High yield research opportunities in geriatric emergency medicine: Prehospital care, delirium, adverse drug events, and falls

Abstract

Emergency services constitute crucial and frequently used safety nets for older persons, an emergency visit by a senior very often indicates high vulnerability for functional decline and death, and interventions via the emergency system have significant opportunities to change the clinical course of older patients who require its services. However, the evidence base for widespread employment of emergency system-based interventions is lacking. In this article, we review the evidence and offer crucial research questions to capitalize on the opportunity to optimize health trajectories of older persons seeking emergency care in four areas: prehospital care, delirium, adverse drug events, and falls. © The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved.