Introduction: The proportion of older patients admitted in the Emergency departments (ED) is increasing. This study aimed to determine patients' characteristics associated with a request for a geriatric consultation (GC) in an academic ED. Methods: Patients aged 75 years or older, admitted to the ED over a 4 month period were eligible. N = 202 patients were enrolled. Data on socio-demographic, health, functional (basic activities of daily living; BADL), cognitive and affective status were collected. GC were identified from the hospital electronic medical records. Hospitalization in the previous 6-month period were retrieved from the hospital database. Characteristics of patients with and without a CG were compared. Results: Overall, 32 patients (15.8%) benefited from a GC in the ED. Patients with a GC were older (84.9 ± 5.4 vs 82.9 ± 5.4 years, p = 0.03), more dependent in BADL score (4.8 ± 1.6 vs 5.5 ± 1.0, p = 0.01), more frequently admitted after a fall (43.7% vs 19.4%, p = 0.01), and hospitalized in the previous 6-month period (53.1% vs 30.6%, p = 0.02). In multivariate logistic regression, admission for a fall (Adj OR 4.0, 95% CI 1.3-7.8, p = <0.01), a recent hospitalization (Adj OR 2.7, 95% CI 1.3-6.8, p = 0.02) were associated with higher odds of a GC. Inversely, higher independency in BADL (Adj OR 0.7, 95% CI 0.5-0.9, p = <0.01) was associated with lower odds of GC. Conclusion: Only 1 in 6 older ED patients benefited from a GC. Higher dependency, admission for a fall and hospitalization in the previous 6 months were most strongly associated with requesting a GC. Further study should investigate whether GC are associated with specific health trajectories.