Changing Injury Pattern in Geriatric Admissions in a Level-1 Trauma Center.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic affected driving and activity, and therefore risk for trauma. We describe the most common injuries, falls and motor vehicle injuries (MVA), admitted to our Level-1 Trauma Center before and during the pandemic.

Method: We retrospectively evaluated pre-pandemic with pandemic trauma admissions from January 2017 to February 2023, for patients 65 years and older, following falls and MVAs.

Results: Of 12,098 falls and MVAs, falls occurred similarly frequently before and during the pandemic while MVA admissions declined from the pre-pandemic period. Odds for pandemic surgical and infectious complications increased 1.77 [1.11-2.80] vs 1.62 [1.02-2.59] as did LOS and 30-day mortality (mean 6.6±6.4 vs 6.2±5.8, adjusted p-value=0.0432, and 1.27[1.03-1.56] respectively). Thirty- day readmission (0.79[0.66-0.94]) decreased.

Conclusion: Injuries from falls and MVAs remain the commonest cause for trauma admission in older adults, with declining MVA. This informs resource utilization, and clinical focus, including fall-risk evaluation and driving assessment for older adults.