LOS ANGELES: Almost a fifth of emergency department visits by the elderly are for problems that could have been managed by their doctors.
A study found hospital visits by older people were clogging emergency departments.
A senior research fellow said the alarming figures would be replicated around the world.
The research debunked the commonly held belief that most avoidable visits from the elderly were for falls and fractures outside business hours. Rather, it found that most complaints were for eye and ear problems. The peak of their presentations were on Monday at 9am.
Preventive care by Doctors was also lacking, potentially accounting for some of the hospital visits by those aged over 70…