The quality of life of older adults acutely admitted to the emergency department: A cross-sectional study.
Mette Elkjaer, Jette Primdahl, Christian B Mogensen and 2 others
PMID 35488717WHAT IT FOUND
Older adults receiving homecare before emergency admission rated their quality of life lower, especially family and health.
Quality of life during admission did not differ by 30-day readmission.
Key findings
01Among 406 older adults admitted overnight to emergency departments, the mean individual quality of life score was 76.1 on a 0 to 100 scale.
02Patients receiving homecare before admission rated overall quality of life 8.1 points lower, and rated family and health lower than patients without homecare.
03Individual quality of life during admission showed no difference between patients readmitted within 30 days and those not readmitted.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Patients with cognitive impairment, patients unable to consent, and patients expected to stay more than 48 hours were excluded, so the frailest emergency department patients are not represented. The Danish version of the SEIQoL-DW was not fully translated, validated and culturally adapted before the study; it was tested for face validity in three patients, and an initial pilot study involved nine patients. Quality of life was measured during an unplanned emergency admission, when worry, gratitude or anxiety may have affected scores. The study was cross-sectional and observational, so it shows associations rather than cause. The sample size calculation was based on the readmitted and not readmitted comparison. Eighty-eight of 509 eligible patients declined participation, so participants may differ from those who did not take part.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest. The study was funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that homecare caused lower quality of life or that quality of life predicted readmission. The study measured quality of life during admission and found no difference between patients readmitted within 30 days and patients not readmitted.