| Title |
Clinical differences among the elderly admitted to the emergency department for accidental or unexplained falls and syncope
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Clinical Interventions in Aging, April 2017
|
| DOI | 10.2147/cia.s127824 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Giuseppe Pasqualetti, Valeria Calsolaro, Giacomo Bini, Umberto Dell’Agnello, Marco Tuccori, Alessandra Marino, Alice Capogrosso-Sansone, Martina Rafanelli, Massimo Santini, Eugenio Orsitto, Andrea Ungar, Corrado Blandizzi, Fabio Monzani |
| Abstract |
It is difficult to distinguish unexplained falls (UFs) from accidental falls (AFs) or syncope in older people. This study was designed to compare patients referred to the emergency department (ED) for AFs, UFs or syncope. Data from a longitudinal study on adverse drug events diagnosed at the ED (ANCESTRAL-ED) in older people were analyzed in order to select cases of AF, syncope, or UF. A total of 724 patients (median age: 81.0 [65-105] years, 66.3% female) were consecutively admitted to the ED (403 AF, 210 syncope, and 111 UF). The number of psychotropic drugs was the only significant difference in patients with AF versus those with UF (odds ratio [OR] 1.44; 95% confidence interval 1.17-1.77). When comparing AF with syncope, female gender, musculoskeletal diseases, dementia, and systolic blood pressure >110 mmHg emerged as significantly associated with AF (OR 0.40 [0.27-0.58], 0.40 [0.24-0.68], 0.35 [0.14-0.82], and 0.31 [0.20-0.49], respectively), while valvulopathy and the number of antihypertensive drugs were significantly related to syncope (OR 2.51 [1.07-5.90] and 1.24 [1.07-1.44], respectively). Upon comparison of UF and syncope, the number of central nervous system drugs, female gender, musculoskeletal diseases, and SBP >110 mmHg were associated with UF (OR 0.65 [0.50-0.84], 0.52 [0.30-0.89], 0.40 [0.20-0.77], and 0.26 [0.13-0.55]), respectively. These results indicate specific differences, in terms of demographics, medical/pharmacological history, and vital signs, among older patients admitted to the ED for AF and syncope. UF was associated with higher use of psychotropic drugs than AF. Our findings could be helpful in supporting a proper diagnostic process when evaluating older patients after a fall. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 2 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 2 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 2 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 55 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 55 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Master | 15 | 27% |
| Other | 8 | 15% |
| Student > Bachelor | 6 | 11% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 6 | 11% |
| Professor | 3 | 5% |
| Other | 9 | 16% |
| Unknown | 8 | 15% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine and Dentistry | 20 | 36% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 9 | 16% |
| Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 7 | 13% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 1 | 2% |
| Psychology | 1 | 2% |
| Other | 5 | 9% |
| Unknown | 12 | 22% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 30 April 2017.
All research outputs
#17,239,390
of 25,382,440 outputs
Outputs from Clinical Interventions in Aging
#1,252
of 1,968 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#206,094
of 323,961 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Clinical Interventions in Aging
#28
of 34 outputs
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