ArticleBMC emergency medicine2022
Factors influencing conveyance of older adults with minor head injury by paramedics to the emergency department: a multiple methods study.
Article in BMC emergency medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ambulance responses to older adults who have fallen: a systematic review.Age and ageing · 2025Pooled it
- HEMS and the challenges of an aging population: a nationwide study of interventions.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Decision-Making for Older Patients in Acute Prehospital Situations: A Scoping Review.Scandinavian journal of caring sciences · 2025Article
- Developing a clinical decision tool to support paramedics when assessing and managing children with minor head injury.BMC emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Factors influencing paramedic conveyance decisions when attending children with minor head injury: a qualitative study.Emergency medicine journal : EMJ · 2025Article
- A national perspective of ambulance clinicians' perceptions, experiences and decision-making processes when assessing older adults with a head injury: a mixed-methods study.British paramedic journal · 2024Article
- College of Paramedics Research Conference 2024.British paramedic journal · 2024Article
- Head injury in older adults presenting to the ambulance service: who do we convey to the emergency department, and what clinical variables are associated with an intracranial bleed? A retrospective case-control study.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2023Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHead injury (HI) in older adults due to low-energy falls result in a substantial number of emergency department (ED) attendances. However, mortality associated with minor HI is very low. Reducing conveyance to hospital is important for older adults and is a priority for the National Health Service (NHS). Therefore, paramedics are required to make accurate decisions regarding conveyance to the ED. This study used routine data and semi-structured interviews to explore the factors that influence paramedic decision-making when considering whether to convey an adult aged 65 years and over with a minor HI to the ED.
methodsSemi-structured telephone interviews were completed with ten UK paramedics from a single EMS (ambulance) provider organisation. Interviews explored the factors influencing the paramedics' conveyance decision-making in adults aged 65 years and over with a minor HI. Data were initially analysed inductively to develop a thematic framework. A retrospective analysis of ambulance service data was also completed to determine the scope and scale of the issue in Southwest England. An in-depth audit of 100 conveyed patient records was used to determine the proportion of patients conveyed to the ED who met National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and Joint Royal Colleges Ambulance Liaison Committee (JRCALC) guidelines.
resultsIn 2019 South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) attended 15,650 emergency calls to patients aged 65 and over with minor HI, with 70.5% conveyed to ED. 81% of conveyed patients met NICE and JRCALC guideline criteria for conveyance, with the remainder conveyed due to wound care or other medical concerns. The framework developed from the interviews comprised four themes: resources; patient factors; consequences; paramedic factors. Important factors included: the patient's social situation; guidelines; clinical support availability; the history and presentation of the patient; risk.
conclusionThis study examined paramedic conveyance decisions for older people with minor HI. It identified multiple influencing factors, highlighting the complex nature of these decisions, and may serve as a basis for developing an intervention to safely decrease ED conveyance in this patient group.
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