Differences in survival, length of stay, and discharge disposition of older trauma patients admitted to trauma centers and nontrauma center hospitals

Association between clinical factors and mortality in older adult trauma patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

This study reviews and meta-analysis factors affecting mortality in older adult trauma patients, addressing previously unidentified heterogeneity and risk burden.

METHODS

Databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane and Scopus) were searched for studies from January 1, 2000, to April 30, 2024. Inclusion criteria were patients aged ≥65 years with trauma, assessing survival or death outcomes. Two authors independently screened and extracted data using the PRISMA checklist; disagreements were resolved by a third author.

RESULTS

Eighteen retrospective studies were included (425,355 patients), showing an overall mortality rate of 9.6 ​%. Falls were the predominant cause of injury. Demographic mortality risk factors included advanced age, frailty, male sex, and comorbidities (blood/bleeding disorders, liver disease, cancer, kidney disease, and lung disease). Injury risk factors were identified as contributing to the outcome, including low systolic blood pressure, Glasgow Coma Scale, Injury Severity Score, Revised Trauma Score, and surgical intervention.

CONCLUSION

Trauma significantly elevates the mortality rate in older adults, with advanced age, gender, comorbidities, injury severity, frailty, and surgical intervention being key factors.

Identifying factors predicting outcomes after major trauma in older patients: Prognostic systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

Trauma is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in older people, and it is important to determine the predictors of outcomes after major trauma in older people.

METHODS

MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science were searched, and manual search of relevant papers since 1987 to February 2023 was performed. Random-effects meta-analyses were performed. The primary outcome of interest was mortality, and secondary outcomes were medical complications, length of stay, discharge destination, readmission, and intensive care requirement.

RESULTS

Among 6,064 studies in the search strategy, 136 studies qualified the inclusion criteria. Forty-three factors, ranging from demographics to patient factors, admission measurements, and injury factors, were identified as potential predictors. Mortality was the commonest outcome investigated, and increasing age was associated with increased risk of in-hospital mortality (odds ratio [OR], 1.05; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-1.07) along with male sex (OR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.24-1.59). Comorbidities of heart disease (OR, 2.59; 95% CI, 1.41-4.77), renal disease (OR, 2.52; 95% CI, 1.79-3.56), respiratory disease (OR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.09-1.81), diabetes (OR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.03-1.77), and neurological disease (OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 0.93-2.18) were also associated with increased in-hospital mortality risk. Each point increase in the Glasgow Coma Scale lowered the risk of in-hospital mortality (OR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.76-0.95), while each point increase in Injury Severity Score increased the risk of in-hospital mortality (OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.04-1.09). There were limited studies and substantial variability in secondary outcome predictors; however, medical comorbidities, frailty, and premorbid living condition appeared predictive for those outcomes.

CONCLUSION

This review was able to identify potential predictors for older trauma patients. The identification of these factors allows for future development of risk stratification tools for clinicians.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis; Level III.

Impact of delayed mobile medical team dispatch for respiratory distress calls: a propensity score matched study from a French emergency communication center

BACKGROUND

Shortness of breath is a common complaint among individuals contacting emergency communication center (EMCCs). In some prehospital system, emergency medical services include an advanced life support (ALS)-capable team. Whether such team should be dispatched during the phone call or delayed until the BLS-capable paramedic team reports from the scene is unclear. We aimed to evaluate the impact of delayed MMT dispatch until receiving the paramedic review compared to immediate dispatch at the time of the call on patient outcomes.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study conducted in Lyon, France, using data obtained from the departmental EMCC during the period from January to December 2019. We included consecutive calls related to adult patients experiencing acute respiratory distress. Patients from the two groups (immediate mobile medical team (MMT) dispatch or delayed MMT dispatch) were matched on a propensity score, and a conditional weighted logistic regression assessed the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for each outcome (mortality on days 0, 7 and 30).

