One Score Fits All? A Narrative Review on Early Warning Scores for Older Adults in the Emergency Department in the Era of Personalized Medicine

Valeria Maccauro; Piergiacomo Maria Cacciamani Fanelli; Davide Antonio Della Polla; Nicola Bonadia; Giuseppe De Matteis; Andrea Piccioni; Antonio Gasbarrini; Claudio Sandroni; Francesco Franceschi; Marcello Covino

doi:10.3390/jpm16020098

One Score Fits All? A Narrative Review on Early Warning Scores for Older Adults in the Emergency Department in the Era of Personalized Medicine

J Pers Med. 2026 Feb 6;16(2):98. doi: 10.3390/jpm16020098.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Emergency Department, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy.
² Department of Geriatrics, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy.
³ Department of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy.
⁴ Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy.
⁵ Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy.

Abstract

Background: The growing use of Emergency Departments (EDs) by older adults highlights the need for early and accurate identification of clinical deterioration. Early Warning Scores (EWSs) are widely implemented tools based on standardized vital sign thresholds; however, their performance in elderly patients is inconsistent, likely reflecting the biological heterogeneity, multimorbidity, and reduced physiological reserve typical of this population. Objectives: This narrative review aims to summarize current evidence on the use of EWSs in adults aged ≥ 65 years presenting to the ED, with a specific focus on mortality and intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and to discuss their role within the evolving framework of personalized medicine. Sources: A narrative review of 36 clinical studies published between 2014 and 2025 was conducted. Content: Traditional scores such as National Early Warning Score (NEWS), National Early Warning Score 2 (NEWS2), Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS), VitalPAC Early Warning Score (ViEWS), Rapid Acute Physiology Score (RAPS) and Rapid Emergency Medicine Score (REMS) show variable and often reduced prognostic accuracy in older and frail patients. Evidence consistently suggests that applying uniform cut-off values fails to capture individual vulnerability in elderly patients. The integration of age, frailty, comorbidities, and baseline physiological status improves risk stratification. Second-generation tools-including Copeptin-NEWS, NEWS-L, suPAR-NEWS, OPERA, and RISE UP-as well as artificial intelligence-based models, represent emerging personalized approaches to clinical deterioration prediction. Implications: No single score currently provides reliable early risk prediction for all elderly ED patients. Moving beyond "one-size-fits-all" EWSs toward adaptive, person-centered models may better reflect the complexity of geriatric emergency care and improve prognostic accuracy.

Keywords: early warning scores; emergency department; frailty; older adults; personalized medicine; risk stratification.

Publication types

Review