• Fabrizio A Fiumedinisi, Felix Amsler, and Thomas Gross.
• Department of Traumatology, Trauma Unit, Cantonal Hospital Aarau, Cantonal Hospital, Tellstr.1, CH-5001, Aarau, Switzerland.
• Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg. 2021 Dec 1; 47 (6): 1979-1992.

PurposeOngoing demographic changes go hand in hand with an increasing number of elderly injured. Given the conflicting literature we wanted to know how much age per se, apart from other factors, actually explains the outcome for elderly trauma patients.MethodsRetrospective analysis of prospectively collected data on all significantly injured (new injury severity score, NISS  ≥ 8) adult patients treated at a Swiss trauma center between 01.01.2010 and 31.12.2017. The association of age and other demographic, trauma or treatment-related variables on parameters of short-term outcome was examined using uni- and multivariate analyses (mean ± SD; R2; p < 0.05).Results2692 consecutive patients (33.4% female; mean age 58.1 ± 21.7; hospital mortality 10.1%) were studied. Detailed analysis of quinquennial age groups demonstrated a significant decline in outcome with regard to mortality or return-to-home rate following hospital discharge after the age of 60 years (p < 0.001). In univariate analysis, age explained 4.6% and the number of years ≥ 60 5.9% of hospital mortality. In multivariate analysis, the investigated demographic, trauma or treatment-related parameters contributed at 36.5% to prediction of mortality, age added another 1.5% and number of years  ≥ 60 another 2.1% (R2).ConclusionThis monocenter evaluation showed a significant decline in short-term outcome and an increase in hospital resource requirements by the trauma patients investigated after the age of 60 years. Even so, after controlling for demographic, injury and treatment variables, age per se only added less than 2% to the prediction of hospital mortality.© 2020. Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

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