Abstract
OBJECTIVE
To describe the characteristics of elderly patients attended in a teaching hospital emergency room due to falls.
METHOD
Descriptive, quantitative, cross-sectional study performed at a hospital emergency room. The data was collected in November 2017, considering the medical records of 1.460 elderly patients, with a registry related to fall as the main complain. A descriptive analysis of the data was performed.
RESULTS
The main results show that most elders were female (66.92%), older than 80 years old (27.27%), single (41.37%), and hypertensive (78.79%). Falls from ground level comprised 88.56% and their main consequence was trauma (55.65%). 66.30% were discharged after consultation.
CONCLUSION
The characteristics of the elderly were: female, age above 80 years old, single, and hypertensive. The most frequent type of fall was from ground level, traumas were the main consequences and the discharge after consulting the most common outcome.
Keywords:
Accidentals falls; Health of the elderly; Emergency medical services