Use of resources in elderly patients consulting the emergency department: analysis of the Emergency Department and Elder Needs Cohort (EDEN-21).

The elderly population frequently consults the emergency department (ED). This population could have greater use of EDs and hospital health resources. The EDEN cohort of patients aged 65 years or older visiting the ED allowed this association to be investigated. To analyse the association between healthcare resource use and the characteristics of patients over 65 years of age who consult hospital EDs. We performed an analysis of the EDEN cohort, a retrospective, analytical, and multipurpose registry that includes patients over 65 years of age who consulted in 52 Spanish EDs. The impact of age, sex, and characteristics of ageing on the following outcomes was studied: need for hospital admission (primary outcome) and need for observation, stay in the ED > 12 h, prolonged hospital stay > 7 days, need for intensive care unit (ICU) and return to the ED at 30 days related to the index visit (secondary outcomes). The association was analysed by calculating the adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI), using a logistic regression model. A total of 25,557 patients with a mean age of 78.3 years were analysed, 45% were males. Of note was the presence of comorbidity, a Charlson index ≥ 3 (33%), and polypharmacy (66%). Observation in the ED was required by 26%, 25.4% were admitted to the hospital, and 0.9% were admitted to the ICU. The ED stay was > 12 h in 12.5% and hospital stay > 7 days in 13.5% of cases. There was a progressive increase in healthcare resource use based on age, with an aOR for the need for observation of 2.189 (95% CI 2.038-2.352), ED stay > 12 h 2.136 (95% CI 1.942-2.349) and hospital admission 2.579 (95% CI 2.399-2.772) in the group ≥ 85 years old. Most of the characteristics inherent to ageing (cognitive impairment, falls in the previous 6 months, polypharmacy, functional dependence, and comorbidity) were associated with significant increases in the use of healthcare resources, except for ICU admission, which was less in all the variables studied. Age and the characteristics inherent to ageing are associated with greater use of structural healthcare resources.

Sex- and age-related patterns in the use of analgesics in older patients in the emergency department.

BACKGROUND: Treatment of acute pain in older patients is a common challenge faced in emergency departments (EDs). Despite many studies that have investigated chronic analgesic use in the elderly, data on patterns of acute use, especially in EDs, of analgesics according to patient characteristics is scarce. OBJECTIVE: To investigate sex- and age-related patterns of analgesic use in the Spanish EDs and determine differences in age-related patterns according to patient sex. DESIGN: A secondary analysis of the Emergency Department and Elderly Needs (EDEN) multipurpose cohort. SETTING: Fifty-two Spanish EDs (17% of Spanish EDs covering 25% of Spanish population). PARTICIPANTS: All patients' ≥65 years attending ED during 1 week (April 1-7, 2019). Patient characteristics recorded included age, sex, chronic treatment with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and opiates, comorbidity, dependence, dementia, depression, ability to walk and previous falls. Analgesics used in the ED were categorized in three groups: non-NSAID non-opioids (mainly paracetamol and metamizole, PM), NSAIDs, and opiates. OUTCOME MEASURES: Frequency of analgesic use was quantified, and the relationship between sex and age and analgesic use (in general and for each analgesic group) was assessed by unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression and restricted cubic spline models. Interaction between sex and age was explored. MAIN RESULTS: We included 24 573 patients, and 6678 (27.2%) received analgesics in the ED: 5551 (22.6%) PM, 1661 (6.8%) NSAIDs and 937 (3.8%) opiates (1312 received combinations). Analgesics were more frequently used in women (adjusted OR = 1.076, 95%CI = 1.014-1.142), as well as with NSAID (1.205, 1.083-1.341). Analgesic use increased with age, increasing PM and decreasing NSAIDs use. Opiate use remained quite constant across age and sex. Interaction of sex with age was present for the use of analgesics in general ( P  = 0.006), for PM ( P  < 0.001) and for opiates ( P  = 0.033), with higher use of all these analgesics in women. CONCLUSION: Use of analgesics in older individuals in EDs is mildly augmented in women and increases with age, with PM use increasing and NSAIDs decreasing with age. Conversely, opiate use is quite constant according to sex and age. Age-related patterns differ according to sex, with age-related curves of women showing higher probabilities than those of men to receive any analgesic, PM or opiates.