RESULTS

A total of 870 calls (median age 72 [57-84], male 466 53.6%) were sought for analysis [614 (70.6%) "immediate MMT dispatch" and 256 (29.4%) "delayed MMT" groups]. The median time before MMT dispatch was 25.1 min longer in the delayed MMT group (30.7 [26.4-36.1] vs. 5.6 [3.9-8.8] min, p < 0.001). Patients subjected to a delayed MMT intervention were older (median age 78 [66-87] vs. 69 [53-83], p < 0.001) and more frequently highly dependent (16.3% vs. 8.6%, p < 0.001). A higher proportion of patients in the delayed MMT group required bag valve mask ventilation (47.3% vs. 39.1%, p = 0.03), noninvasive ventilation (24.6% vs. 20.0%, p = 0.13), endotracheal intubation (7.0% vs. 4.1%, p = 0.07) and catecholamine infusion (3.9% vs. 1.3%, p = 0.01). After propensity score matching, mortality at day 0 was higher in the delayed MMT group (9.8% vs. 4.2%, p = 0.002). Immediate MMT dispatch at the call was associated with a lower risk of mortality on day 0 (0.60 [0.38;0.82], p < 0.001) day 7 (0.50 [0.27;0.72], p < 0.001) and day 30 (0.56 [0.35;0.78], p < 0.001) CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the deployment of an MMT at call in patients in acute respiratory distress may result in decreased short to medium-term mortality compared to a delayed MMT following initial first aid assessment.

Challenges in the PREHOSPITAL emergency management of geriatric trauma patients - a scoping review

BACKGROUND

Despite a widely acknowledged increase in older people presenting with traumatic injury in western populations there remains a lack of research into the optimal prehospital management of this vulnerable patient group. Research into this cohort faces many uniqu1e challenges, such as inconsistent definitions, variable physiology, non-linear presentation and multi-morbidity. This scoping review sought to summarise the main challenges in providing prehospital care to older trauma patients to improve the care for this vulnerable group.

METHODS AND FINDINGS

A scoping review was performed searching Google Scholar, PubMed and Medline from 2000 until 2020 for literature in English addressing the management of older trauma patients in both the prehospital arena and Emergency Department. A thematic analysis and narrative synthesis was conducted on the included 131 studies. Age-threshold was confirmed by a descriptive analysis from all included studies. The majority of the studies assessed triage and found that recognition and undertriage presented a significant challenge, with adverse effects on mortality. We identified six key challenges in the prehospital field that were summarised in this review.

CONCLUSIONS

Trauma in older people is common and challenges prehospital care providers in numerous ways that are difficult to address. Undertriage and the potential for age bias remain prevalent. In this Scoping Review, we identified and discussed six major challenges that are unique to the prehospital environment. More high-quality evidence is needed to investigate this issue further.

The effectiveness of trauma care systems at different stages of development in reducing mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Traumatic injury remains the leading cause of death, with more than five million deaths every year. Little is known about the comparative effectiveness in reducing mortality of trauma care systems at different stages of development. The objective of this study was to review the literature and examine differences in mortality associated with different stages of trauma system development.

METHOD

A systematic review of peer-reviewed population-based studies retrieved from MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL. Additional studies were identified from references of articles, through database searching, and author lists. Articles written in English and published between 2000 and 2020 were included. Selection of studies, data extraction, and quality assessment of the included studies were performed by two independent reviewers. The results were reported as odds ratio (OR) with 95 % confidence intervals (CI).

RESULTS

A total of 52 studies with a combined 1,106,431 traumatic injury patients were included for quantitative analysis. The overall mortality rate was 6.77% (n = 74,930). When patients were treated in a non-trauma centre compared to a trauma centre, the pooled statistical odds of mortality were reduced (OR 0.74 [95% CI 0.69-0.79]; p < 0.001). When patients were treated in a non-trauma system compared to a trauma system the odds of mortality rates increased (OR 1.17 [95% CI 1.10-1.24]; p < 0.001). When patients were treated in a post-implementation/initial system compared to a mature system, odds of mortality were significantly higher (OR 1.46 [95% CI 1.37-1.55]; p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The present study highlights that the survival of traumatic injured patients varies according to the stage of trauma system development in which the patient was treated. The analysis indicates a significant reduction in mortality following the introduction of the trauma system which is further enhanced as the system matures. These results provide evidence to support efforts to, firstly, implement trauma systems in countries currently without and, secondly, to enhance existing systems by investing in system development.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION NUMBER

PROSPERO CRD42019142842 .

