Determinants of self-rated health in older adults before and 3 months after an emergency department visit: a prospective study

Objectives Self-rated health (SRH) is an important patient-reported outcome, but little is known about SRH after a visit to the emergency department (ED). We investigated the determinants of decline in SRH during 3 months after an ED visit in older patients. Design This was a multicenter prospective cohort study including acutely presenting older (≥70 years) patients in the ED (the Netherlands). Patients were asked to self-rate their health between 0 and 10. The main outcome was a decline in SRH defined as a transition of a SRH of at least 6 to a SRH of less than 6, 3 months after the patient’s visit to the ED. Results Three months after the ED visit, 870 (71.4%) patients had a stable SRH and 209 (11.5%) patients declined in SRH. Independent predictors with a decline in SRH were: male gender (OR 1.83) living alone (OR 1.56), living in residential care or nursing home (OR 2.75), number of different medications (OR 1.08), using a walking device (OR 1.70), and the Katz-ADL score (OR 1.22). Patients with functional decline 3 months after an ED visit show a steeper decline in the mean SRH (0.68 points) than patients with no functional decline (0.12 points, P

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