Geriatric Virtual Issue

Welcome to the Geriatrics Virtual Issue

Compiled by Scott T. Wilber, MD

The geriatrics “virtual issue” is a collection of key articles from Academic Emergency Medicine on the emergency management of the older patient. As the population ages, increasing proportions of emergency department visits are being made by older patients. Assessing and managing these patients is a skill of growing importance to the practicing emergency physician. This virtual issue will be updated on an ongoing basis as new articles are published.

Find articles of interest to you using our quick reference menu below

Geriatrics General Geriatrics Education
Assessment Geriatrics Trauma
Public Health Transitions
End of Life Geriatrics Cardiology
Gastroenterology Infectious Disease
Neurology Pharmacology
Systems Cognitive Status


Geriatrics General


Geriatric emergency care

Old and vulnerable in the emergency department

Changing clinical practice in geriatric emergency medicine

A new model for emergency care of geriatric patients

A research agenda for geriatric emergency medicine

Geriatric care in the emergency department

Geriatric emergency medicine and the 2006 Institute of Medicine reports from the Committee on the Future of Emergency Care in the U.S. health system

Thoughtful practice and the older emergency department patient

Introduction: special content focus: geriatric emergency medicine

Emergency department utilization by the elderly: analysis of the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey

Use of emergency departments by elder patients: a five-year follow-up study

Emergency department utilization by noninstitutionalized elders

"Crossing the Quality Chasm" in emergency medicine

Determinants of emergency department visits by older adults

Computer-facilitated Review of Electronic Medical Records Reliably Identifies Emergency Department Interventions in Older Adults

Research Priorities for High-quality Geriatric Emergency Care: Medication Management, Screening, and Prevention and Functional Assessment

Factors Associated with Hospital Admission among Emergency Department Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Exacerbation


Geriatrics Education


The development and evaluation of a geriatric emergency medicine curriculum

Effect of a Geriatric Curriculum on Emergency Medicine Resident Attitudes, Knowledge, and Decision-making

The domain management model – a tool for teaching and management of older adults in emergency department

Elder abuse education in an emergency medicine residency program


Assessment


Multicenter study of case finding in elderly emergency department patients

Screening for geriatric problems in the emergency department: reliability and validity

Pulse oximetry as a fifth vital sign in emergency geriatric assessment

Do elder emergency department patients and their informants agree about the elder's functioning?

A brief risk-stratification tool to predict repeat emergency department visits and hospitalizations in older patients discharged from the emergency department

The use of a brief depression screen in older emergency department patients

Emergency department case-finding for high-risk older adults: the Brief Risk Identification for Geriatric Health Tool (BRIGHT)

The Six-Item Screener to detect cognitive impairment in older emergency department patients

Patients presenting to the emergency department with non-specific complaints: the Basel Non-specific Complaints (BANC) study

Accuracy of the Emergency Severity Index triage instrument for identifying elder emergency department patients receiving an immediate life-saving intervention

Low plasma thiamine levels in elder patients admitted through the emergency department

Determinants of emergency department visits by older adults: A Systematic Review

The domain management model – a tool for teaching and management of older adults in emergency departments

Four Sensitive Screening Tools to Detect Cognitive Dysfunction in Geriatric Emergency Department Patients: Brief Alzheimer’s Screen, Short Blessed Test, Ottawa 3DY, and the Caregiver-completed AD8

Geriatric Syndromes Predict Postdischarge Outcomes Among Older Emergency Department Patients: Findings From the interRAI Multinational Emergency Department Study

Predicting Geriatric Falls Following an Episode of Emergency Department Care: A Systematic Review

Prevalence of Nonmedical Problems Among Older Adults Presenting to the Emergency Department

Problems With Measurement of the Minimum Clinically Significant Difference in Acute Pain in Elders

Validation of the Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit in Older Emergency Department Patients

A risk score to predict arrhythmias in patients with unexplained syncope


Geriatrics Trauma


Elder patients with closed head trauma: a comparison with nonelder patients

Incidence and characteristics of fall-related emergency department visits

Serum glucose levels in elder trauma victims

Effect of a practice guideline for emergency department care of falls in elder patients on subsequent falls and hospitalizations for injuries

Effect of a practice guideline on the process of emergency department care of falls in elder patients

Functional decline in independent elders after minor traumatic injury

Risk factors for infection in patients with traumatic lacerations

Preventive care in the emergency department: should emergency departments institute a falls prevention program for elder patients? A systematic review

The effect of seatbelt use on injury patterns, disposition, and hospital charges for elders

Geriatric trauma patients-are they receiving trauma center care?

Prevalence of traumatic hip and pelvic fractures in patients with suspected hip fracture and negative initial standard radiographs--a study of emergency department patients

Intracranial pathology in elders with blunt head trauma

Elder abuse: keeping the unthinkable in the differential

Utility of base deficit for identifying major injury in elder trauma patients

Identification of fall risk factors in older adult emergency department patients

Short-term Functional Decline and Service Use in Older Emergency Department Patients With Blunt Injuries

Delirium in Older Emergency Department Patients Is an Independent Predictor of Hospital Length of Stay

Predicting Geriatric Falls Following an Episode of Emergency Department Care: A Systematic Review

Does functional decline prompt emergency department visits and admission in older patients

Factors affecting emergency department opioid administration to severely injured patients

Out-of-hospital auricular acupressure in elder patients with hip fracture: a randomized double-blinded trial


Public Health


An emergency medicine approach to violence throughout the life cycle

Elder abuse education in an emergency medicine residency program

Preventive care in the emergency department, Part I: Clinical preventive services–an emergency medicine evidence-based review

Preventive care in the emergency department, Part II: Clinical preventive services–an emergency medicine evidence-based review

