ArticleBMC emergency medicine2025
The role of vital signs in predicting mortality risk in elderly patients visiting the emergency department.
Article in BMC emergency medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAccurate risk stratification in older adults presenting to the emergency department (ED) is essential but challenging due to atypical presentations and age-related physiological changes. While vital signs are central to triage, their predictive value for short-term mortality in this population remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the association between initial vital signs and 7-day mortality among older ED patients.
methodThis retrospective cohort study included patients aged ≥ 65 years who visited two EDs in Region Halland, Sweden, during 2018. Vital signs, systolic blood pressure (SBP), heart rate (HR), peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO₂), respiratory rate (RR), body temperature, and level of consciousness (LOC), were extracted from the regional health information system. Descriptive statistics, ROC curve analysis, and logistic regression were used to assess associations between categorized vital signs and 7-day mortality, adjusting for age, sex, and comorbidity.
resultsOf 30 327 ED visits, 25 450 patients had at least one recorded vital sign. The mean age was 78 years; 50% were female. The 7-day mortality rate was 2%. ROC analysis showed limited discriminative ability of individual vital signs (AUC range: 0.49-0.70). Low SBP, high HR, low SpO₂, and impaired LOC were statistically significantly associated with mortality. Multivariable logistic regression confirmed these associations, with SBP (≤ 80 mmHg, AOR 7.79; 95% CI 3.27-18.54), high HR (> 125 bpm, AOR 6.37; 95% CI 1.26-32.16), low SpO₂ (≤ 80%, AOR 3.64; 95% CI 1.75-7.58), and impaired LOC (GCS < 13 (AOR 9.30-18.36)) showing the strongest effects.
conclusionLow SBP, elevated HR, reduced SpO₂, and impaired LOC were independently associated with short-term mortality in older ED patients, though their individual predictive performance was modest. LOC, despite being a strong predictor, was frequently missing, underscoring challenges in routine assessment. These findings highlight the need for more comprehensive, geriatric-informed triage systems that incorporate age-related physiological changes and ensure consistent evaluation of LOC. As frailty and functional status was not available in this dataset, future studies should focus on integrated models that include these factors to improve early risk identification in emergency care for older adults. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.