TY - JOUR
T1 - Defining the "older" crash victim
T2 - The relationship between age and serious injury in motor vehicle crashes
AU - Newgard, Craig D.
N1 - Funding Information:
This was a retrospective cohort study of adult drivers and front-seat passengers involved in MVCs and included in the National Automotive Sampling System Crashworthiness Data System database (NASS CDS) from 1995 through 2006 . NASS CDS is a probability-sampled, population-based, nationally representative cohort of persons involved in MVCs that is collected using a three-stage sampling of MVCs from 24 sites (primary sampling units, PSUs) across the United States to ensure national generalizability of the data (NHTSA, 2001). The three stages of sampling include: (1) selection of primary sampling units, (2) selection of police jurisdictions within PSUs, and (3) selection of crashes within police jurisdictions. The PSUs are selected from among 12 strata based on geographic region and type of city or county. Higher severity crashes are oversampled to assure adequate representation of such crash information. Based on this sampling scheme, analyses using NASS CDS must integrate the clusters, strata, and probability weights (i.e., the probability of being sampled) to generate unbiased estimates and appropriate calculations for variance. NASS CDS is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation and operated by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This study was declared exempt by the Institutional Review Board of Oregon Health & Science University.
PY - 2008/7
Y1 - 2008/7
N2 - Objective: Age is often used as a predictor of injury and mortality in motor vehicle crashes (MVCs), however, the age that defines an "older" occupant in terms of injury-risk remains unclear, as do specific injury patterns associated with increasing age. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between age and serious injury (including injury patterns) for occupants involved in MVCs. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study using a national population-based cohort of adult front-seat occupants involved in MVCs and included in the National Automotive Sampling System Crashworthiness Data System database from 1995 to 2006. The primary outcome was serious injury, defined as an abbreviated injury scale (AIS) score ≥3 in any body region. Anatomic injury patterns were also assessed by age. Results: One hundred thousand one hundred and fifty-six adult front-seat occupants were included in the analysis, of which 14,128 (2%) were seriously injured. Age was a strong predictor of serious injury using a variety of different age covariates (categorical, continuous, and polynomial) in multivariable regression models (p < 0.0001 for all). There was evidence of a strong non-linear relationship between age and serious injury (p < 0.001 for comparison of non-linear to linear representation of age). There was no age that clearly defined an "older" occupant by injury risk, as the odds of injury increased with increasing age across all age groups. The proportion of serious head and extremity injuries gradually increased with increasing age, while serious chest injuries markedly increased after 60 years. Conclusions: Age is a strong predictor of serious injury from motor vehicle trauma, the risk of which increases in non-linear fashion as age increases. There is no specific age that clearly defines an "older" occupant by injury risk.
AB - Objective: Age is often used as a predictor of injury and mortality in motor vehicle crashes (MVCs), however, the age that defines an "older" occupant in terms of injury-risk remains unclear, as do specific injury patterns associated with increasing age. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between age and serious injury (including injury patterns) for occupants involved in MVCs. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study using a national population-based cohort of adult front-seat occupants involved in MVCs and included in the National Automotive Sampling System Crashworthiness Data System database from 1995 to 2006. The primary outcome was serious injury, defined as an abbreviated injury scale (AIS) score ≥3 in any body region. Anatomic injury patterns were also assessed by age. Results: One hundred thousand one hundred and fifty-six adult front-seat occupants were included in the analysis, of which 14,128 (2%) were seriously injured. Age was a strong predictor of serious injury using a variety of different age covariates (categorical, continuous, and polynomial) in multivariable regression models (p < 0.0001 for all). There was evidence of a strong non-linear relationship between age and serious injury (p < 0.001 for comparison of non-linear to linear representation of age). There was no age that clearly defined an "older" occupant by injury risk, as the odds of injury increased with increasing age across all age groups. The proportion of serious head and extremity injuries gradually increased with increasing age, while serious chest injuries markedly increased after 60 years. Conclusions: Age is a strong predictor of serious injury from motor vehicle trauma, the risk of which increases in non-linear fashion as age increases. There is no specific age that clearly defines an "older" occupant by injury risk.
KW - Age
KW - Injury
KW - Injury pattern
KW - Motor vehicle crash
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U2 - 10.1016/j.aap.2008.03.010
DO - 10.1016/j.aap.2008.03.010
M3 - Article
C2 - 18606283
AN - SCOPUS:46149088683
SN - 0001-4575
VL - 40
SP - 1498
EP - 1505
JO - Accident Analysis and Prevention
JF - Accident Analysis and Prevention
IS - 4
ER -