Older Emergency Department Patients

Assessment of frail older emergency patients can be complicated by multimorbidity, polypharmacy, functional decline, altered homeostasis, and communication barriers. Acute hospital admission is common in this population and is associated with mortality, longer stays, and discharge to places other than home. Older adults with frailty often present to emergency departments with complex clinical pictures rather than single acute conditions. Minor injuries in frail older patients can lead to unnecessary, unwanted, and costly admissions when geriatric and social factors are not addressed early.