Frailty in European Emergency Departments
The FEED study was our ambitious project spanning 2022-2024. We used flash-mob data collection at 68 emergency departments over a single day in July 2023 to observe over 5700 individuals and, as our primary objective, quantify the prevalence of frailty in European emergency care.
Read about our headline paper on the FEED study here
Read about our site survey assessing operational models here
GeriEM European Research Agenda
Our research agenda has been published in European Geriatric Medicine, 2021 Apr;12(2):413-422
It is available open access here!
A European Research Agenda for Geriatric Emergency Medicine: a modified Delphi study
Simon P Mooijaart, Christian H Nickel, Simon P Conroy, Jacinta A Lucke, Lisa S van Tol, Mareline Olthof, Laura C Blomaard, Bianca M Buurman, Zerrin D Dundar, Bas de Groot, Beatrice Gasperini, Pieter Heeren, Mehmet A Karamercan, Rosa McNamara, Aine Mitchell, James D van Oppen, F Javier Martin Sanchez, Yvonne Schoon, Katrin Singler, Renan Spode, Sigrun Skúldóttir, Thordis Thorrsteindottir, Marije van der Velde, James Wallace
Abstract
Purpose: Geriatric Emergency Medicine (GEM) focuses on delivering optimal care to (sub)acutely ill older people. This involves a multidisciplinary approach throughout the whole healthcare chain. However, the underpinning evidence base is weak and it is unclear which research questions have the highest priority. The aim of this study was to provide an inventory and prioritisation of research questions among GEM professionals throughout Europe.
Methods: A two-stage modified Delphi approach was used. In stage 1, an online survey was administered to various professionals working in GEM both in the Emergency Department (ED) and other healthcare settings throughout Europe to make an inventory of potential research questions. In the processing phase, research questions were screened, categorised, and validated by an expert panel. Subsequently, in stage 2, remaining research questions were ranked based on relevance using a second online survey administered to the same target population, to identify the top 10 prioritised research questions.
Results: In response to the first survey, 145 respondents submitted 233 potential research questions. A total of 61 research questions were included in the second stage, which was completed by 176 respondents. The question with the highest priority was: Is implementation of elements of CGA (comprehensive geriatric assessment), such as screening for frailty and geriatric interventions, effective in improving outcomes for older patients in the ED?
Conclusion: This study presents a top 10 of high-priority research questions for a European Research Agenda for Geriatric Emergency Medicine. The list of research questions may serve as guidance for researchers, policymakers and funding bodies in prioritising future research projects.