Older Adults who Frequently Attend the ED
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Older Adults who frequently attend the Emergency Department – Trends and Associations
IRAS ID
178279
Contact name
Rosa McNamara
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Kings College London
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 2 months, 15 days
Research summary
Patients who frequently attend or make unscheduled returns to the Emergency Department (ED) have become a focus for health policy in the UK in recent years.
In wider studies looking at general reattendance rates to the ED, repeat attender account for 4.5% to 8% of all ED patients but account for up to 28% of all ED visits (La Calle & Rabin 2010). Older adults make up approximately 8% of all frequent attenders (Eagle et al 1993, Salazar et al 2005). It appears that older adults who represent to the ED are a group who often have complex, multi-morbid and life-threatening medical conditions and are at increased risk of death compared to younger frequent ED users (McLeod and Olsson 2003, Zafari 2014). However little is known about older adults who re-present to the ED particularly in a UK context, so it is difficult to draw conclusion about how attendances can be diverted or prevented without first understanding the associated factors seen in those older adults presenting frequently to the ED.
This study hopes to gain understanding of the factors associated with frequent use of the ED by older adults in a British setting.
REC name
West Midlands - Edgbaston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/WM/0252
Date of REC Opinion
16 Jul 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion