the number of ERAs, intervention should focus mainly on the robust and pre-frail needs for prevention and care.
set-2021
Pubblicato
Rilevanza internazionale
Articolo
Esperti anonimi
Settore MED/42 - IGIENE GENERALE E APPLICATA
English
emergency department
emergency room utilization
frail older adults
functional geriatric evaluation
health determinants
social determinants
Gentili, S., Emberti Gialloreti, L., Riccardi, F., Scarcella, P., Liotta, G. (2021). Predictors of Emergency Room Access and Not Urgent Emergency Room Access by the Frail Older Adults. FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH, 9, 1-8 [10.3389/fpubh.2021.721634].
Gentili, S; Emberti Gialloreti, L; Riccardi, F; Scarcella, P; Liotta, G
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2108/313541
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