title: High cost of trauma care in the elderly.
abstract: Trauma in the elderly is a significant public health problem in terms of morbidity, mortality, and expenditure of health care resources. We compared injury severity score, length of stay, hospital charges, and mortality rate in a group of 60 elderly patients and a group of 60 younger patients admitted to our hospital. The older group had an average hospital stay that was more than four days longer, at an average hospital charge of $15,769.55, and their mortality rate was 15% versus 0% among the younger group. Despite early and aggressive care, the elderly continue to pose an important problem for trauma centers in terms of both length of stay and cost.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Timberlake
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Rubino
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Kerstein
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000191:economics* / Q000401:mortality