New Horizons in Understanding Appropriate Prehospital Identification and Trauma Triage for Older Adults

Caring for older people is an important part of prehospital practice, including appropriate triage and transportation decisions. However, prehospital triage criteria are designed to predominantly assess injury severity or high-energy mechanism which is not the case for older people who often have injuries compounded by multimorbidity and frailty. This has led to high rates of under-triage in this population. This narrative review aimed to assess aspects other than triage criteria to better understand and improve prehospital triage decisions for older trauma patients. This includes integrating frailty assessment in prehospital trauma triage, which was shown to predict adverse outcomes for older trauma patients. Furthermore, determining appropriate outcome measures and the benefits of Major Trauma Centers (MTCs) for older trauma patients should be considered in order to direct accurate and more beneficial prehospital trauma triage decisions. It is still not clear what are the appropriate outcome measures that should be applied when caring for older trauma patients. There is also no strong consensus about the benefits of MTC access for older trauma patients with regards to survival, in-hospital length of stay, discharge disposition, and complications. Moreover, looking into factors other than triage criteria such as distance to MTCs, patient or relative choice, training, unfamiliarity with protocols, and possible ageism, which were shown to impact prehospital triage decisions but their impact on outcomes has not been investigated yet, should be more actively assessed and investigated for this population. Therefore, this paper aimed to discuss the available evidence around frailty assessment in prehospital care, appropriate outcome measures for older trauma patients, the benefits of MTC access for older patients, and factors other than triage criteria that could adversely impact accurate prehospital triage decisions for older trauma patients. It also provided several suggestions for the future.

High acuity polytrauma centers in orthopaedic trauma: Decreasing patient mortality with effective resource utilization

BACKGROUND

There is a select number of massive-volume, high-acuity trauma centers (HACs) in the United States. Expertise in polytrauma care has been associated with improved mortality in general surgery trauma, though has not been investigated in orthopaedic trauma. With complex polytrauma proficiency comes the inherent risk of intensive care, complications, and prolonged inpatient stays, without a commensurate increase in allocated resources. The purpose of this study was to compare mortality, complications, and length of stay in polytraumatized orthopaedic patients treated at HACs vs. low-acuity trauma centers (LACs).

METHODS

The National Trauma Data Bank was queried for orthopaedic injuries with injury severity score (ISS)>15 and mortality, complications, hospital length of stay, ICU length of stay, ventilation duration, and demographics. Hospitals where at least 13% (median percentage of patients with ISS > 15 admitted to all hospitals) of total admissions had an ISS>15 were classified as HAC; all others were LACs.

RESULTS

HACs admitted 86.8% of 28,314 patients with ISS>15. On univariate analysis, patients at HACs have 16% decreased odds of in-hospital mortality vs. LACs (p=0.005); the effect increased to 27% (p=0.002) on multivariate analysis. Patients at HACs have 63% greater odds of ICU admission (p<0.001), 48% higher odds of ventilatory support (p=<0.001), 38% increased odds of unplanned reoperation (p=0.007), and 37% increased odds of medical complications (p<0.001). On multivariate analysis, secondary outcome measures showed no significant difference between HACs and LACs. Patients at HACs had 2.8 days longer length-of-stay (p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

Severely injured orthopaedic trauma patients have decreased mortality at HACs, despite having a higher average ISS and a higher prevalence of obesity and active smoking. While there is a higher incidence of ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, complications, and unplanned reoperation on univariate analysis, correction for ISS and patient factors enhances the effect of HACs on mortality, but removes the effect on secondary measures. Thus, HACs are life-saving institutions for polytraumatized orthopaedic patients, and the known resource demand of these hospitals is supported by their favorable outcome profile.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

IV.

Survival Benefit of Treatment at or Transfer to a Tertiary Trauma Center among Injured Older Adults

