Emergencies in the Geriatric Patient

Any clinician who has spent time working in the emergency department (ED) in recent years knows that our patients are getting older. During my last shift, 11 out of the 25 patients I cared for were over the age of 65, three of whom were over the age of 75, and one of the patients was over the age of 90. Care of these patients was challenging: each of them brought with them a host of prior medical problems, significant risks for polypharmacy, and sometimes vague complaints. Evaluations were sometimes further confounded by hearing problems, memory issues, and altered mental status.
Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Foreword Source Type: research