Elderly patients make up a disproportionately high proportion of emergency department visits and represent a high-risk sub group for urosepsis. As a component of the geriatric syndrome, acutely ill patients will often present to triage lacking the cardinal signs and symptoms of infection. Further research is necessary to describe geriatric urosepsis and provide a foundation for education for emergency department providers and triage staff. A retrospective, descriptive approach was utilized to examine geriatric patients age 50 years and over who presented to the emergency department with clinically validated urinary tract infection and sepsis. Geriatric age sub-groups as well as discharge mortality was used to compare the clinical and demographic features present with advancing age and urosepsis. Patients meeting urosepsis diagnosis criteria between June 2005 and June 2010 at a community hospital were queried and 270 of these met inclusion criteria. A significant difference in means between younger geriatric age groups (50-64 years) versus older groups (65-74, 75-84, and 85 and over) was observed with regard to presenting symptoms of acute change in mental status, dysuria, chills/ rigors, and nausea/ vomiting. Clinical variables also varied between age groups to include platelets, neutrophils, blood urea nitrogen, initial triage temperature, triage heart rate, highest obtained emergency department temperature and heart rate. On average there also existed significant difference in age, hospital length of stay, body mass index, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, albumin, triage temperature, and highest temperature.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/195510 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Ciesielski, Gail Lea |
| Contributors | Reel, Sally, Reel, Sally, Abraham, Ivo, Rigney, Ted |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Electronic Dissertation |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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