Citation

Chen SS, Bosson N, Gausche-Hill M, Gorospe DD, Tadeo RE. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 2019; 25(1): E17-E20.

Affiliation

Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, Emergency Medical Services Agency, Santa Fe Springs, California (Messrs Chen and Tadeo and Drs Bosson and Gausche-Hill); Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA, Torrance, California (Drs Bosson and Gausche-Hill); David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California (Drs Bosson and Gausche-Hill); and Martin Luther King Jr Community Hospital, Los Angeles, California (Ms Gorospe).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/PHH.0000000000000745

PMID

29494413

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Explore trends in trauma incidence and mortality rates in Los Angeles County.

DESIGN: Data for patients treated at Los Angeles County trauma centers from 2000 to 2011 were analyzed for this study. Age-adjusted incidence and mortality rates were calculated by gender, race, injury type, injury severity, and mechanism of injury. Trends were assessed using linear regression to determine the annual percentage change (APC).

RESULTS: There were 223 773 patients included. The trauma incidence rate increased by 14.6% driven by an increase in blunt injury of 5.4% annually (P <.05). Penetrating injury decreased at -6.9% APC (P <.01). Mortality rate decreased at -11.5% APC (P <.01), with reduction in both blunt (-6.8% APC [P <.01]) and penetrating injuries (-16.7% APC [P <.01]). The trends in mortality persisted with stratification by age, gender, race, and injury severity score.

CONCLUSION: In this mature trauma system, the trauma incidence increased slightly from 2000 to 2011, while the mortality steadily declined. Public health officials in other areas could perform a similar self-evaluation to describe and monitor injury events and trends in their jurisdictions, a reassessment of priority and trauma system resource allocation, which will directly benefit the regional population.

Language: en