Objective: It is well established that seriously injured older adults are under-triaged to tertiary trauma centers. However, the survival benefit of tertiary trauma centers (TC) compared to a non-tertiary trauma centers (Non-TCs) remains unclear for this patient population. Using improved methodology and a larger sample, we hypothesized that there was a difference in hospital mortality between injured older adults treated at TCs and those treated at Non-TCs. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of injured older adults (> =55 years) reported to the Oklahoma statewide trauma registry between 2005 and 2014. The outcome of interest was 30-day in-hospital mortality and the exposure variable of interest was level of definitive trauma care (TC vs Non-TC). Overall survival benefit of treatment at a TC as well as the survival benefit of transferring injured older adults to a TC were evaluated using multivariable survival analyses as well as propensity score-adjusted analyses. Results: Of the 25,288 patients eligible for analysis, 43% (10,927) were treated at TCs. Multivariable Cox regression analyses revealed effect modification by age group and time. After adjusting for potential confounders within the age strata, overall, patients treated at TCs were significantly less likely to die within 7 days of admission and this effect was stronger for patients aged 55-64 years (HR 0.41, 95% CI 0.31-0.52) compared to those > =65 years (HR 0.62, 95% CI 0.55-0.70). Overall survival benefit of TCs beyond 7 days was also observed (HR 0.68, 95% CI 0.56-0.83). Similarly, for the survival benefit of transferring injured older adults, after adjusting for the propensity to be transferred and other confounders, transfer to a TC was associated with lower 30-day mortality both for patients less than 65 years old (HR 0.36, 95% CI: 0.27-0.49) and those 65 years and older (HR 0.55, 95% CI: 0.48-0.64). Conclusions: Our results suggest a survival benefit for injured older adults treated at TCs. This benefit was also observed for patients transferred from non-tertiary trauma centers. Further research should focus on identifying specific subgroups of patients who would especially benefit from this level of care to minimize trauma triage inefficiencies.

Out-of-hospital and Inter-hospital Under-triage to Designated Tertiary Trauma Centers among Injured Older Adults: A 10-year Statewide Geospatial-Adjusted Analysis

OBJECTIVE

While out-of-hospital under-triage of seriously injured older adults to tertiary trauma centers has long been acknowledged, no study has adjusted for place of injury or evaluated the extent of inter-facility under-triage. We sought to determine distance and confounder adjusted odds of treatment at a tertiary trauma center (TTC) for older adult trauma patients compared to younger trauma patients, for patients transported from the scene of injury and those transferred from a non-tertiary trauma (NTTC) center.

METHODS

This was a retrospective cohort study utilizing data from a statewide trauma registry reported over a 10-year period (2005-14). The outcome of interest was treatment at an American College of Surgeons or state-designated Level I/II trauma center (TTC). The predictor variable of interest was age group (> = 55 years vs. < 55 years). Covariates of interest included patient demographics, clinical characteristics and various distance measures calculated based on the patient's injury location.

RESULTS

84 930 patients met study criteria. Of these 42% (35659) were 55 years and older with an average age of 74 years (SD, 11.6). Older adult patients were on average, injured slightly farther away from a TTC (median distance, 34 vs. 29 miles, p < 0.001). Among patients initially presenting to NTTCs, older adults were significantly more likely to be transferred to another NTTC (53% vs. 34%). After adjusting for confounders and distance measures, older adults were less likely to be treated at TTCs overall (OR = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.52-0.56), whether transported by EMS from the scene of injury (OR = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.44-0.50) or via inter-facility transfer (OR = 0.63, 95%CI: 0.59-0.68).

CONCLUSIONS

Injured older adults face significant under-triage to TTCs whether by EMS from the scene of injury or via transfer from NTTCs. Adjusting for proximity of injury to a TTC does not alter these findings.

Geriatric preinjury activities of daily living function is associated with glasgow coma score and discharge disposition: a retrospective, consecutive cohort study

The primary objective was to evaluate the associations of the Injury Severity Score (ISS), age, Glasgow Coma Score (GCS), preexisting medical conditions (PEMC), and preinjury activities of daily living (ADL) Katz score with discharge disposition in surviving geriatric trauma patients.Data were obtained from the trauma registry. The preinjury Katz ADL score was prospectively ascertained.Of 184 consecutive surviving geriatric trauma patients with an ISS of 4 to 30, age was 80 ± 8 years and 75% fell. A PEMC was present in 93%. Preinjury ADL limitation occurred in 33%. The Katz score had inverse associations with the number of PEMCs (P< .01) and dementia (P < .01). Preinjury residence was home in 93% and nursing home in 7%. Katz scores by discharge disposition were as follows: home (36%) 5.5 ± 1; nursing home (15%) 3.6 ± 2; rehabilitation (44%) 5.6 ± 1; long-term acute care (5%) 4.0 ± 3 (P < .01). Nursing home/long-term acute care discharge was independently associated (P< .01) withlower Katz score, higher age, and lower discharge GCS; dementia and the number of PEMCs had P > .05. The discharge GCS was associated with the Katz score (P < .01), head injury score (P < .01), dementia (P < .01), and admission GCS (P < .01). The discharge GCS was independently associated (P < .01) with the Katz score and admission GCS. The admission GCS was associated with the Katz score (P = .02), ISS (P < .01), head injury score (P < .01), and dementia (P < .01). The admission GCS was independently associated (P < .05) with the Katz score and ISS.The majority of geriatric trauma survivors with an ISS of 4 to 30 are not discharged home. Lower preinjury ADL function is associated with the lower admission and discharge GCS and greater care needs at discharge. Dementia and the number of PEMCs are not independent predictors of discharge disposition.

Age and preexisting conditions as risk factors for severe adverse events and failure to rescue after injury

BACKGROUND

Failure to rescue (FTR: the conditional probability of death after complication) has been studied in trauma cohorts, but the impact of age and preexisting conditions (PECs) on risk of FTR is not well known. We assessed the relationship between age and PECs on the risk of experiencing serious adverse events (SAEs) subsequent FTR in trauma patients with the hypothesis that increased comorbidity burden and age would be associated with increased FTR.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We performed a retrospective cohort analysis at an urban level 1 trauma center in Pennsylvania. All patients aged ≥16 y with minimum Abbreviated Injury Scale score ≥2 from 2009 to 2013 were included. Univariate logistic regression models for SAE and FTR were developed using age, PECs, demographics, and injury physiology. Variables found to be associated with the end point of interest (P ≤ 0.2) in univariate analysis were included in separate multivariable logistic regression models for each outcome.

RESULTS

SAE occurred in 1136 of 7533 (15.1 %) patients meeting inclusion criteria (median age 42 [interquartile range 26-59], 53% African-American, 72% male, 79% blunt, median ISS 10 [interquartile range 5-17]). Of those who experienced an SAE, 129 of 1136 patients subsequently died (FTR = 11.4%). Development of SAE and FTR was associated with age ≥ 70 y (odds ratio 1.58-1.78, 95% confidence interval 1.13-2.82). Renal disease was the only preexisting condition associated with both SAE and FTR.

CONCLUSIONS

Trauma patients with renal disease are mostly at increased risk for both SAE and FTR, but other PECs associated with SAE are not necessarily those associated with FTR. Future interventions designed to reduce FTR events should target this high-risk cohort.

Racial/ethnic and insurance status disparities in discharge to posthospitalization care for patients with traumatic brain injury

OBJECTIVES

Professional, posthospitalization care (PHC) can improve outcomes among patients with traumatic brain injury. We examined disparities in discharge to PHC by patients' race/ethnicity and insurance type.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 6061 adults hospitalized for unintentional traumatic brain injury in Oregon, 2008 to 2011.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Posthospitalization care was assessed on the basis of discharge disposition. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate effects of race/ethnicity and insurance on referral to PHC while controlling for potential confounders. Generalized estimating equations were used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), accounting for clustering of data by hospital.

RESULTS

28% of patients were discharged to PHC. While controlling for potential confounders, Hispanics were less likely to be discharged to PHC (OR, 0.62; CI, 0.40-0.96) than non-Hispanic whites. Compared with patients with private insurance, uninsured patients were less likely to be discharged to PHC (OR, 0.19; CI, 0.11-0.32) whereas patients with public insurance (OR, 1.65; CI, 1.33-2.05) and worker's compensation (OR, 1.66; CI, 1.09-2.52) were more likely to be discharged to PHC.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest that racial/ethnic and insurance disparities exist in discharge to postacute care after hospitalization for traumatic brain injury. Future research should examine factors that might contribute to and reduce these inequities in care.

Emergency department visits by older adults for motor vehicle collisions

Introduction:

To describe the epidemiology and characteristics of emergency department (ED) visits by older adults for motor vehicle collisions (MVC) in the United States (U.S.).

Methods:

We analyzed ED visits for MVCs using data from the 2003–2007 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS). Using U.S. Census data, we calculated annual incidence rates of driver or passenger MVC-related ED visits and examined visit characteristics, including triage acuity, tests performed and hospital admission or discharge. We compared older (65+ years) and younger (18–64 years) MVC patients and calculated odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to measure the strength of associations between age group and various visit characteristics. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify independent predictors of admissions for MVC-related injuries among older adults.

