PMID- 22935127
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20121004
LR  - 20191210
IS  - 0156-5788 (Print)
IS  - 0156-5788 (Linking)
VI  - 36
IP  - 3
DP  - 2012 Aug
TI  - Medical Assessment Units and the older patient: a retrospective case-control 
      study.
PG  - 331-5
LID - 10.1071/AH11076 [doi]
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of a Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) on older 
      patients. METHODS: Retrospective case-control study of patients 65 years and 
      above admitted to the MAU (study group) and the general medical wards (control 
      group) in Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital from 1 October 2008 to 31 March 2009 with 
      four most common Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRG) ('falls and gait disorder', 
      'chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)', 'other major respiratory diseases 
      and 'cellulitis'). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Length of stay (LOS) in Emergency 
      Department (ED) and in the hospital, mortality, readmissions within 1 month, and 
      discharge destination. RESULTS: Eighty-nine patients were studied; 47 in the MAU 
      group and 42 in the non-MAU group. The MAU cohort was significantly older (84.1 +/- 
      7.9 years v. 80.4 +/- 7.8 years, respectively, P=0.03); and had shorter ED LOS (4.9 
      +/- 3.0h v. 6.5 +/- 2.8h, P=0.012). Overall hospital LOS did not differ except for 
      patients with 'cellulitis', (5.7 +/- 4.9 days for MAU cohort v. 14.8 +/- 6.8 days for 
      non-MAU cohort, P=0.022). There was no significant difference in mortality, 
      readmission rate or discharge destination. Conclusions. The MAU can be an 
      effective service model for older patients. More research is required to confirm 
      this and to define the key elements that are essential for its effectiveness.
FAU - Ong, Bin S
AU  - Ong BS
AD  - Medical Assessment Unit and Department of Aged Care, Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital, 
      Eldridge Road, NSW 2200, Australia. bin.ong@sswahs.nsw.gov.au
FAU - Van Nguyen, Huong
AU  - Van Nguyen H
FAU - Ilyas, Mohammad
AU  - Ilyas M
FAU - Boyatzis, Irene
AU  - Boyatzis I
FAU - Ngian, Vincent J J
AU  - Ngian VJ
LA  - eng
PT  - Comparative Study
PT  - Evaluation Study
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - Australia
TA  - Aust Health Rev
JT  - Australian health review : a publication of the Australian Hospital Association
JID - 8214381
MH  - Aged
MH  - Aged, 80 and over
MH  - Case-Control Studies
MH  - Emergency Service, Hospital/*organization & administration
MH  - *Hospital Units
MH  - Humans
MH  - *Models, Organizational
MH  - Retrospective Studies
MH  - Triage/organization & administration
EDAT- 2012/09/01 06:00
MHDA- 2012/10/05 06:00
CRDT- 2012/09/01 06:00
PHST- 2011/08/17 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2011/12/22 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2012/09/01 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2012/09/01 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2012/10/05 06:00 [medline]
AID - AH11076 [pii]
AID - 10.1071/AH11076 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Aust Health Rev. 2012 Aug;36(3):331-5. doi: 10.1071/AH11076.