Language

English

Publication Date

10-21-2025

Journal

BMJ Open

DOI

10.1136/bmjopen-2024-095894

PMID

41125269

PMCID

PMC12548595

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

10-21-2025

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Abstract

Introduction: The rapidly growing population of older adults (individuals aged 65 years and older) presents a new set of challenges for healthcare providers in the emergency department (ED), given the prevalence of severe and life-threatening conditions among this group, such as chronic cancer, Alzheimer's disease/dementia and congestive heart failure. ED encounters often represent a critical point in an older patient's trajectory of care and can thus be an important opportunity for various interventions such as palliative care consultation. Therefore, identifying those who will benefit most from palliative care is of high importance, especially in determining the course of future treatment. Thus, we aim to conduct a systematic review assessing the efficacy of palliative care screening in the ED by assessing inpatient length of stay as the primary outcome and quality of life, percentage of hospitalisation and cost of care as secondary outcomes.

Methods: This study will use Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, EBSCO CINAHL, Web of Science and Cochrane as databases. The study population comprises adults aged 60 years and older, with no focus on any specific clinical specialty or disease. Patients who have not received palliative care screening will serve as the comparator. Only studies with an applicable comparator will be considered. Studies published from 1 January 2000 to 1 July 2025 will be included.All articles will be reviewed independently and in duplicate, and every author will participate in the review, data abstraction and conflict resolution process.

Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval is not required as it is a protocol for a systematic review. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.

Prospero registration number: CRD42024562389.

Keywords

Humans, Palliative Care, Systematic Reviews as Topic, Emergency Service, Hospital, Aged, Meta-Analysis as Topic, Quality of Life, Research Design, Length of Stay, Mass Screening, Hospitalization, Palliative Care, Geriatric Medicine, Aging, Emergency Service, Hospital, Accident & Emergency Medicine, Emergency Departments

Published Open-Access

yes

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