Introduction: World Health Organization data suggests the Western population is aging and living longer with multiple medical co-morbidities. Octogenarians and nonagenarians have been shown to have longer patient experience times (PET) and longer boarding times in Emergency Departments (ED) than younger patients. Methods: Automatic system-generated monthly and annual reports were examined from 2014 to 2024 to determine the frequency of attendance of patients in age groups greater than 80 years on a year-by-year basis. Data was examined using Microsoft Excel to determine trends. Results: ED attendances overall grew from 29,239 in 2014 to 49,560 in 2024 year to date. This represents a 41% rise in overall attendance. 2014 Raw data reveals a total of 2,194 attendances in the over 80 years of age cohort, or 7.50% of overall attendances. This increased to a full year maximum of 4,705 attendances in 2022, comprising 9.78% of all attendances. Year to date, 2024 looks to exceed that figure with 4,610 attendances to November 5th, comprising 9.30% of all attendances. Growth in attendance by over-80-year-old attendees was 52.41%. Over 90- year-old presentations increased from 365 (1.25%) in 2014 to 895 (1.81%) year to date 2024. Conclusion: ED attendances in general rose over the 11 years examined (41.00%); however, the rise in over-80s attendances greatly exceeded this (52.41%). This cohort of patients is more likely to require additional services such as frailty team, occupational therapy, semi-urgent primary care follow up and transport away from the ED when discharged. A larger proportion of this cohort will also require admission, indicating a growing trend in admissions, also of a cohort likely to have a longer length of stay, with implications for acute bed capacity at a time when capacity overall is constrained.
Molloy et al. (Sun,) studied this question.