System-Level Variability in Trauma Center Utilization for Seriously Injured Older Adults.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Many seriously injured older adults are not transported to trauma centers (TCs), a phenomenon known as undertriage. System-level factors that contribute to undertriage are poorly understood. One important system-level factor is the regional supply of TCs. We hypothesized that regions with greater supply of TCs would have higher rates of transport to a TC for seriously injured older adults.

Methods

In this retrospective cross-sectional study using Medicare data from 2014 to 2015, we measured the proportion of seriously injured (injury severity score > 15) older adults (age ≥ 65 y) who were transported to a level I or level II TC within trauma service areas (TSAs), which consist of United States counties aggregated into contiguous geographic regions based on the m

SUBMITTER: Ordoobadi AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11779583 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature