Prevalence and pattern of geriatric emergencies in a teaching hospital of North India

Introduction: Changing demographic patterns worldwide and improvement in health care has contributed to increasing visits to the emergency department by elderly patients. Geriatric patients usually have multiple co-morbidities and declining physiological functional status. This complex interplay of various factors requires a specific and rated approach from the emergency physicians.Our aim was to study the pattern and prevalence of geriatric emergencies and the profile of infectious and non-infectious causes of fever in geriatric population in our tertiary care center. Materials and Methods: This retrospective descriptive study was carried out at a tertiary care hospital of north India and included all patients aged more than 18 years who visited the emergency department over a period of six months (July 2018 to December 2018). Detailed data regarding demographic, clinical and diagnosis was obtained retrospectively from the hospital records system. The patients were divided into two groups, age less than 60 years and elderly patients more than 60 years of age for comparison. Results: A total of 24768 patients above the age of 18 years visited the emergency department over a period of six months. Out of which 5399 (27.5%) patients belonged to the geriatric age group more than 60 years of age. 2474 (45.8%) geriatric age group patients were triaged to critical areas level one and level two as compared to 4668 (24.1%) patients aged less than 60 years. Ninety (1.8%) geriatric patients succumbed to death as compared to 77 (0.4%) patients aged less than 60 years. 651 (21.9%) geriatric patients were shifted to intensive care unit as opposed to 1038 (14.8%) patients of the younger age group.226 (4.2%) geriatric patients presented with fever in the emergency department.116 (73.4%) patients having underlying co-morbidities, had fever due to infectious causes whereas 42 ( 26.5%) patients had fever due to non-infectious causes. Conclusion: The clinical presentation mortality and morbidity pattern of geriatric patients differs significantly from that of younger population and requires a customized approach and dedicated emergency setups.