Profile and initial management of infection in elderly patients in an Emergency Department

Objective. To determine the clinical profile and the initial management of elderly patients with acute infections attending Spanish Emergency Departments (EDs), and to analyse whether there are any differences compared to younger adults. Material and methods. A descriptive, cross-sectional, multicentre study using the data recorded in the INFURG-SEMES register. It included a total of 79,654 of 15 years or over treated for an acute infection in 49 Spanish EDs between 10 October 2010 and 20 September 2011. Demographic variables, clinical profile, and care in the ED, were collected. The classifying variable was to be 65 years or over. Results. Of the total of 11,399 cases, 4,255 (37.3%) were 65 years or over. Statistically significant differences were found on comparing the elderly with the younger adults as regards the presence of a high comorbidity (P<.001), of at least one risk factor for multidrug resistance (P<.001), or septic syndrome (P<.001), type of infection (P<.001), taking of the specimen for blood culture (P<.001), determination of antigens in urine (P<.001), the antibiotic prescribed in the ED (P<.001), and final destination (P<.001). Conclusions. There are significant age-dependent differences in the profile and management of patients with infections that attend Spanish EDs, which must be taken into account when developing strategies for improving quality, as well as for future lines of research (AU)