Today’s highly specialized emergency care is poorly adapted to the comprehensive care needs of frail older people, with increased risk of in-hospital adverse events. In Swedish emergency departments (ED), patients over the age of 80 have prolonged length of stay (LOS) than other patients which may expose them to avoidable risks such as falls, malnutrition, pressure ulcers and confusion. In Sweden, patients over the age of 65 account for about 35 % of all emergency visits and about 50 % are admitted to hospital care. The number of patients seeking care in the ED has increased in recent year, in 2015 there were about 2.5 million visits. The ageing population grows rapidly, which is likely to result in an even higher number of older people presenting at the ED in the future. The prevalence of frail older people has not been studied in Swedish EDs, however, about 20-60 % are supposed to be frail and therefore especially vulnerable, which could indicate that about half a million frail older persons seek emergency care on a yearly basis. These patients have received little attention so far and there are no established and unified methods for assessing their needs in emergency care. Early identification of frailty in old people might be valuable to improve the awareness and make priorities for care. A decision support to identify frailty in older people on admission to EDs has the potential to improve care. Recently a short screening instrument for identifying frailty in the ED, the FRESH (FRail Elderly Support researcH) instrument, has been developed and validated for use in Swedish emergency care. However, more studies are needed. Therefore, we want to study whether ED care and hospital care of frail older people can be improved by early identification of frailty in the ED using the FRESH instrument.
Keywords
akutmottagning, sköra äldre, emergency department, frail older people
Research Profile
Health and Social Welfare
Subject
Caring Science
Financiers
Högskolan Dalarna Region Dalarna Regionala Forskningsrådet Uppsala - Örebro regionen
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