European journal of emergency medicine : official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine
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Observational Study
The 7-day mortality associated with an early warning score varies between age groups in a cohort of adult Danish emergency department patients.
Early warning scores are designed for monitoring hospitalized patients and enable a timely response to deviating vital signs. The aim of this study was to examine whether 7-day mortality, associated with an initial early warning score, differs between age groups. Our hypothesis was that elderly patients are at greater risk of dying compared to a younger patient with a similar early warning score. ⋯ Our findings show that the oldest emergency department patients (80+ years) have a higher 7-day mortality compared to young patients (16-59 years) with a similar initial early warning score.