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End-of-life care: A retrospective cohort study of older people who died within 48 hours of presentation to the emergency department
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

End-of-life care: A retrospective cohort study of older people who died within 48 hours of presentation to the emergency department

Amy L Sweeny, Nemat Alsaba, Laurie Grealish, Katya May, Ya-Ling Huang, Jamie Ranse, Kerina J Denny, Bill Lukin, Andrew Broadbent, Erin Burrows, …
Emergency medicine Australasia, Vol.36(1), pp.13-23
02/2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1742-6723.14331
PMID: 37914673
Appears in  Recent Faculty of Health Publications
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Published (Version of record)CC BY-NC V4.0,  Open Access
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Abstract

aged critical illness delivery of healthcare emergency service hospital palliative care terminal care
Objectives To describe the characteristics of, and care provided to, older people who died within 48 h of ED presentation. Methods A descriptive retrospective cohort study of people 65 years and older presenting to two EDs in Queensland, Australia, between April 2018 and March 2019. Data from electronic medical records were collected and analysed. Results Two hundred and ninety-five older people who died within 48 h of ED presentation were included. Nearly all arrived by ambulance (92%, n = 272) and 36% (n = 106) were from aged care facilities. Three-quarters (75%, n = 222) were triaged into the most urgent triage categories (i.e. Australasian Triage Scale; ATS 1/2). Fewer than half were previously independent with mobility (38%, n = 111) and activities of daily living (43%, n = 128). Sixty-one per cent (n = 181) had a pre-existing healthcare directive. Twenty-two per cent (n = 66) died in ED, most commonly due to pneumonia, intracerebral haemorrhage, cardiac arrest and/or sepsis. Over half had one or more ED visits (52%, n = 154) and/or hospital admissions (52%, n = 152) 6 months prior. Conclusions Identification of patients at end-of-life (EoL) is not always straightforward; consider recent reduction in independence and recent ED visits/hospital admissions. System-based strategies that span pre-hospital, ED and in-patient care are recommended to facilitate EoL pathway implementation and care continuity.

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