Emergency department use and length of stay by younger and older adults: Nottingham cohort study in the emergency department (NOCED)

BACKGROUND: Younger and older adults attending the Emergency Department (ED) are a heterogeneous population. Longer length of ED stay is associated with adverse outcomes and may vary by age. AIMS: To evaluate the associations between age and (1) clinical characteristics and (2) length of ED stay among adults attending ED. METHODS: The NOttingham Cohort study in the Emergency Department (NOCED)—a retrospective cohort study—comprises new consecutive ED attendances by adults ≥ 18 years, at a secondary/tertiary care hospital, in 2019. Length of ED stay was dichotomised as < 4 and ≥ 4 h. The associations between age and length of ED stay were analysed by binary logistic regression and adjusted for socio-demographic and clinical factors including triage acuity. RESULTS: 146,636 attendances were analysed; 75,636 (51.6%) resulted in a length of ED stay ≥ 4 h. Attendances of adults aged 65 to 74 years, 75 to 84 years and ≥ 85 years, respectively, had an increased risk (odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of length of ED stay ≥ 4 h of 1.52 (1.45–1.58), 1.65 (1.58–1.72), and 1.84 (1.75–1.93), compared to those of adults 18 to 64 years (all p < 0.001). These findings remained consistent in the subsets of attendances leading to hospital admission and those leading to discharge from ED. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: In this real-world cohort study, older adults were more likely to have a length of ED stay ≥ 4 h, with the oldest old having the highest risk. ED target times should take into account age of attendees. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40520-022-02226-5.