Objective: Asia is experiencing a demographic shift toward an aging population at an unrivaled rate. This can influence the characteristics and outcomes of trauma. We aim to examine different characteristics of older adult trauma patients compared to younger adult trauma patients and describe factors that affect the outcomes in Asian countries.
Methods: This is a retrospective, international, multicenter study of trauma across participating centers in the Pan Asian Trauma Outcome Study (PATOS) registry, which included trauma cases aged ≥18 years, brought to the emergency department (ED) by emergency medical services (EMS) from October 2015 to November 2018. Data of older adults (≥65 years) and younger adults (<65 years) were analyzed and compared. The primary outcome measure was in-hospital mortality, and secondary outcomes were disability at discharge and hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) length of stays.
Results: Of 39,804 trauma patients, 10,770 (27.1%) were older adults. Trauma occurred more among older adult women (54.7% vs 33.2%, p < 0.001). Falls were more frequent in older adults (66.3% vs 24.9%, p < 0.001) who also had higher mean Injury Severity Score (ISS) compared to the younger adult trauma patient (5.4 ± 6.78 vs 4.76 ± 8.60, p < 0.001). Older adult trauma patients had a greater incidence of poor Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) (13.4% vs 4.1%, p < 0.001), higher hospital mortality (1.5% vs 0.9%, p < 0.001) and longer median hospital length of stay (12.8 vs 9.8, p < 0.001). Multiple logistic regression revealed age (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.06, 95%CI 1.02-1.04, p < 0.001), male sex (AOR 1.60, 95%CI 1.04-2.46, p = 0.032), head and face injuries (AOR 3.25, 95%CI 2.06-5.11, p < 0.001), abdominal and pelvic injuries (AOR 2.78, 95%CI 1.48-5.23, p = 0.002), cardiovascular (AOR 2.71, 95%CI 1.40-5.22, p = 0.003), pulmonary (AOR 3.13, 95%CI 1.30-7.53, p = 0.011) and cancer (AOR 2.03, 95%CI 1.02-4.06, p = 0.045) comorbidities, severe ISS (AOR 2.06, 95%CI 1.23-3.45, p = 0.006), and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) ≤8 (AOR 12.50, 95%CI 6.95-22.48, p < 0.001) were significant predictors of hospital mortality.
Conclusions: Older trauma patients in the Asian region have a higher mortality rate than their younger counterparts, with many significant predictors. These findings illustrate the different characteristics of older trauma patients and their potential to influence the outcome. Preventive measures for elderly trauma should be targeted based on these factors.