years, a n unprecedented increase in the size of the elder population is occurring. In 1980, elders represented 11.3% of the population (25.5 million).' By the year 2000, that percentage is projected to be 13.1% (more than 35 million).' Using the U S . Census Bureau middle-mortality series projections, the number of elders will reach almost 68 million by 2040.* The very old (75-84 years of age) are expected to include more than 12 million persons by the year 2000, representing a 58% increase over Elder patients are frequent users of the ED. While individuals aged 65 and older represented 12% of the population in 1990,2 they made up 15% of ED visit^.^ When seen in the ED, elder patients often present with complex problems and needs that differ greatly from those of younger patients. Elder patients often require higher levels of service and spend more time in the ED than do other patients. They require more physician and nurse time during evaluation, treatment, and discharge planning phases. Their use of ancillary services and support personnel, such as social workers, is greater.6-B Meeting these more intense needs for larger numbers of elders will be a significant challenge for emergency services in the future.In 1992, we reported the results of a study of the use of the ED by elder patients using data from 70 hospitals in 25 ~t a t e s .~ Based on that sample, we were able to make national projections for the
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.