The impact of demographics, injury severity, and trauma type on the likelihood of survival in child and adolescent trauma patients.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of demographics, clinical factors, and injury types on the likelihood of survival.


METHODS
This cross-sectional analysis was restricted to persons younger than 18 years, treated in trauma centers in 1990.


METHODS
A total of 3,540 individuals from the 1990 Virginia Statewide Trauma Registry was included in the analysis.


METHODS
The outcome variable was the patient's survival likelihood after injury. The independent variables included Injury Severity Score (ISS), demographics (age, gender, and race), and injury types -- motor vehicle collision (MVC) or gunshot wound (GSW). Correlation coefficients were obtained from the study variables. Logistic regression evaluated the effect of injury severity, controlling for demographics and type of injury.


RESULTS
Three variables (ISS, GSW, and MVC) exerted significant effects of survival. Individuals with more severe injuries were more likely to die than their counterparts. Patients with gunshot wounds and motor vehicle injuries were more likely to die than those who had other injuries. After adjusting for demographics and injury type, injury severity (beta = -0.323) was found to be the most influential predictor of survival.


CONCLUSIONS
The overall findings suggest a need for hospitals to collect data routinely for calculating injury severity for the management and treatment of injured patients.
Wan
G J
GJ
School of Public Health, St. Louis University Health Sciences Center, MO 63108-3342, USA.
Neff-Smith
M
M
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009104:Multiple Trauma / Q000145:classification / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011336:Probability; D012307:Risk Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014193:Trauma Centers; D014768:Virginia / Q000453:epidemiology