Citation

Miu J, Curtis K, Balogh ZJ. Australas. Emerg. Nurs. J. 2016; 19(4): 179-185.

Affiliation

Department of Traumatology, John Hunter Hospital and University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, College of Emergency Nursing Australasia, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.aenj.2016.07.001

PMID

27474070

Abstract

BACKGROUND: A previous report from the New South Wales (NSW) Trauma Registry identified falls and increasing age of severely injured patients as highly prevalent, but detailed injury and demographic profiles, outcomes and their predictors are poorly reported. This study describes the fall-injury profile in the older adult major trauma patient in NSW.

METHODS: A retrospective registry based study between 2010 and 2014 on patients aged 55 years and over who sustained a moderate to critical injury from a fall, examining mortality and length of stay using regression analyses.

RESULTS: There were 4263 major trauma falls between 2010 and 2014, most occurring at home (55.4%), on the same level (46.7%) and resulting in head injury (63.2%). Significant predictors for mortality following a fall were increased age, male gender, falls in residential care institutions, isolated head injuries and injury classified as critical (ISS 41-75).

CONCLUSIONS: The outcomes of falls in the older adult are very poor and a focused prospective study is required to identify areas for intervention and prevention. The predictors of mortality following a fall identified in this study can be used with existing research to develop tools and design care pathways for implementation in the emergency context to improve patient care and outcomes.

Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en