Sociodemographic characteristics, comorbidity, and baseline functional status of older patients treated in emergency departments during the COVID-19 pandemic and associations with mortality: an analysis based on the EDENCOVID cohort. / Sociodemografía, comorbilidad y situación funcional basal de los pacientes mayores atendidos en urgencias durante la pandemia de COVID y su relación con la mortalidad: análisis a partir de la cohorte EDEN-Covid.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the sociodemographic characteristics, comorbidity, and baseline functional status of patients aged 65 or older who came to hospital emergency departments (EDs) during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to compare them with the findings for an earlier period to analyze factors of the index episode that were related to mortality. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We studied data from the EDEN-COVID cohort (Emergency Department and Elder Needs During COVID-19) of patients aged 65 years or older treated in 40 Spanish EDs on 7 consecutive days. Nine sociodemographic variables, 18 comorbidities, and 7 function variables were registered and compared with the findings for the EDEN cohort of patients included with the same criteria and treated a year earlier in the same EDs. In-hospital mortality was calculated in the 2 cohorts and a multivariable logistic regression model was used to explore associated factors. RESULTS: The EDEN-COVID cohort included 6806 patients with a median age of 78 years; 49% were women. The pandemic cohort had a higher proportion of men, patients covered by the national health care system, patients brought from residential facilities, and patients who arrived in an ambulance equipped for advanced life support. Pandemic-cohort patients more often had diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, and dementia; they less often had connective tissue and thromboembolic diseases. The Barthel and Charlson indices were worse in this period, and cognitive decline was more common. Fewer patients had a history of depression or falls. Eight hundred ninety these patients (13.1%) died, 122 of them in the ED (1.8%); these percentages were lower in the earlier EDEN cohort, at 3.1% and 0.5%, respectively. Independent sociodemographic factors associated with higher mortality were transport by ambulance, older age, male sex, and living in a residential facility. Mortalityassociated comorbidities were neoplasms, chronic kidney disease, and heart failure. The only function variable associated with mortality was the inability to walk independently. A history of falls in the past 6 months was a protective factor. CONCLUSION: The sociodemographic characteristics, comorbidity, and functional status of patients aged 65 years or older who were treated in hospital EDs during the pandemic differed in many ways from those usually seen in this older-age population. Mortality was higher than in the prepandemic period. Certain sociodemographic, comorbidity, and function variables were associated with in-hospital mortality.

OBJETIVO: Investigar sociodemografía, comorbilidad y situación funcional de los pacientes de 65 o más años de edad que consultaron a los servicios de urgencias hospitalarios (SUH) durante la primera oleada epidémica de COVID, compararlas con un periodo previo y ver su relación. METODO: Se utilizaron los datos obtenidos de la cohorte EDEN-Covid (Emergency Department and Elder Needs during COVID) en la que participaron 40 SUH españoles que incluyeron todos los pacientes de $ 65 años atendidos durante 7 días consecutivos. Se analizaron 9 características sociodemográficas, 18 comorbilidades y 7 variables de funcionalidad, que se compararon con las de la cohorte EDEN (Emergency Department and Elder Needs), que contiene pacientes con el mismo criterio de inclusión etario reclutados por los mismos SUH un año antes. Se recogió la mortalidad intrahospitalaria y se investigaron los factores asociados mediante regresión logística multivariable. RESULTADOS: La cohorte EDEN-Covid incluyó 6.806 pacientes (mediana edad: 78 años; 49% mujeres). Hubo más varones, con cobertura sanitaria pública, procedentes de residencia y que llegaron con ambulancia medicalizada que durante el periodo prepandemia. Presentaron más frecuentemente diabetes mellitus, enfermedad renal crónica, enfermedad cerebrovascular y demencia y menos conectivopatías y enfermedad tromboembólica, peores índices de Barthel y Charlson, más deterioro cognitivo y menos antecedentes de depresión o caídas previas. Fallecieron durante el episodio 890 pacientes (13,1%), 122 de ellos en urgencias (1,8%), porcentajes superiores al periodo prepandemia (3,1% y 0,5%, respectivamente). Se asociaron de forma independiente a mayor mortalidad durante el periodo COVID la llegada en ambulancia, mayor edad, ser varón y vivir en residencia como variables sociodemográficas, y neoplasia, enfermedad renal crónica e insuficiencia cardiaca como comorbilidades. La única variable funcional asociada a mortalidad fue no deambular respecto a ser autónomo, y la existencia de caídas los 6 meses previos resultó un factor protector. CONCLUSIONES: La sociodemografía, comorbilidad y funcionalidad de los pacientes de 65 o más años que consultaron en los SUH españoles durante la primera ola pandémica difirieron en muchos aspectos de lo habitualmente observado en esta población. La mortalidad fue mayor a la del periodo prepandémico. Algunos aspectos sociodemográficos, de comorbilidad y funcionales se relacionaron con la mortalidad intrahospitalaria.