PMID- 36920467 OWN - NLM STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE LR - 20230428 IS - 1929-0748 (Print) IS - 1929-0748 (Electronic) IS - 1929-0748 (Linking) VI - 12 DP - 2023 Mar 15 TI - Older Adults, the "Social Admission," and Nonspecific Complaints in the Emergency Department: Protocol for a Scoping Review. PG - e38246 LID - 10.2196/38246 [doi] LID - e38246 AB - BACKGROUND: Older adults have a higher visit rate and poorer health outcomes in the emergency department (ED) compared to their younger counterparts. Older adults are more likely to require additional resources and hospital admission. The nonspecific, atypical, and complex nature of disease presentation in older adults challenges current ED triage systems. Acute illness in older adults is often missed or commonly disguised in the ED as a social or functional issue. If diagnostic clarity is lacking or safe discharge from the ED is not feasible, then older adults may be labelled a "social admission" (or another synonymous term), often leading to negative health consequences. OBJECTIVE: This scoping review aims to describe and synthesize the available evidence on patient characteristics, adverse events, and health outcomes for older adults labelled as "social admission" (and other synonymously used terms), as well as those with nonacute or nonspecific complaints in the ED or hospital setting. METHODS: A literature search of MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, PsycINFO, and CINAHL was completed. Relevant reference lists were screened. Data have been managed using EndNote software and the Covidence web application. Original data have been included if patients are aged >/=65 years and are considered a "social admission" (or other synonymously used term) or if they present to the ED with a nonacute or nonspecific complaint. Two review team members have reviewed titles and abstracts and will review full-text articles. Disagreements are resolved by consensus or in discussion with a third reviewer. This review does not require research ethics approval. RESULTS: As of January 2023, we have completed the title and abstract screening and have started the full-text screening. Some remaining full-text articles are being retrieved and/or translated. We are extracting data from included studies. Data will be presented in a narrative and descriptive manner, summarizing key concepts, patient characteristics, and health outcomes of patients labelled as a "social admission" (and other synonymously used terms) and of those with nonacute and nonspecific complaints. We expect the first results for publication in Spring 2023. CONCLUSIONS: Acute illness in the older adult is not always easily identified. We hope to better understand patient characteristics, adverse events, and health outcomes of older adults labelled as a "social admission," as well as those with nonacute or nonspecific complaints. We aim to identify priorities for future research and identify knowledge gaps that may inform health care providers caring for these vulnerable patients. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/38246. CI - (c)Kayla Rose Furlong, Kathleen O'Donnell, Alison Farrell, Susan Mercer, Paul Norman, Michael Parsons, Christopher Patey. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (https://www.researchprotocols.org), 15.03.2023. FAU - Furlong, Kayla Rose AU - Furlong KR AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-7607-1751 AD - Discipline of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St John's, NL, Canada. AD - Discipline of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St John's, NL, Canada. AD - Carbonear Institute for Rural Reach and Innovation by the Sea, Carbonear, NL, Canada. FAU - O'Donnell, Kathleen AU - O'Donnell K AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-6548-5393 AD - Discipline of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St John's, NL, Canada. FAU - Farrell, Alison AU - Farrell A AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-8111-5616 AD - Health Sciences Library, Memorial University Libraries, Memorial University, St John's, NL, Canada. FAU - Mercer, Susan AU - Mercer S AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-2554-1140 AD - Discipline of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St John's, NL, Canada. FAU - Norman, Paul AU - Norman P AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-9734-5528 AD - Carbonear Institute for Rural Reach and Innovation by the Sea, Carbonear, NL, Canada. FAU - Parsons, Michael AU - Parsons M AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-0341-9467 AD - Discipline of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St John's, NL, Canada. AD - Discipline of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St John's, NL, Canada. FAU - Patey, Christopher AU - Patey C AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-7222-2193 AD - Discipline of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St John's, NL, Canada. AD - Discipline of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St John's, NL, Canada. AD - Carbonear Institute for Rural Reach and Innovation by the Sea, Carbonear, NL, Canada. LA - eng PT - Journal Article DEP - 20230315 PL - Canada TA - JMIR Res Protoc JT - JMIR research protocols JID - 101599504 PMC - PMC10132007 OTO - NOTNLM OT - acopia OT - admission OT - community emergency OT - elderly OT - emergency medicine OT - failure to cope OT - failure to thrive OT - geriatric OT - geriatric emergency OT - hospital OT - non-acute OT - non-medical OT - older adults OT - reasons OT - social OT - social admission OT - visit COIS- Conflicts of Interest: None to declare. EDAT- 2023/03/16 06:00 MHDA- 2023/03/16 06:01 PMCR- 2023/03/15 CRDT- 2023/03/15 11:54 PHST- 2022/05/05 00:00 [received] PHST- 2022/12/21 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2022/11/09 00:00 [revised] PHST- 2023/03/15 11:54 [entrez] PHST- 2023/03/16 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2023/03/16 06:01 [medline] PHST- 2023/03/15 00:00 [pmc-release] AID - v12i1e38246 [pii] AID - 10.2196/38246 [doi] PST - epublish SO - JMIR Res Protoc. 2023 Mar 15;12:e38246. doi: 10.2196/38246.