[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_column_text]Partners

• Gerontopole of the Pays de la Loire (France)
• MSD France            

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]Context

The accumulation of multiple chronic conditions in elderly patients leads to a weakening of their overall state of health with varying degrees, culminating in the formation of a sector of the population with highly variable levels of overall health. The problem of treating elderly patients is, therefore, contained in the ability to identify the more vulnerable patients who require specific treatment as early as possible and directing them to the proper specialists to meet their medical and social needs in order to avoid complex care pathways.

Standardized Geriatric Assessment (SGA), which makes it possible to assess the extent of patients’ vulnerability, is the first step in any efficient geriatric treatment. In its traditional form, it requires significant resources due to the need for multiple healthcare professionals to be involved, in addition to the time required to assess and prepare a treatment plan. As SGA is a tool reserved for specialists, short and simple triage tools are being developed.

Recently, we have successfully demonstrated the feasibility of a short SGA included in a clinical tool named “Emergency Room Evaluation & Recommendations ” (ER²) both in the hospital and in the community, as well as demonstrating its value in predicting long-term hospital admissions, triggering a process to reduce the duration of these inpatient stays. No study to date has addressed a population of extremely elderly patients attending for primary care consultations.

We formulate the hypothesis that the application of ER² by a primary care physician, i.e., a general practitioner, during the course of a consultation at the doctor’s office, may predict a complex care pathway (defined as involving hospitalization, medical consultations, institutionalization or death) in patients living at home and aged eighty years or older.

Objective

> To determine whether an ER² test performed by a primary care medicine during a consultation at the doctor’s office in patients living at home and aged eighty years or older can predict the occurrence of an unplanned hospital admission during a six-month follow-up period.

Actions

• Establishment of a partnership with the Gerontopole of the Pays de la Loire (France)
• Performance of the study
• Data analysis and report preparation
• Authorship of an article in a scientific journal

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]