Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the sociodemographic and clinical profile of elderly patients treated at an Emergency Care Unit. Methods: Descriptive study, with a quantitative approach and survey of secondary data of 375 elderly patients treated over a period of one year. Results: The sample was predominantly female (61.6%) and had a mean age of 72.94 years. The main complaints were related to limb problems (30.1%), followed by abdominal pain (11.5%), malaise (10.7%), dyspnea (9.9%), low back pain (7, 5%) and chest pain (5.3%). Only 10.9% were classified as critically ill patients. The main flowcharts used were extremity problems (26.7%), followed by malaise in adults (10.7%) and abdominal pain in adults (10.7%). Recent mild pain (40.5%), moderate pain (20.3%) and edema (3.2%) were the most prevalent discriminators. After medical care, 86.4% were discharged home. Conclusion: It was possible to identify that an important portion of the consultations were non-urgent consultations and that, in large part, they could be attended and resolved in primary health care, which points to a mischaracterization of the real role of the emergency units attendance.