Improving the care for older emergency department patients: the Acutely Presenting Older Patient study

Acutely ill older people who arrive in the emergency department (ED) are particularly vulnerable, with a high risk of undesired outcomes: loss of independence, loss of quality of life or even death. In the Netherlands, 3 months after over 70-year-old patients visit the ED for any reason around 10% are deceased and another 20% do not functionally recover up to the level prior to ED presentation [1]. Not surprisingly, those who suffer loss of functional capacity also report reduction of quality of life [2].Various factors complicate the care for older people in the ED and contribute to the high risk of adverse out…