OUTCOME IN ELDERLY INJURED PATIENTS - INJURY SEVERITY VERSUS HOST FACTORS

To evaluate the differences between the outcome of elderly patients wi th severe injuries and that of their contemporaries with a less severe injury, we reviewed 42 severely injured elderly patients and compared them with 76 patients with a femoral neck fracture. We analysed the i nfluence of injury severity and host factors (age, sex and pre-injury medical status) on outcome. The in-hospital mortality rate was 31 per cent in the severely injured patients and 3 per cent in those with a f emoral neck fracture. Home was the main discharge destination in the s everely injured elderly (34 per cent) and a nursing home in patients w ith a femoral neck fracture (65 per cent). Functional outcome 1 year a fter injury was better in the severely injured elderly group. Long-ter m survival was mainly determined by host factors and not by injury sev erity. Physicians and policy makers should be careful in predicting th e outcome of elderly injured patients merely on the basis of injury se verity, because host factors are of greater importance. (C) 1997 Elsev ier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.