Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment in the Emergency Department

The significant growth in ED attendances is a growing public health issue, with attendances by older adults accelerating over the past decade, beyond that due to population ageing alone. The reasons underlying older adults higher rate of healthcare utilisation, specifically ED usage, are multifaceted. However, the most potent intrinsic factor is the clinical condition of frailty. The presence of diminished homeostatic reserves leaves older adults more susceptible to acute exacerbations of comorbid and long-term conditions, which result in a concomitant increased demand for emergency care.

A presentation to an ED can be viewed as a sentinel event for an older adult. Conversely, it affords clinicians an opportunity to identify a high risk cohort followed by delivery of a holistic and bio-psychosocial intervention to mitigate against suboptimal outcomes. CGA is considered the gold standard approach to improving a range of outcomes for frail older adults in acute hospitals. Research has demonstrated that it is feasible to embed CGA within the ED and a model of care delivered by interdisciplinary teams incorporating geriatric competencies into their service has been recommended to meet the emergency and urgent care needs of this patient population within the ED. Despite this recommendation, there is no compelling evidence that ED-CGAs are clinically effective at improving clinical and process outcomes.

An ED based interdisciplinary team aim to improve the quality of care and outcomes of older adults through delivery of a CGA. CGA is an intensive interdisciplinary intervention, which assesses an older adult in a holistic fashion incorporating medical, functional, physical and psychological process of care. The team compromises a senior registrar in Geriatric Medicine, specialist geriatric nurse, senior occupational therapist, senior physiotherapist, and senior medical social worker. The investigators propose to explore the clinical and process outcomes of older adults who receive an interdisciplinary ED-CGA over a period of six months after their initial ED attendance through the conduct of a prospective cohort study.

Inclusion criteria

• Aged ≥ 65 years;
• Identification of Seniors at Risk score of ≥ 2;
• Manchester Triage System category of 2 to 5;
• Presenting with a medical complaint.

Exclusion criteria

• Older adults who are deemed not to have capacity to provide informed consent;
• Older adults who present to the ED outside of the operational working hours (Monday-Friday, 08:00-16:00) of the interdisciplinary ED-CGA team;
• Older adults presenting with acute cardiac and/or neurological pathology;
• Older adults presenting with injuries that require surgical intervention;
• Older adults presenting with high illness acuity, which necessitates treatment in the resuscitation room for the duration of their ED stay.