Injury
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Farming is the most dangerous occupation in high-income countries worldwide. However, there is a lack of descriptive literature in this area. Injuries on farms are increasing, at a time when the cohort of trauma patients generally has become older and more medically complex. Farmers continue to work late in life when other industry workers would be retired. This study describes major trauma occurring on farms in the Republic of Ireland, the demographics of patients and treatments they received. ⋯ A substantial proportion of trauma on Irish farms involves older men who have co-morbidities and complexity of medical need. Farm trauma occurs in rural and remote locations with longer journey times to trauma centres and trauma units-this has implications for trauma care education and mode of EMS transport. Older patients who suffer trauma on farms require longer hospital stays and may not return to independent living.
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Recent analysis on the epidemiology of traumatic brain injury (TBI) within Europe indicates an increase in fall-related injuries and in the incidence of hospitalization among older adults as well as a decrease in contribution of road traffic accidents (RTA). Given the paucity of recent national data, we analyzed TBI-related admissions from the Athens Head Trauma Registry during the largest part of the past decade (2010-2018), a period marked by a profound national socioeconomic crisis. ⋯ The present findings suggest a shift in the epidemiologic profile of TBI patients in Greece with a rise in the proportion of elderly patients, a concomitant increase in fall-related injuries and a reduction in RTA-related injury. They also highlight fall-related injury as the predominant cause of IHM. Our results point towards the urgent need for the intensification of fall prevention strategies, continuing medical education as well as public information campaigns on the risks of geriatric fall-related injury.