Background
The elderly constitute about 12% of the American population, with a projected increase
of up to 25% in 2050. Elderly domestic injuries have been recognized as a major cause
of morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study is to determine the 4-y national
trend in elderly domestic injury, and we hypothesize that the home remains a significant
source of injury.
Methods
Data on elderly patients ≥65 y was extracted from the National Trauma Data Bank’s
National Sample Project (NSP). Elderly patients with home injuries were compared with
non-home injuries. Subsets of hospitalized patients were analyzed for trends in injury
site over a 4 y period. Multivariate analysis was performed to determine the predictors
of hospitalization and in-hospital mortality.
Results
A total of 98,288 patients, representing a weighed estimate of 472,456 elderly patients
were analyzed. Forty-two percent of all injuries in the study population occurred
at home, followed by motor vehicle crashes (MVC) at 25%. Home injuries as a proportion
of annual injuries increased from 37% in 2003 to 40% in 2006. Majority (57%) were
admitted to the floor and 14% to the intensive care unit (ICU). On multivariate analysis,
African-Americans and Asians were less likely to be hospitalized (odds ratio (OR)
0.57 and 0.50, respectively, with females 47% less likely than males to die after
hospitalization (P < 0.001).
Conclusions
Home injuries remain the most significant source of elderly hospitalizations after
trauma. With a rapidly growing elderly population, there is a need to recognize this
specific location of injury and create directed preventive measures to avert elderly
domestic injuries.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 01, 2011
Accepted:
May 3,
2011
Received:
January 8,
2011
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
