Highlights
- •Fall is the second leading cause of unintentional injury mortalities worldwide.
- •Isolated TBI and TBI associated with other injuries are the major contributors of mortality in injuries associated with fall.
- •Mortality is directly proportional to age and ISS in patients with history of fall.
Abstract
Introduction
Fall is the second most common mechanism of trauma worldwide after road traffic injuries.
Data on fall predominantly comes from the high-income countries (HICs) and mostly
includes injuries in children and elderly. There are very few studies from low- and
middle-income countries(LMICs) that describe fall related injuries other than fragility
fractures in elderly. This study describes the profile of poly-trauma patients admitted
with a history of ‘fall’ and assesses the variables associated with mortality.
Method
We analyzed data from the ‘Towards Improved Trauma Care Outcome’ (TITCO) database
which prospectively collected data of poly-trauma patients admitted to four major
tertiary care hospitals of India between 2013 to 2015. Patients across all age groups
admitted to hospital with the history of ‘fall’; were included in our study. Single
bone fractures were excluded. The Kaplan Meier survival analysis was used to estimate
the survival probability in different age groups.
Results
A total of 3686 patients were included in our study. The median age of the patients
was 28 years (IQR: 9, 47) with the majority being males (73.6%). Almost one-third
of the patients were within the age group of 0-14 (30.4%). Most of the patients (79.9%)
had a diagnosis of traumatic brain injury (TBI). The overall in-hospital mortality
was 18% (664), but higher at 39.0% among patients over 65 years of age. Probability
of survival decreased with increase of age.
Conclusion
Falling from height is a common injury mechanism in India, occurring more in young
males and usually associated with TBI. Isolated TBI and TBI associated with other
injuries are the main contributors of mortality in fall injuries. Mortality from these
injuries increased with age and ISS.
Keywords
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: September 29, 2022
Accepted:
September 25,
2022
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
