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The prevalence and documentation of impaired mental status in elderly emergency department patients
Hustey FM, Meldon SW.. Annals of emergency medicine, 2002-03-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Study objective We sought to determine the prevalence of mental status impairment in elderly emergency department patients and to assess documentation of and referrals by emergency physicians for mental status impairment after discharge from the ED. Methods We performed a prospective, observational study of a convenience sample of 297 patients 70 years or older presenting to an urban teaching hospital ED over a 12-month period. Patients were screened with the Orientation-Memory-Concentration examination for cognitive impairment and the Confusion Assessment Method for delirium. Documentation, dispositions, and referrals were abstracted from chart review. Results Two hundred ninety-seven of the 337 eligible patients were enrolled. Seventy-eight of the 297 (26%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 21% to 31%) patients had mental status impairment; 30 (10%; 95% CI 7% to 14%) had delirium; 48 (16%; 95% CI 12% to 20%) had cognitive impairment without delirium; 17 (6%; 95% CI 3% to 9%) screened positive on both examinations. Only 22 (28%; 95% CI 19% to 40%) of the 78 patients had any documentation of mental status impairment by the emergency physician. Specific mention of delirium, cognitive impairment, or an acceptable synonym was noted in 13 (17%; 95% CI 9% to 27%). Of 34 (44%; 95% CI 32% to 55%) patients with mental status impairment discharged home, only 6 (18%; 95% CI 7% to 35%) had plans documented by the emergency physician to address impairment. Eleven (37%; 95% CI 20% to 56%) of the 30 patients with delirium were discharged home. Sixteen (70%; 95% CI 47% to 87%) of the 23 patients with cognitive impairment who were discharged home had no prior history of dementia; these patients were less likely to have specialized assistance with care (13%; 95% CI 4% to 27%) than those with known dementia (58%; 95% CI 28% to 85%). Conclusion Impaired mental status is common among older ED patients. Lack of documentation, admission, or referral by emergency physicians suggests a lack of recognition of this important problem.
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APA 7th
Hustey, F. M., & Meldon, S. W. (2002). The prevalence and documentation of impaired mental status in elderly emergency department patients. Annals of emergency medicine. https://doi.org/10.1067/mem.2002.122057
Vancouver
Hustey FM, Meldon SW. The prevalence and documentation of impaired mental status in elderly emergency department patients. Annals of emergency medicine. 2002. doi:10.1067/mem.2002.122057. PMID: 11867976.
BibTeX
@article{hustey2002-11867976,
author = {Hustey, F. M. and Meldon, S. W.},
title = {{The prevalence and documentation of impaired mental status in elderly emergency department patients}},
journal = {Annals of emergency medicine},
year = {2002},
doi = {10.1067/mem.2002.122057},
pmid = {11867976},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1067/mem.2002.122057}
}
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Key findings
- Results Two hundred ninety-seven of the 337 eligible patients were enrolled.
Study details
- Participants297
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 45/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multicenter collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 26 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 45 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Annals of emergency medicine) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2002 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 297 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomized / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multicenter collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 11867976) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 26 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 26 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 45 out of 100. |
| Total | 45 / 100 | — |
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