NEW HAVEN >> Senior citizens who are treated in the emergency department and sent home are at higher risk of disability and worsening health within the next six months, according to research published Friday by Yale physicians.
It has already been shown that hospitalizations result in higher disability rates and decline in older patients, but this study focused on what happens after a senior is treated and discharged from the emergency department without being admitted, according to a Yale University press release.
The study said medical and long-term care for newly disabled seniors costs $26 billion a year in the United States, according to the release.
In a study lasting 14 years, information on 700 older adults was examined, comparing those who visited the emergency department and later suffered from disability or were admitted to the hospital with others who did not visit the emergency department. Nursing home admissions and deaths were taken into account, the release said. Click here to continue reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment