Analysis of emergency department visits by elderly patients in an urban public hospital in Turkey

Background/PurposeElderly patients have higher rates of emergency department visits worldwide. Emergency department utilization by older elderly is much more than younger elderly due to their disease complexity, comorbidities, and severity. This study aimed to determine the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of elderly patients admitted to the emergency department of a hospital and to compare attendance data regarding older age groups.MethodsAll older people admitted to the emergency department in 2011 were evaluated retrospectively. Patients aged 65–74 years were defined as younger elderly and those aged ≥75 years as older elderly. The prevalence of emergency admission, demographic information, reason for visit, time of admission, diagnosis of disease, and disposition of the two age groups were compared. The Chi-square test was used to analyze data.ResultsThe mean age of the elderly patients was 74.7 ± 6.8 years; 56.7% of them were female. Elderly patients accounted for 11.9% of all emergency department visits. The mean number of emergency department visits per year was 1.15 for older elderly patients and 0.75 for younger elderly patients (p < 0.001). The season in which emergency visits are most frequent was winter, and the most frequent presentation times were evening and night shifts (18:00–23:59 hours). The most common emergency department diagnosis among older and younger elderly patients was related to circulatory disease (26.3% and 21.2%, respectively; p < 0.001). Nearly 90% of the elderly were discharged from the emergency department. Older elderly patients were more likely to be admitted to the hospital than younger elderly patients (14.3% vs. 4.7%).ConclusionThe annual rates of admission to the emergency departments and hospitals were significantly higher in the older elderly population than in the younger elderly population. The most common diagnoses among elderly patients were disorders of the circulatory system.