Age-related trends in injury and injury severity presenting to emergency departments in New South Wales Australia: Implications for major injury surveillance and trauma systems

ObjectivesTo describe population based trends and clinical characteristics of injury related presentations to Emergency Departments (EDs).Design and settingA retrospective, descriptive analysis of de-identified linked ED data across New South Wales, Australia over five calendar years, from 2010 to 2014.ParticipantsPatients were included in this analysis if they presented to an Emergency Department and had an injury related diagnosis. Injury severity was categorised into critical (triage category 1-2 and admitted to ICU or operating theatre, or died in ED), serious (admitted as an in-patient, excluding above critical injuries) and minor injuries (discharged from ED).Main outcome measuresThe outcomes of interest were rates of injury related presentations to EDs by age groups and injury severity.ResultsA total of 2.09 million injury related ED presentations were analysed. Minor injuries comprised 85.0%, and 14.1% and 1.0% were serious and critical injuries respectively. There was a 15.8% per annum increase in the rate of critical injuries per 1000 population in those 80 years and over, with the most common diagnosis being head injuries. Around 40% of those with critical injuries presented directly to a major trauma centre.ConclusionCritical injuries in the elderly have risen dramatically in recent years. A minority of critical injuries present directly to major trauma centres. Trauma service provision models need revision to ensure appropriate patient care. Injury surveillance is needed to understand the external causes of injury presenting to hospital.