Tuesday, December 2 | 9:50 a.m.-10:00 a.m. | T3-SSER01-3 | Room N228
In this session, data from a team at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston will be presented on emergency imaging use among homeless patients over the age of 65.
The findings highlight a substantial burden of both traumatic and nontraumatic pathology, most commonly fractures and pneumonia, notes study lead Sharmila Duraisamy, MD.
Older adults experiencing homelessness represent a growing population, with over 1.5 million Americans experiencing housing insecurity annually, according to the group. This vulnerable population also has disproportionately high rates of emergency department use, and yet little is known about the specific patterns and diagnostic yield of emergency imaging in this group, they noted.
The study included 1,480 emergency department visits among 240 elderly homeless patients from 2015 to 2024 at two large academic centers in the northeastern U.S. The researchers reviewed imaging reports and categorized them by modality: x-ray, CT, ultrasound, and MRI. They manually analyzed impressions for positive findings, as well as grouped patients by revisit intervals: < 30 days, 31-90 days, 90-180 days, 180-365 days, and > 1 year.
Out of the 1,480 visits, 468 (31.6%) included imaging, totaling 467 studies: 291 x-ray (62.3%), 159 CT (34%), 15 ultrasound (3.2%), and 2 MRI (0.4%). Positive findings were seen in 136 patients (29.3%), with 36.7% traumatic (mainly fractures and soft tissue injuries) and 63.6% non-traumatic (most commonly pneumonia). Over half (57.5%) had two or more emergency department visits within 30 days.
“Our findings support the need for targeted interventions to improve continuity of care and reduce reliance on emergency services among unhoused older adults,” according to the group.
Get all of the details by sitting in on this Tuesday morning session.