Background: While injury is a leading cause of death and debility in older adults, the relationship between intensity of care and trauma remains unknown. The focus of this analysis is to measure the overall intensity of care delivered to injured older adults during hospitalization.
Methods: We used Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Medicare fee-for-service claims data (2013-2014), to identify emergency department-based claims for moderate and severe blunt trauma in age-eligible beneficiaries. Medical procedures associated with care intensity were identified using a modified Delphi method. A latent class model was estimated using the identified procedures, intensive care unit length of stay, demographics, and injury characteristics. Clinical phenotypes for each class were explored.
Results: A total of 683,398 cases were classified as low- (73%), moderate- (23%), and high-intensity care (4%). Greater age and reduced injury severity were indicators of lower intensity, while males, non-Whites, and nonfall mechanisms were more common with high intensity. Intubation/mechanical ventilation was an indicator of high intensity and often occurred with at least one other procedure or an extended intensive care unit stay.
Conclusion: This work demonstrates that, although heterogeneous, care for blunt trauma can be evaluated using a single novel measure.
Level of evidence: For prognostic/epidemiological studies, level III.
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