Annie TOULOUSE-FOURNIER
Relationship between anxiety symptoms and the risk of emergency department revisits in patients 65 years and older before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a prospective cohort study
Seniors[1] suffering from anxiety and several medical conditions are likely to experience complications (e.g., errors in medication prescription, lack of follow-up with other professionals, etc.) during their transition of care between the emergency department (ED) and their home. Thus, these seniors are at higher risk of revisiting an ED in the days following their initial discharge. These adverse events increase ED traffic and generate significant costs for the healthcare system. Several factors have already been identified as predictors of ED revisits, including the presence of medical comorbidities, polypharmacy, and older age. On the other hand, few studies have looked at whether anxiety symptoms (AS) predict the risk of revisits, independent of other factors associated with revisits. This question has become even more important since the arrival of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has led to an increase in the level of anxiety among seniors. The pandemic thus offers the opportunity to assess the association between anxiety and ED revisits in the context of a health crisis. The objective of this project is to assess whether AS increase the risk of revisiting an ED within 3, 7, and 30 days following the initial discharge (1st study) and to compare this association between the different pandemic phases (2nd study). This knowledge will be used to assess the potential effect of systematic screening for AS and management of AS during the transition of care between the ED and the community to reduce ED revisits, in addition to informing on measures to be put in place to meet the needs of seniors during the next health crisis.
[1] The terms “seniors” and “elderly” will be used throughout the text to refer to individuals aged 65 and over.