Alcohol and tobacco use in the elder emergency department patient: assessment of rates and medical care utilization

Cocaine use in elder patients presenting to an inner-city emergency department

Preventive care in the emergency department: should emergency departments institute a falls prevention program for elder patients? A systematic review

A test of the feasibility of pneumococcal vaccination in the emergency department


Transitions


Advance directives in skilled nursing facility residents transferred to emergency departments

Patient transfer from nursing home to emergency department: outcomes and policy implications

Emergency care for patients in long-term care facilities: a need for better communication

The interface between nursing homes and emergency departments: a community effort to improve transfer of information

Elder care transfer forms

An extended care facility-to-emergency department transfer form improves communication

A Randomized Trial Exploring the Effect of a Telephone Call Follow-up on Care Plan Compliance Among Older Adults Discharged Home From the Emergency Department

Effectiveness of an organized follow-up system for elder patients released from the emergency department

Home care and emergency medicine: a pilot project to discharge patients safely from the emergency department

An emergency department-based nurse discharge coordinator for elder patients: does it make a difference?

A systematic review of interventions to improve outcomes for elders discharged from the emergency department


End of Life


Advance directives in skilled nursing facility residents transferred to emergency departments

Palliative Care Needs of Seriously Ill, Older Adults Presenting to the Emergency Department


Geriatrics Cardiology


A risk score to predict arrhythmias in patients with unexplained syncope

Characteristics and admission patterns of patients presenting with syncope to U.S. emergency departments, 1992-2000

Potential impact of a targeted cardiopulmonary resuscitation program for older adults on survival from private-residence cardiac arrest

Factors affecting cardiac catheterization rates in elders with acute coronary syndromes

The elder patient with suspected acute coronary syndromes in the emergency department

Cardiocerebral resuscitation is associated with improved survival and neurologic outcome from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in elders

Hospital and Emergency Department Factors Associated With Variations in Missed Diagnosis and Costs for Patients Age 65 Years and Older With Acute Myocardial Infarction Who Present to Emergency Departments


Gastroenterology


Emergency department evaluation of geriatric patients with acute cholecystitis

Abdominal pain in geriatric emergency patients: variables associated with adverse outcomes


Infectious Disease


Tuberculosis screening of residents and staff in long-term care facilities

A test of the feasibility of pneumococcal vaccination in the emergency department

Bacteremic elder emergency department patients: procalcitonin and white count

Influenza and emergency department utilization by elders

Charlson Index is associated with one-year mortality in emergency department patients with suspected infection

Systematic delays in antibiotic administration in the emergency department for adult patients admitted with pneumonia

National trends in emergency department antibiotic prescribing for elders with urinary tract infection, 1996-2005

Risk factors for mortality of bacteremic patients in the emergency department

Emergency department lactate is associated with mortality in older adults admitted with and without infections

Age, Nursing Home Residence, and Presentation of Urinary Tract Infection in U.S. Emergency Departments, 2001–2008

Disagreement Between Emergency Physician and Inpatient Physician Diagnosis of Infection in Older Adults Admitted From the Emergency Department

Risk factors for infection in patients with traumatic laceration


Neurology


Cardiocerebral resuscitation is associated with improved survival and neurologic outcome from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in elders

Dizziness presentations in U.S. emergency departments, 1995-2004

The Relationship Between a Chief Complaint of “Altered Mental Status” and Delirium in Older Emergency Department Patients


Pharmacology


Appropriateness of medication selection for older persons in an urban academic emergency department

Drug interactions in at-risk emergency department patients

Emergency physician recognition of adverse drug-related events in elder patients presenting to an emergency department

Potentially inappropriate medication utilization in the emergency department visits by older adults: analysis from a nationally representative sample


Systems


Clinical and economic factors associated with ambulance use to the emergency department

Determinants of emergency department visits by older adults: A Systematic Review

Emergency department utilization by elder persons

Emergency department utilization by noninstitutionalized elders

Emergency department utilization by the elderly: analysis of the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey

The epidemiology of emergency medical services use by older adults: an analysis of the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey

Hospital characteristics and emergency department care of older patients are associated with return visits

Predicting hospital admission and returns to the emergency department for elderly patients

Predictors of emergency medical services utilization by elders

Reclining chairs reduce pain from gurneys in older emergency department patients: a randomized controlled trial

Return to the emergency department among elders: patterns and predictors

Alcohol and tobacco use in the elder emergency department patient: assessment of rates and medical care utilization

Use of emergency departments by elder patients: a five-year follow-up study

A Profile of Acute Care in an Aging America: Snowball Sample Identification and Characterization of United States Geriatric Emergency Departments in 2013

Classification of Emergency Departments According to Their Services for Community-dwelling Seniors

Exploring Patterns of Health Service Use in Older Emergency Department Patients

Optimal Older Adult Emergency Care: Introducing Multidisciplinary Geriatric Emergency Department Guidelines From the American College of Emergency Physicians, American Geriatrics Society, Emergency Nurses Association, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Outcomes of Community-dwelling Seniors Vary by Type of Emergency Department

Palliative Care Needs of Seriously Ill, Older Adults Presenting to the Emergency Department

Potential of Telemedicine to Provide Acute Medical Care for Adults in Senior Living Communities


Cognitive Status


Delirium in Older Emergency Department Patients Is an Independent Predictor of Hospital Length of Stay

Four Sensitive Screening Tools to Detect Cognitive Dysfunction in Geriatric Emergency Department Patients: Brief Alzheimer’s Screen, Short Blessed Test, Ottawa 3DY, and the Caregiver-completed AD8

Validation of the Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit in Older Emergency Department Patients