Utilization of the Accident & Emergency Departments by Chinese elderly in Hong Kong

Characteristic patterns of emergency ambulance assignments for older adults compared with adults requiring emergency care at home in Sweden: a total population study

BACKGROUND

Since the vast majority of older adults in Sweden live in their private homes throughout life, the emergency medical services need to adapt accordingly. Hence, we aimed to describe characteristic patterns of dyadic staffed emergency ambulance assignments for older adults aged > 70 years compared with adults aged 18-69 years requiring emergency care at home in Sweden.

METHODS

A descriptive retrospective study was performed using anonymized registry data from the emergency medical services in a region of Sweden during 2017-2018. One-sample χ² test, one-way analysis of variance, and binary logistic regression models were used for investigating group differences. Variables for analysis were age, gender, clinical assessments, on-scene time, priority levels, result of response, and temporal patterns.

RESULTS

Of all included emergency ambulance assignments (n = 28,533), 59.9% involved older adults, of which 53.8% were women. The probability for older adults to receive the highest priority was decreased for both dispatch (p < 0.001, odds ratio [OR] 0.63, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.59-0.66), and transport priorities (p < 0.001, OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.68-0.80). Older adults were more likely to receive dispatch priority levels 2 (p < 0.001, OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.40-1.56), and 3 (p < 0.001, OR 1.73, 95% CI 1.46-2.06). The older adults were similarly more likely to receive transport priority level 3 (p < 0.001, OR 1.40, 95% CI 1.28-1.52) compared with adults. Age had a small but additive effect in relation to on-scene time (p < 0.001, R² = 0.01, F = 53.82). Distinguishing initial clinical assessments for older adults were circulatory, respiratory, trauma, infection, and nonspecific assessments. Emergency ambulance assignments for older adults were more frequently occurring on Mondays (p < 0.001, χ² = 232.56), and in the 08:00-11:59 interval (p < 0.001, χ² = 1224.08).

CONCLUSION

The issues of the lower priority level preponderance, and the decreased probability for receiving the highest priority warrant further attention in future research and clinical practice.

Validity and reliability of the triage scale in older people in a regional emergency department in Hong Kong

Background:

Older people (⩾65 years) present a unique challenge in emergency department triage. Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority adopts a five-level emergency department triage system, with no special considerations for older people. We evaluated the validity and reliability of this triage scale in older people in a regional Hong Kong emergency department.

Methods:

In total, 295 cases stratified by triage category were randomly selected for review from November 2016 to January 2017. Validity was established by comparing the real emergency department patients’ triage category against (1) that of an expert panel and (2) the need for life-saving intervention. Triage notes were extracted to make case scenarios to evaluate inter- and intra-rater reliabilities. Emergency department nurses (n = 8) were randomly selected and grouped into <5 and ⩾5 years emergency department experience. All nurses independently rated all 295 scenarios, blinded to clinical outcomes.

Results:

The percentage agreement between the real emergency department patients’ triage category and the expert panel’s assignment was 68.5%, with 16.3% and 15.3% over-triage and under-triage, respectively. Quadratic weighting kappa for agreement with the expert panel was 0.72 (95% confidence interval: 0.53–0.91). The sensitivity, specificity and positive likelihood ratio for the need for life-saving interventions were 75.0% (95% confidence interval: 47.6%–92.7%), 97.1% (95% confidence interval: 94.4%–98.8%) and 26.2 (95% confidence interval: 12.5%–54.8%), respectively. The Fleiss kappa value for inter-rater reliability was 0.50 (95% confidence interval: 0.47–0.54) for junior and senior nurse groups, respectively.

Conclusion:

The current triage scale demonstrates reasonable validity and reliability for use in our older people. Considerations highlighting the unique characteristics of older people emergency department presentations are recommended.

Feasibility of predictive model by clinical and laboratory parameters for risk stratification of geriatric abdominal pain

Background:

Assessment of geriatric patients presented with abdominal pain had been challenge for emergency physicians with the ageing population. A rapid, reproducible risk stratification model for the assessment of the need for admission for geriatric abdominal pain would be required to identify low-risk patients to be managed as out-patient basis.

Objective:

Assess the feasibility of risk stratification model to predict the need of hospital admission based on readily available bedside parameters in emergency departments.

Methods:

This is a multicenter retrospective cohort study in four emergency departments. Patients aged at least 65 who presented with chief complaint of abdominal pain within the previous 7 days of attendance as the chief complaint were included. Chart review was performed for the included patients. The primary outcome was defined as a composite of mortality, abdominal surgery or endoscopic treatment, and other inpatient treatments for abdominal diseases within 14 days, surrogating the need of hospital admission. Logistic regression was modeled to identify independent predictors. The diagnostic accuracy of the risk model was evaluated with the receiver operating characteristic curve and compared with the clinical gestalt of decision for hospital admission by the attending physician.

Results:

In total, 553 patients were included. Symptoms of upper gastrointestinal bleeding, non-ambulatory presenting status, pain duration, focal abdominal tenderness, hyperglycemia, leukocytosis, and elevated creatinine were independent predictors of the outcome. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the predicted probabilities of the logistic model was 0.741. In keeping for a low-risk criterion to achieve more than 90% sensitivity, the predictive model would only achieve 18.2% specificity which was inferior to clinical gestalt for hospital admission (sensitivity 99.3%, specificity 44.3%).

Conclusion:

Risk stratification model by clinical assessment and laboratory markers alone were inadequate and inferior to clinical gestalt for identification of the group of patients requiring inpatient treatment.

Are the Filipino domestic helpers caring the home-dwelling elders in Hong Kong competent to provide first aid in a medical emergency?

Background:

The healthcare need of the elderly in Hong Kong is a major issue. Foreign domestic helpers, especially those from the Philippines, play a significant role in response to the healthcare need of a home-dwelling elder as they are often the sole caregiver of the elders.

Objectives:

This study primarily aimed at exploring the Filipino domestic helpers’ knowledge of and attitude to managing a medical emergency of a home-dwelling elder.

Methods:

This was a questionnaire survey of the Filipino domestic helpers working in Hong Kong and was conducted from 1 July 2015 to 29 February 2016. The survey collected their demographic data, evaluated their first aid knowledge by a test of multiple-choice questions and assessed their attitudes to providing first aid to the elders they cared in terms of confidence and perceived responsibility. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the findings.

Results:

In all, 398 Filipino domestic helpers were surveyed. Most had completed university education. About one third had been trained in first aid. The average mark attained by the respondents on first aid knowledge assessment was 4.5 (full mark = 16). Their knowledge was especially poor in heat exhaustion, choking, external bleeding, epistaxis and scald injury. Their median confidence score was 10 (full score = 15) and median perceived responsibility score was 13 (full score = 20).

Conclusion:

The first aid knowledge among the Filipino domestic helpers surveyed in this study was poor. They were not confident enough in providing first aid to an elder and their perceived responsibility was also low.

Association between the elderly frequent attender to the emergency department and 30-day mortality: A retrospective study over 10 years

BACKGROUND

To determine if elderly frequent attenders are associated with increased 30-day mortality, assess resource utilization by the elderly frequent attenders and identify associated characteristics that contribute to mortality.

METHODS

Retrospective observational study of electronic clinical records of all emergency department (ED) visits over a 10-year period to an urban tertiary general hospital in Singapore. Patients aged 65 years and older, with 3 or more visits within a calendar year were identified. Outcomes measured include 30-day mortality, admission rate, admission diagnosis and duration spent at ED. Chi-square-tests were used to assess categorical factors and Student t-test was used to assess continuous variables on their association with being a frequent attender. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were conducted on all significant independent factors on to the outcome variable (30-day mortality), to determine factor independent odds ratios of being a frequent attender.

RESULTS

1.381 million attendance records were analyzed. Elderly patients accounted for 25.5% of all attendances, of which 31.3% are frequent attenders. Their 30-day mortality rate increased from 4.0% in the first visit, to 8.8% in the third visit, peaking at 10.2% in the sixth visit. Factors associated with mortality include patients with neoplasms, ambulance utilization, male gender and having attended the ED the previous year.

CONCLUSION

Elderly attenders have a higher 30-day mortality risk compared to the overall ED population, with mortality risk more marked for frequent attenders. This study illustrates the importance and need for interventions to address frequent ED visits by the elderly, especially in an aging society.