Abstract
IntroductionFalls are a frequent reason geriatric patients visit the emergency department (ED). To help providers, the Geriatric Emergency Department Guidelines were created to establish a standard of care for geriatric patients in the ED. We conducted a survey of emergency providers to assess 1) their knowledge of fall epidemiology and the geriatric ED guidelines; 2) their current ED practice for geriatric fall patients; and 3) their willingness to conduct fall-prevention interventions.MethodsWe conducted an anonymous survey of emergency providers including attending physicians, residents, and physician assistants at a single, urban, Level 1 trauma, tertiary referral hospital in the northeast United States.ResultsWe had a response rate of 75% (102/136). The majority of providers felt that all geriatric patients should undergo screening for fall risk factors (84%, 86/102), and most (76%, 77/102) answered that all geriatric patients screened and at risk for falls should have an intervention performed. While most (80%, 82/102) answered that geriatric falls prevention was very important, providers were not willing to spend much time on screening or interventions. Less than half (44%, 45/102) were willing to spend 2–5 minutes on a fall risk assessment and prevention, while 46% (47/102) were willing to spend less than 2 minutes.ConclusionEmergency providers understand the importance of geriatric fall prevention but lack knowledge of which patients to screen and are not willing to spend more than a few minutes on screening for fall interventions. Future studies must take into account provider knowledge and willingness to intervene.
Highlights
Falls are a frequent reason geriatric patients visit the emergency department (ED)
Emergency providers understand the importance of geriatric fall prevention but lack knowledge of which patients to screen and are not willing to spend more than a few minutes on screening for fall interventions
We conducted an anonymous survey in June–August 2017 of emergency providers including attending physicians, residents and physician assistants (PA) at a single, tertiary, Level 1 trauma center located in the northeast United States that sees approximately 100,000 adult patients per year, 25% of whom are over the age of 65
Summary
Falls are a frequent reason geriatric patients visit the emergency department (ED). The Geriatric Emergency Department Guidelines were created to establish a standard of care for geriatric patients in the ED. We conducted a survey of emergency providers to assess 1) their knowledge of fall epidemiology and the geriatric ED guidelines; 2) their current ED practice for geriatric fall patients; and 3) their willingness to conduct fall-prevention interventions. Falls are common among the geriatric population. In an attempt to standardize geriatric ED care, the Geriatric
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