Study objective: We seek to evaluate whether age greater than 75 years is an independent predictor of prolonged waiting time in the emergency department (ED).
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed all adult attendances to 9 EDs within the Paris area during 2011. The primary endpoint was target waiting time exceeded, defined as a waiting time for medical assessment longer than the maximal recommended waiting time according to triage level. To assess our primary objective, we performed logistic regression using patient- and ED-related variables to determine whether age greater than 75 years was independently associated with higher rate of target waiting time exceeded.
Results: A total of 317,793 patients were included, of whom 173,629 (55%) had an exceeded target waiting time. Mean age was 45.8 years and 12.7% were older than 75 years. Target waiting time was exceeded for 55% of patients: 53% for patients younger than 75 years (95% confidence interval [CI] 53% to 54%) versus 64% for older patients (95% CI 63% to 65%), relative risk 1.20. In the multivariate analysis, age greater than 75 years was independently associated with an exceeded target waiting time (odds ratio [OR] 1.30; 95% CI 1.27 to 1.33). Other variables associated with exceeded target waiting time were triage level (OR 5.45 [95% CI 5.32 to 5.60] for triage level 2 versus triage level 4), high daily occupancy (OR 3.78 [95% CI 3.53 to 4.03]), day of the week (OR 1.12 [95% CI 1.09 to 1.14] for Monday), and time of the visit (OR 1.79 [95% CI 1.76 to 1.82] from 6 pm to 8 am).
Conclusion: Patients older than 75 years are less likely to be seen within the target waiting time.
Copyright © 2013 American College of Emergency Physicians. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.