Research Projects
Functional Outcome After Minor
Traumatic Injury in Elders
Researchers: Rob Partridge, MD;
Marc Shapiro, MD, and David Gifford, MD
This study, funded by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
and the John A. Hartford Foundation, used the setting of the emergency
department to investigate functional decline in elders with minor
injury.
The study population was comprised of independently functioning
elderly patients with acute traumatic injury treated primarily by
emergency physicians and discharged from the emergency department.
Functional outcome was assessed at the time of injury and at a three-month
follow-up. The study found that 7% of independent elderly patients
discharged from the emergency department after a minor injury have
a decline in their ability to perform activities of daily living.
In addition, 22% have a decline in their instrumental activities
of daily living.
Thus, even a minor injury for a highly functional elderly person
may put him or her at risk for functional decline and loss of independence.
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