Epidemiological profile of elderly patients treated in the emergency room of a university hospital in Brazil

Abstract

This study aims to describe demographic characteristics, hospitalization information and medical history, as well as to trace the epidemiological profile of elderly patients treated in the Emergency Room (ER) of the Hospital das Clínicas – UFG (HCUFG). It is a cross-sectional and descriptive study. Through the analysis of medical records, from January 2015 to July 2016, patients aged 60 years or more who remained in the ER for over 24 hours or died during this period were selected. Based on the medical records, the following variables were searched: sociodemographic aspects, symptomatic complaints, causes of hospital admission, complications during hospital stay, medical history (comorbidities and medications in use) and discharge conditions. From the 743 adult patients seen in the period, 29.87% were elderly, totaling 222 patients studied. The median age of the elderly assisted was 69 years old, with the majority being male. The main complaints referred to in the screening process were nausea and vomiting. Infection was the most frequent cause of hospitalization, and most of the patients evolved without complications. Hypertension and diabetes mellitus were the most prevalent comorbidities (65,77% e 43,24%, respectively). Approximately 41, 89% of the patients presented polypharmacy. The mean length of hospital stay was 4.9 days. During the period, 18, 47% died and 71.17% were discharged with improvement of their clinical condition. In general, the results were compatible with the literature. It is expected that this data contribute to national knowledge about elderly patients seen in the emergency medical services, which is important to develop more directed and resolutive clinical approaches.