title: Epidemiology of geriatric trauma in United Arab Emirates.
abstract: The mechanisms and outcome of trauma in hospitalized elderly patients were studied. The data of Al-Ain Hospital Trauma Registry were prospectively collected over a period of 3 years (2003-2006). All elderly trauma-patients above 60 years who were admitted to surgical ward or who died on arrival were studied. Demography of patients, mechanism of injury, Injury Severity Score (ISS), hospital stay and mortality were analyzed. There were 121 patients (70 males and 51 females). Mean (range) age was 69 years (60-100), 42% were United Arab Emirates (UAE) nationals. The two most common mechanisms of injury were falls (55%) followed by road traffic collisions (RTC) (32%). The median (range) ISS of the group was 5 (1-34). The ISS median (interquartile range) of falling down, RTC, and fall from height were 4 (4-9), 6 (4-10), and 8 (5-9), respectively (p=0.31). Forty-one percentage of injuries occurred at home. The mean (range) hospital stay was 12.4 (1-150) days. Six patients (5%) were admitted to the intensive care unit. Overall mortality was 6% (7 patients), of whom 5 were pedestrians hit by cars. We concluded that low-energy trauma from falls was the most common cause of injury in the elderly. Mortality was high mainly from pedestrian injuries.
authors.affiliation: Trauma Group, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, PO Box 17666, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: Shehabeldin H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Adam
authors.forename: Hani O
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Eid
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barss
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lunsjo
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grivna
authors.forename: Fawaz Chikh
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Torab
authors.forename: Fikri M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Abu-Zidan
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002423:Cause of Death; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D017052:Hospital Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011336:Probability; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012042:Registries; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017678:Sex Distribution; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014479:United Arab Emirates / Q000453:epidemiology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology