سوانح و حوادث در سالمندان مراجعه كننده به بيمارستانهاي دانشگاهي شيراز-زمستان 1383

The epidemiologic aspects of trauma in the elderly in Shiraz hospital 1383

Introduction: Falls and accidents lead to different types of physical damage in the elderly. The most common type of are trauma and fall them that represent significant cause of morbidity and moratality in our country but they are not well characterized. The aim of this study is to determine some epidemiologic aspects of trauma in the elderly. Material and Methods: We organized a cross-sectional study of patients aged 65 years old and older. On a numbers they referred to Shiraz Trauma Centers with all types of damages secondary to tranma. Data were gathered from emergency rooms daily in winter 2004 and the follow up and outcome were gathered from patientʹs files in different wards. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics through EPI info 2002 soft ware. Results: The studied group comprised 207 patients who had inclusion criteria. 61% were male and the reminder 39% were famale. Most of the patients were 65-69 years old. The most common type if trauma in this age group was falling down. 43% were admitted to hospital for more than five days and the average of the admission period was 7.63 ±6.9 days. Accidents at home (29.3% of cases) was more common than other places. In hours between 6pm-12pm, 35.27% of the accidents happened. The highest fatality rate was among car accident patients which 12.3%. Conclusion: Considering the increasing number of trauma in the elderly people and also high rate of disability and moratality in this group, implementing preventive strategies in this regard is recommended .