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Does the identification of seniors at risk (ISAR) score effectively select geriatric patients on emergency admission?

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Abstract

The number of older patients admitted to emergency departments (ED) increases continuously. The Identification of Seniors at Risk (ISAR) score is currently recommended to screen patients in German ED, but its appropriateness is being criticized. ISAR scores and clinical characteristics from 98 emergency admissions (EA), 80 from acute geriatrics (AG) and 89 from a geriatric rehabilitation (GR) unit were compared retrospectively. No significant differences were found between groups, being the ISAR score positive in 87.7% of EA, 94.9% of AG and 94.4% of GR cases. None of positively identified geriatric patients in the EA was transferred to the geriatric ward of competence. EA patients showed significantly higher number of functional impairments (p = 0.001) and higher BI score (p < 0.0001) compared to AG and GR groups. A higher ISAR score threshold and additional functional information might be needed to better select patients in need of prompt treatment by a geriatric team.

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Acknowledgements

This study was presented at the 2018 German Gerontology and Geriatrics Conference.

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Correspondence to W. Weinrebe.

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All the above listed authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

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The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Cologne as well as by the Ethics Committee of the Clinic Wartenberg.

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The authors declare agreement with the statement of human and animals rights.

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Being based on a retrospective data analysis there was no need for informed consent.

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Heppner HJ and Polidori MC are equal supervisors.

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Weinrebe, W., Schiefer, Y., Weckmüller, K. et al. Does the identification of seniors at risk (ISAR) score effectively select geriatric patients on emergency admission?. Aging Clin Exp Res 31, 1839–1842 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-018-1105-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-018-1105-8

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