Results:

From 2003–2007, there were an average of 237,000 annual ED visits by older adults for MVCs. The annual ED visit rate for MVCs was 6.4 (95% CI 4.6–8.3) visits per 1,000 for older adults and 16.4 (95% CI 14.0–18.8) visits per 1,000 for younger adults. Compared to younger MVC patients, after adjustment for gender, race and ethnicity, older MVC patients were more likely to have at least one imaging study performed (OR 3.69, 95% CI 1.46–9.36). Older MVC patients were not significantly more likely to arrive by ambulance (OR 1.47; 95% CI 0.76–2.86), have a high triage acuity (OR 1.56; 95% CI 0.77–3.14), or to have a diagnosis of a head, spinal cord or torso injury (OR 0.97; 95% CI 0.42–2.23) as compared to younger MVC patients after adjustment for gender, race and ethnicity. Overall, 14.5% (95% CI 9.8–19.2) of older MVC patients and 6.1% (95% CI 4.8–7.5) of younger MVC patients were admitted to the hospital. There was also a non-statistically significant trend toward hospital admission for older versus younger MVC patients (OR 1.78; 95% CI 0.71–4.43), and admission to the ICU if hospitalized (OR 6.9, 95% CI 0.9–51.9), after adjustment for gender, race, ethnicity, and injury acuity. Markers of injury acuity studied included EMS arrival, high triage acuity category, ED imaging, and diagnosis of a head, spinal cord or internal injury.

Conclusion:

Although ED visits after MVC for older adults are less common per capita, older adults are more commonly admitted to the hospital and ICU. Older MVC victims require significant ED resources in terms of diagnostic imaging as compared to younger MVC patients. As the U.S. population ages, and as older adults continue to drive, EDs will have to allocate appropriate resources and develop diagnostic and treatment protocols to care for the increased volume of older adult MVC victims.

A retrospective population-based study of injury types among elderly in Taiwan

The aim of the article was to investigate the injury types and medical utilisations among patients more than 65 years in Taiwan. The data used in this study were obtained from the years 1997 to 2008 of the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). The patients with the age of 65 years and older as well as with ICM-9-CM discharge injury principal diagnoses 800-959 were included in this study. SPSS 18.0 was used for data analysis. The results showed that there were 518,601 older adults hospitalised because of injuries in the period of study. The average age among them was 76.1 years old and 51.7% of them were females. The common causes of injury were falls and motor vehicle accident. The average number of operations that patients received was one, and the average length of stay was 9.1 days. The total medical expenditure was over NT$ 28.9 billion, and the average expenditure was NT$ 55,738. The factors associated with deaths were sex, ages, co-morbidity disease, level of care, number of operations, length of stay, expenditure of medical care, injury types and causes of injury. This study concludes that in order to decrease the incident of injuries in elder patients, the education of preventing falls and traffic safety should be promoted continuously among elders.

The effect of sentinel injury on Medicare expenditures over time

OBJECTIVES

To examine the long-term effect of sentinel injury (unintentional injury involving serious health-related consequences) among older adults on Medicare expenditures.

DESIGN

Secondary data analysis of the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, a nationally representative survey of Medicare Beneficiaries.

SETTING

Noninstitutionalized community dwellers.

PARTICIPANTS

Older adults (N = 12,318) continuously enrolled in Medicare Fee-for-Service under Old Age Survivors Insurance Benefits surveyed between October 1998 and December 2004.

MEASUREMENTS

Monthly total Medicare expenditures served as the dependent variable. Injury status (preinjury, injury episode, postinjury) was identified from Medicare claims and specified as a set of dummy variables. Injury episodes began with the first index injury claim identified and ended when no further injury claims were found within 180 days. Population-averaged models using generalized estimating equation techniques were estimated to explore changes in Medicare expenditures over time after adjusting for casemix differences. A case-crossover design was used to compare monthly Medicare expenditures before and after sentinel injury events.

RESULTS

Fifteen percent of beneficiaries sustained at least one sentinel injury. Medicare expenditures increased sharply during sentinel injury episodes (β = 1.703, P < .001) and remained at least 28% higher than would otherwise be expected for 27 uninterrupted months following injury. Additive Medicare expenditures associated with sentinel injury over 3 years were estimated at $28,885.

CONCLUSION

Consequences of sentinel injury in older adults extend well beyond the period typically considered to be an acute injury episode. Better understanding of the long-term consequences of injury-related outcomes is needed to achieve public health goals of reducing injury and improving injury-related medical care.

Factors associated with trauma center use for elderly patients with trauma: a statewide analysis, 1999-2008

OBJECTIVES

To estimate the likelihood of trauma center admission for injured elderly patients with trauma, determine trends in trauma center admissions, and identify factors associated with trauma center use for elderly patients with trauma.

