Elderly patients could overwhelm ambulance services
Image courtesy: Ambulance Victoria
A paper by Monash University researcher Judy Lowthian reveals the rate of emergency ambulance use among people aged 85 or over has almost doubled in the 14 years from 1995 to 2008. Studying data provided by Ambulance Victoria, she found that use of the service had increased from 248 out of every 1000 people to 474 per 1000 people.
Ms Lowthian said that while there was a dramatic growth in ambulance use across the board, the rise was driven by those aged over 75, with the 85-plus age group being of particular concern.
“Emergency health services are already stretched, so this increase is likely to have a serious impact on hospital emergency departments,” said Ms Lowthian.
“When an elderly patient arrives in an ambulance and has nobody with them, it is more likely that they will be admitted, which has a knock-on effect on acute hospital flow and the ability to provide timely emergency care.”
Predictive modeling has shown that, due to a rapidly ageing population, the growth is set to continue, with even older patients expected to increase demand for emergency ambulances within the next few years.
Ms Lowthian suggests that factors such as increased social isolation – working family members are increasingly less able to care for older relatives – and reduced access to GPs, has meant the elderly often have little option except to dial ‘000.’
During the next phase of her research Ms Lowthian will conduct patient interviews in emergency departments and look at ten years of data covering emergency admissions at hospitals across Melbourne.
“The interviews with elderly patients will mean I can gather more detailed information. Combined with the data analysis, we can develop a clearer picture of the causes behind the increase and understand its impact on patients, staff and hospital infrastructure,” said Ms Lowthian.
Ms Lowthian’s research paper, ‘The challenges of population ageing: accelerating demand for emergency ambulance services by older patients, 1995–2015’ was published today in the Medical Journal of Australia. The paper can be viewed online at the MJA website.