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Abstract
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Introduction: Many indicators suggest that an aging population will in turn lead to more fragility fractures. As a result, trauma centres must make plans to provide the adequate care for these patients in the future.
The RVH provides fracture services for most of the greater Belfast area, and is also the Regional Trauma Centre for Northern Ireland. With the changing environment in Northern Ireland, it is also predicted that assaults etc will have decreased over the last number of years.
A review of how the demographics and modes of injury have changed over the past 6 years will help us draw conclusions useful for future service provision.
Methods: A Regional Fracture Outcome Unit has been working since 2002. We have information on 19,000 admissions to our unit from 2002 to 2006. A review of admissions per year comparing age of patient and mode of injury (as per ICD 10 coding) was performed.
Results: Fragility fractures have shown a gradual rise over the 6 years. This is evidenced by the increase in admissions from 543 in 2002 to 666 in 2007 in the over 80 age group admitted after a simple fall. This is an average of 20 per year increase.
Overall admissions in the 80+ age group also show a rising trend from 632 to 776 over the same time period.
Admissions to the fracture unit for Gun Shot Wounds have decreased from 43 and 54 in 2002 and 2003 down to 11 and 3 for 2006 and 2007. Assaults have shown no marked variation.
Discussion: The increasing elderly population and subsequent increasing rate of admission of this group provides challenges in managing resources during the inpatient stay in hospital.
Interestingly, this may well be offset somewhat by the decrease in gun crime injuries now clearly evidenced in Northern Ireland. |