Effect of Home Health Services on Emergency Department Admissions of Geriatric Patients: A District Example

ABSTRACT
Objective: The elderly population is increasing worldwide and in Turkish society due to increased life expectancy, decreased mortality rate, and developments in medicine. This situation, together with the aging society, brings with it the need for quality long-term care of geriatric patients and the effective use of ethical principles such as autonomy, justice, and non-maleficence by considering a holistic ethical approach in elderly care. In this study, we aimed to determine the demographic and general characteristics of geriatric patients admitted to the emergency department (ED) and to compare the ED admissions of those who benefit from Home Health Services (HHS) with those who do not use this service.
Materials and Methods: The study was conducted as a retrospective file review in the ED of a district state hospital, taking into account that there is only one ED in the district, and HHS patients cannot apply to another emergency department. It was aimed to access the data of all patients aged 65 years and over who applied to the ED within 1 year.
Results: It was found that 11.4% (n=13,261) of 116,263 examinations performed in the ED within one year belonged to individuals in the geriatric age group. The median age of the patients admitted to the ED who were registered to HHS was 77 (65-101), while the median age of those who were not registered was 72 (65-107).
Conclusion: Many results obtained in this study, especially the fact that the rate of repeated admissions, which is an important indicator for the health system and the ED, is higher in geriatric patients enrolled in HHS, indicate that there is a relationship between HHS and ED admissions. This suggests that making HHS and home care practices more efficient may reduce geriatric patients’ ED visits.
Keywords: Home care services, health services, geriatric, emergency department visits, ethics, medical