Geographic distribution of trauma centers and injury-related mortality in the United States.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Regionalized trauma care improves outcomes; however, access to care is not uniform across the United States. The objective was to evaluate whether geographic distribution of trauma centers correlates with injury mortality across state trauma systems.

Methods

Level I or II trauma centers in the contiguous United States were mapped. State-level age-adjusted injury fatality rates per 100,000 people were obtained and evaluated for spatial autocorrelation. Nearest neighbor ratios (NNRs) were generated for each state. A NNR less than 1 indicates clustering, while a NNR greater than 1 indicates dispersion. NNRs were tested for difference from random geographic distribution. Fatality rates and NNRs were examined for correlation. Fatality rates were compared between states

SUBMITTER: Brown JB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4688077 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature