Predicting Mortality and Length of Stay of Geriatric Patients in an Acute Care General Hospital

Abstract

Three-hundred-eight geriatric patients (mean age = 76.7 yr, range = 70-94 yr) consecutively admitted to an acute care general hospital were followed up to identify the predictors of in-hospital mortality and long stay. Sociodemographic, medical, and functional data were collected within 24 hours from admission and their correlation with the outcomes assessed by logistic regression analysis. The following variables were shown to be independent predictors of death: use of more than 6 drugs (odds ratio = 3.04, confidence limits = 1.05-8.76); abnormal Mini-Mental State score (o.r. = 1.72, c.l. = 1.05-1.83); low ADL score (o.r. = 2.4, c.l. = 1.07-5.56). Extended stay was significantly and independently predicted by polypharmacy (o.r. = 1.94, c.l. = 1.18-3.2) and comorbidity (o.r. = 2.06, c.l. = 1.24-3.38). The mortality rates of patients with cognitive impairment and polypharmacy with or without functional impairment were 40% and 22%, respectively. The proposed method allows identification of high-risk geriatric inpatients by a simple medical and functional assessment on admission.

Profile and causes of mortality among elderly patients seen in a tertiary care hospital in Nigeria

“…This is lower than mean age from other works from both developing and developed nations. [9,[11][12][13][14][15] It is plausible that the wide difference in age at death in those studies compared to ours is due to improvement in standard of living, better socioeconomic facilities, and higher life expectancy. Male deaths constituted 59% of mortality in our report and mean age at deaths in males was lower than in the females.…”

Facteurs prédictifs de mortalité à long terme chez des patients âgés de 75 ans ou plus hospitalisés en urgence : la cohorte SAFES

“…L'altération des fonctions cognitives (démence et/ou confusion) est égale-ment apparue comme facteur indépendant de mortalité. Plusieurs études ont trouvé des résultats similaires [6,10,[27][28][29][30]. Cet effet des troubles cognitifs sur la mortalité persiste aussi bien à court terme (suivis inférieurs à 1 an) [29] qu'à long terme (suivi entre 1 et 8 ans) [10,27,28,31].…”

Risk Factors for Early Emergency Hospital Readmission in Elderly Medical Patients

“…number of impairments in ADL) were two highly significant risk factors for early emergency readmission. Low ADL score reflected the presence of physical frailty, which was a predictor of both mortality and length of hospitalization in elderly patients [27,28]. By recognizing ADL impairment and improving elderly patients' physical functional status through rehabilitation may help decrease early emergency readmission.…”