EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT UTILIZATION BY THE ELDERLY - ANALYSIS OF THE NATIONAL HOSPITAL AMBULATORY MEDICAL-CARE SURVEY

Objective: To characterize the ED utilization patterns of the elderly population using nationally representative data. Methods: A secondary analysis was performed using the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS), a nationwide, stratified probability sample of E D encounters. Using these physician-reported data, the demographics, p atient complaints, physician diagnoses, and dispositions were compared by age group, i.e., young-old (age 65-84 years) vs old-old (age great er than or equal to 85 years). Results: The elderly (age greater than or equal to 65 years) represented 5,038 (19.6%) of 25,646 ED encounter s for all adults (age greater than or equal to 18 years). The geriatri c age groups (ages 65-74, 75-84, and greater than or equal to 85 years ) accounted for 45.3%, 37.4%, and 17.2% of all the encounters by the e lderly. The proportions of female patients and white patients were hig her with increasing age, The proportion of elderly patients hospitaliz ed was 4 times that of younger adults and reflected monotonic increase with increasing age among elders, Patient complaints and physician di agnoses were generally similar for the young-old (65-84 years) and the old-old (greater than or equal to 85 years). Conclusions: These findi ngs are consistent with previous single-center studies of geriatric ED patients. This data source may be useful for investigation of clinica l issues related to the care of elderly ED patients.