The Psycho-geriatric Patient in the Emergency Room (ER) of the Maggiore della Carità Hospital in Novara

Abstract

Introduction

Due to population aging, the health system will face increasing challenges in the next years. Concerning mental disorders, they are major public health issues in late life, with mood and anxiety disorders being some of the most common mental disorder among the elderly. For this reason, increasing attention has to be paid to the evaluation of the elderly in psychiatry emergency settings.

Objectives

To evaluate the socio-demographic and clinical features of over 65 patients referred to psychiatric consultations in the ER of “Maggiore della Carità” Hospital in Novara, in a 7 years period.

Aims

The analysis of the characteristics of the study sample could be potentially useful in resource planning in order to better serve this important segment of the general population.

Methods

Determinants of ER visits for over 65 patients referred to psychiatric evaluation were studied retrospectively from 2008 to 2015.

Results

Elderly patients made up 14,7% (n = 458) of all psychiatric evaluation in the ER (n = 3124). About two thirds (65,9%) were females and one third were males (34,1%). The mean age of patients recruited was 75.11 years. The majority of subjects (68.6%) presented without a diagnosis of Axis I according to DSM-IV. The other most frequent diagnosis was “cognitive disorders” (11.4%) and “mood disorders” (10.9%).

Conclusions

The large proportion of patients without a diagnosis of Axis I, could be related to the misunderstanding of the psychosocial aspects of aging. Preliminary results highlight the importance of research on this topic, considering population aging and the impact of mental disorders in late-life.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.