Predictors of ED attendance in older patients with chronic disease: a data linkage study.

ConclusionThis study suggests that ED presentation is associated with greater frailty and multimorbidity in patients. Further research is necessary to determine why higher rates of chronic disease management through GP management plans and more frequent visits did not mediate higher rates of presentation and the reasons behind the socioeconomic differences in ED presentation for patients in this age group.What is known about the topic?Increases in the volume and rate of ED presentations by older people will markedly affect emergency and acute hospital care and patient flow as the proportion of older Australians increases.What does this paper add?We used a novel and highly transferable data linkage between data collected from the clinical records of general practice patients and their associated data from ED and hospital settings and examined the relationship between GP management received by older patients with chronic disease and ED attendance.What are the implications for practitioners?Increasing utilisation of GP services may not have an effect on reducing ED attendance, particularly for older patients who may experience poorer overall health. PMID: 32674754 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Australian Health Review - Category: Hospital Management Authors: Tags: Aust Health Rev Source Type: research