DESIGN

Retrospective analysis.

SETTING

Acute care hospitals in California.

PATIENTS

All patients hospitalized for acute traumatic injuries during the period from January 1, 1999, to December 31, 2008 (n = 430,081). Patients who had scheduled admissions for nonacute or minor trauma were excluded.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Likelihood of admission to level I or II trauma center was calculated according to age categories after adjusting for patient and system factors.

RESULTS

Of 430,081 patients admitted to California acute care hospitals for trauma-related diagnoses, 27% were older than 65 years. After adjusting for demographic, clinical, and system factors, compared with trauma patients aged 18-25 years, the odds of admission to a trauma center decreased with increasing age; patients aged 26-45 years had lower odds (odds ratio [OR], 0.75; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.71-0.80) of being admitted to a trauma center for their injuries than did patients 46-65 years of age (OR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.54-0.60), patients 66-85 years of age (OR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.30-0.41), and patients older than 85 years (OR, 0.30; 95% CI, 0.25-0.36). Similar patterns were found when stratifying the analysis by trauma type and severity. Living more than 50 miles away from a trauma center (OR, 0.03; 95% CI, 0.01-0.06) and lack of county trauma center (OR, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.09-0.35) were also predictors of not receiving trauma care.

CONCLUSION

Age and likelihood of admission to a trauma center for injured patients were observed to be inversely proportional after controlling for other factors. System-level factors play a major role in determining which injured patients receive trauma care.

Prehospital factors associated with severe injury in older adults

INTRODUCTION

Globally, injury is amongst the leading causes of death and disability in all age groups. Despite the use of prehospital trauma triage guidelines, identification of older persons with severe,potentially life-threatening injuries has been problematic. The purpose of this paper is to review prehospital factors associated with severe injuries amongst older adults.

SEARCH STRATEGY

MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, and Cochrane databases were searched using key word searches of natural language and MeSH vocabulary. Criteria for final retention of the articles included: a focus on adults 50 years and older, single or multisystem injury and identification of prehospital (injury scene) factors associated with severe injury. Severe injury was defined as a maximum Abbreviated Injury Score (MAIS) ≥ 3 or an injury severity score ≥ 16, including fatal injury.

RESULTS

The database searches yielded 469 unduplicated citations. Snowball searching yielded an additional 17 citations. Of these 486 citations, 19 research studies and 2 reviews with practice guidelines met the retention criteria. All of the research studies were secondary analyses, involving the use of hospital trauma registries, injury databases, patient medical records, and statewide hospital discharge data. These studies were conducted in the United States (US), Canada, and the United Kingdom (UK).Factors associated with severe injury included age, sex, systolic blood pressure, pulse, Glasgow ComaScale (GCS) score, use of anticoagulant and antiplatelet agents, angle of impact, restraint systems,occupant mobility at the scene, and number of persons injured.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

The literature has two significant limitations: the lack of prospective studies of older trauma patient triage indicators and a lack of clarity in many published discussions related to the cause of injury mortality, i.e., whether deaths resulted from the direct effects of the injury or from complications, the effect of comorbidities, or a combination of these. The strongest evidence available at this time consists of retrospective analyses. There might be additional unidentified prehospital factors associated with severe injury in this population that have greater sensitivity, specificity, and predictive validity than current indicators. Seeking and validating such factors and validating existing triage indicators must assume priority amongst investigators and funding agencies.

Missed opportunities: under-detection of trauma in elderly adults involved in motor vehicle crashes

INTRODUCTION

Geriatric trauma, mainly as a result of motor vehicle crashes (MVCs), has been a persistent and serious problem for those older than 65 years of age. Because of physiological changes and pre-existing disease, older adults present a unique clinical challenge to emergency nurses and staff. "Are older adults involved in MVCs appropriately assessed and treated?"

METHODS

A review of the research literature, including 17 articles from 2003 to 2009, on the topic of geriatric trauma, specifically trauma that resulted from MVCs will be explored.

RESULTS

Four different areas were discussed: (1) the under-detection of geriatric trauma, (2) prehospital triage guidelines, (3)the injury severity score, and (4) common resultant injuries encountered by older adults.

DISCUSSION

Understanding specific patterns of injury in older adults and the geriatric trauma outcomes data is essential to emergency nursing practice. Following this literature review, the emergency nurse will be more comfortable managing the next geriatric patient arriving in the emergency department.