TRAUMA AMONG THE ELDERLY IN A BRAZILIAN TERTIARY HOSPITAL

INTRODUCTION: the rapid increase in the number of elderly in Brazil has been accompanied by higher occurrence of trauma in this population, contributing to reducing quality of life and causing high costs to the health system. This study aims to investigate aspects related to trauma among the elderly attending a tertiary regional hospital in Brazil.

METHODS: The University Hospital of the Ribeirão Preto Medical School, Brazil, is reference for trauma care in an area of about two million inhabitants. Data were obtained from the records of the hospital’s epidemiological surveillance unit.  

RESULTS: A total of 585 individuals aged over 60 years were seen for trauma in the years 2011 and 2012.  Falls were the main cause of injury (60.7%), followed by traffic accidents (24.3%), among which about half involving pedestrians (47.2%). Sex distribution showed a significant difference (p<001) in relation to gender, with a marked predominance of men involved in traffic accidents (68.3%) and women in falls (59.4%). A total of 5531 days of hospitalization occurred, with male predominance in both causes (71.7% for traffic accidents and 59.7% for falls). The 41 deaths among men and 21 among women accounted for fatality rates respectively equal to 13.6% (95% CI: 6.0 ­- 21.2 ) and 7.4 % (95% CI: 1.4 - 13.4 ). Fatality rates from falls showed similar values between men and women (4.7% and 3.9%), but with large male predominance in traffic accidents (8.0% and 2.5%, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS: Trauma is increasingly becoming a relevant cause of morbidity and mortality among the elderly in Brazil, especially from falls and traffic injuries. Taking into consideration that both conditions are largely preventable by low cost measures, public health simple programs directed to this problem are urgently needed.