Does patient activation matter? An examination of the relationships between patient activation and healthcare use in older adults with mild frailty after discharge from an emergency department

Objective Patient engagement, as measured by the Patient Activation Measure (PAM® ), has been used to assess patients' ability to manage their own care. This study aimed to determine whether the PAM® could predict healthcare use in older adults aged >70years, living independently in the community with mild frailty, within 30days after emergency department (ED) discharge. Methods A prospective single-centre observational cohort study was completed including older adults who presented to an ED. The 13-item PAM® and selected International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measures were completed prior to ED discharge. Results Two hundred patients were recruited with a mean age of 84.8years (s.d. 6.9). The mean PAM® score was 58.6 (s.d. 13.3), with 12.5% at Level 1 (n =25), 40% at Level 2 (n =80), 34.5% at Level 3 (n =69) and 13.0% at Level 4 (n =26). The PAM® level was significantly associated with ED presentations in the past 6months (P =0.030). The PAM® level did not predict healthcare use within 30days of discharge consisting of time until ED representation (P =0.557), number of ED representations (P =0.560), number of hospital admissions (P =0.499), length of stay in hospital (P =0.254) and number of post-discharge contacts (P =0.667). Conclusions Overall, the PAM® did not predict prospective short-term healthcare use. However, the PAM® was significantly associated with 6-month previous ED use. With more than 50% of patients at Level 1 or 2, indicating lower capacity for self-management, tailored interventions are required to assist mildly frail patients to manage discharge care plans and engage in preventative strategies.