The adherence of Turkish emergency departments to geriatric guideline recommendations

Objectives This study aims to determine the availability of geriatrics-friendly protocols, pieces of equipment, and physical environments alongside potential opportunities of improvement in the emergency departments of our country.

Methods This prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted between the 1st and 29th of February, in the year 2024, within the AI, AII, B group- and university hospitals in Turkey. A questionnaire form consisting of three subdivisions in which general pieces of information, information regarding appropriate personnel/management for geriatrics-friendly emergency departments, equipment/materials, and the presence of physical environments was presented online to the participants and the responses that were provided online were evaluated.

Results The study was conducted with a total of 175 participants from hospital emergency departments. The number of hospitals with monthly older patient application amounts of 500 and above was 133 (76.0%). It was observed that personnel/management knowledge was, relative to guideline suggestions, at low levels. When the appropriateness of personnel/management knowledge and total equipment/materials were compared to hospital roles, it was determined that university hospitals adhered closest to the guideline and that inter-group differences were significant (p<0.001).

Conclusions It was determined that the compliance of emergency departments in Turkey with the criteria specified in the geriatric emergency department guidelines is at very low levels.