An observational study in Frailty, sponsored by University of Limerick. Recruiting at 1 site in Ireland. Open to participants aged 75 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-11-19.
Sponsored by University of Limerick · Observational
This study will characterise the patients using the Geriatric Emergency Medicine Unit, a unit which provides specialist care for patients aged 75 years and older attending the emergency department. It will examine how this specialist care impacts their health in terms of a number of different outcomes, such as; function, quality of life and health care usage; for example admission to the acute hospital.
The emergency department is a particularly challenging and busy environment, particularly for older adults living with frailty. It is widely acknowledged throughout the literature and national healthcare strategy that these older adults require holistic, person centred care that targets the intricacies of multifaceted, complex health issues.
The geriatric emergency medicine unit (GEM-U) aims to provide such care through the framework of comprehensive geriatric assessment, with in-put from a team of healthcare disciplines. The main aim of this study is to look at how this specialist care impacts patient outcomes, such as acute admission. Clinical and process outcomes of participants will be examined using patient reported outcome measures, which will include;
Participants will be followed at 30 days and 6 months post recruitment. All participants will give fully informed consent. The STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) standardised reporting guidelines will be followed in the conduct and reporting of this research. Data will be statistically analysed
1,284 studies on the registry are indexed under Frailty; 452 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 150 is below the median of 225 across 493 observational studies indexed under Frailty.
Browse Frailty studies →University of Limerick is the lead sponsor of 60 studies on the registry; 9 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
All prospective older adults attending the GEMU that meet inclusion criteria will be invited to participate. However, this will be limited to the working hours of the research team (Monday-Friday, 8:00-20:00).
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Patients presenting with a non-medical issue including major trauma or hip fracture
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
A “mini-stroke”: temporary stroke-like symptoms caused by reduced blood flow to part of the brain, spinal cord or eye, without signs of a new stroke on a scan.
Stroke symptoms need emergency care at once, even if they go away.
TIA (transient ischaemic attack)
A “mini-stroke”: temporary stroke-like symptoms caused by reduced blood flow to part of the brain, spinal cord or eye, without signs of a new stroke on a scan.
Stroke symptoms need emergency care at once, even if they go away.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Our primary outcome is incidence of hospital admission at index GEM-U presentation
Patients who attend GEM-U and have an acute hospital admission at this time
Time frame: Patients are followed at 30 days and 6 months
Mortality
Mortality
Time frame: Patients are followed at 30 days and 6 months
Unscheduled ED revisit
Patients who attend the ED department again during the follow up period
Time frame: Patients are followed at 30 days and 6 months
Unscheduled hospital visit(s)
Patients who have unplanned hospital admission (i.e. not elective procedure) during follow up period
Time frame: Patients are followed at 30 days and 6 months
Nursing home admission
Patients now living in a nursing home
Time frame: Patients are followed at 30 days and 6 months
Healthcare utilization (GP visit, out-patient geriatric services, PHN visit, HSCP services)
Use of primary care and community care services
Time frame: Patients are followed at 30 days and 6 months
Eligibility is decided by the study team. Share this record with your doctor or contact the team directly.
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University of Limerick