2023 Volume 7 Issue 1 Pages 24-31
Background and Purpose: In recent years, the number of emergency admissions of elderly patients living alone without relatives or family support has been increasing. In order to clarify these trends, we reviewed emergency hospitalization cases at our hospital.
Material and methods: We examined the characteristics of emergency admissions of 36 elderly patients without relatives or family support from March 2015 to June 2021.
Results: At the time of admission, information about the patient's life and medical care was scare, and in 15 cases no information was obtained. In 15 cases family members were contacted, and in 11 cases family members were the key persons. When the patient lost the ability to make decisions, it was sometimes difficult to obtain medical consent for invasive procedures. The median length of stay was 27.5 days, with longer stays for nursing homes (p<0.01).
Conclusion: Elderly patients who were transported to the hospital by emergency medical services without relatives or family support may have difficulty obtaining medical consent for invasive procedures because they may be treated for the first time in the absence of medical information and key persons. Obtaining medical consent for invasive procedures for them was sometimes difficult.
