Epidemiological profile and significance of single-center senior trauma patients

Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of elderly trauma patients in a single center. Methods A total of 1, 646 elderly inpatients (age≥65 years) admitted from January 2007 to December 2014 were chosen. There were 649 men and 997 women, aged 65-110 years (mean, 76.7 years). Epidemiological changes were studied including gender, age, mechanisms of injury, sites of injury, injury severity score (ISS), mortality, causes of death, pre-existing medical conditions, hospital length of stay, and medical expense. According to the application of damage control technology and the establishment of emergency green channel, the patients were divided into 2007-2009 year group and 2010-2014 year group for analyzing reasons of the changes, while the different characteristics between death and non-death patients were analyzed. Results Elderly trauma patients presented annual increases in quantity (t=7.31, P 0.05). Fall injury was the leading cause of injury and increased showed annually (t=2.83, P<0.05). Mean ISS (t=2.13, P<0.05) and proportion of ISS≥16 (χ2=3.92, P<0.05) were higher in 2007-2009 year group than in 2010-2014 year group. Besides the mortality lowered in 2007-2009 year group compared to that in 2010-2014 year group (χ2=4.33, P<0.05). In contrast to survivors, nonsurvivors were older, had more severe injury, sustained more severe associated conditions and experienced high incidence of traffic crashes (P<0.05). Conclusions With the improved trauma care levels and protocols, mortality rate for the elderly trauma patients has been lowered. In consideration of the associated conditions and injury causes, the focus should be on strengthening trauma prevention in the elderly. Key words: Wounds and injuries; Aged; Epidemiology; Injury severity