Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment in the Emergency Department for Identifying Elderly Individuals at Risk of Hip Fracture.

Background: Hip fracture (HF) is a major challenge for healthcare systems in terms of increased costs and lengths of stay, and it has been estimated that by 2050, half of the projected 6.26 million global HFs will occur in Asia. Owing to the high morbidity and mortality associated with HF in elderly individuals, it is crucial to recognize at-risk elderly patients in the ED so that special precautions and preventive measures can be taken. While comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) has been shown to improve outcomes and prevent secondary fractures in elderly individuals with HF in outpatient settings, there is a lack of data to identify elderly Asian patients who are at risk of HF via using CGA in the emergency department (ED). The aim of this study is to identify the characteristics of elderly Asian patients in the ED who have an increased risk of HF via CGA.

Methods: A case-control study was conducted in the ED at Taipei Veterans General Hospital, a medical center located in Taipei, Taiwan, from October 2018 to December 2019. Patients > 75 years old with and without HF were compared using data obtained from CGAs conducted by trained nurses.

Results: A total of 85 HF patients (cases) and 680 non-HF patients were enrolled, among whom 340 non-HF control individuals (controls) were selected by simple random sampling. HF occurred more frequently in women and in patients with depressive symptoms. An association between decreased handgrip strength and HF risk, especially in men, was also identified ( p = 0.011). The variables independently associated with the presence of HF in the multivariate analysis were female sex (odds ratio [OR]: 2.229; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.332-3.728) and decreased handgrip strength (OR: 2.462; 95% CI: 1.155-5.247).

Conclusions: By performing CGAs in the ED, we found that female sex and decreased handgrip strength were associated with HF risk. Therefore, we propose that targeted assessment of handgrip strength in female patients aged > 75 years in the ED may identify those at greatest risk of HF, resulting in improved emergency care for geriatric patients.