title: Why do geriatric patients attend otolaryngology emergency rooms?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  With an aging population, health care of the elderly population is becoming increasingly important; however, the principles of geriatric medicine and issues of concern specific to geriatric otolaryngologic patients have not been widely applied.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To qualitatively analyze otolaryngological (EN1) emergencies in a geriatric population in an ENT emergency department (ED).
  
  
  METHODS
  In this retrospective study the medical records of patients > or = 65 years of age who attended our ENT-ED between 3 pm and 8 am and who were observed and/or treated by the on-call otorhinolaryngologist at Sheba Medical Center in 2009 were reviewed for age, gender, main complaint, and preliminary diagnosis. Allergic reactions, balance disorders, epistaxis, head/facial trauma and swallowing-related complaints were considered true emergencies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The staff in the ENT-ED examined and treated 1-10 geriatric patients daily (mean 2.35). A total of 597 subjects met the study entry criteria (median age 75 years); 16.6% were > or = 85 years old. There was approximately equal gender representation. More elderly patients presented to the ENT-ED on the weekends (37.9% of the total) compared to weekdays (62.1%). There were 393 patients (65.8%) with true emergencies, of which epistaxis, balance disorders and head and facial trauma were the most common diagnoses (20.1%, 15.75% and 13.7%, respectively), while 46.5% of all vestibulopathy cases involved benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  More than 65% of visits of the elderly presenting to ENT-ED involve true emergencies. This growing population may benefit from the presence of geriatric specialists in emergency departments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, affiliated with Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Elad
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dagan
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: Lela M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Migirov
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D004630:Emergencies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010036:Otolaryngology; D010038:Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors