Turkish Journal of Geriatrics 2017 , Vol 20, Issue 2
EVALUATION OF GERIATRIC PATIENTS ADMITTED TO THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT DUE TO A TRAFFIC ACCIDENT
Mehmet Zahid MEŞİN1, Fatma Gökşin CİHAN2, Selma PEKGÖR1, Ruhuşen KUTLU2, Mehmet Ali ERYILMAZ1, Ramazan KÖYLÜ3
1Sağlık Bilimleri Univ. Konya Education Hospital Dept. of Family Practice, KONYA
2Necmettin Erbakan Univ. Dept. of Family Practice, KONYA
3Sağlık Bilimleri Univ. Konya Education Hospital Dept. of Emergency Medicine KONYA
Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate patients aged 65 years and older who were admitted to hospital due to a traffic accident through the last year retrospectively.

Materials and Methods: The study included 204 elderly patients admitted to the emergency department of Konya Training and Research Hospital due to a traffic accident between 1st November 2014 and 30th October 2015. The socio-demographic characteristics, accident stories, and treatments of these patients were examined. The data were analyzed by statistical tests.

Results: Of the patients, 64.7% (n = 132) were male and 35.3% (n = 72) were female. The traffic accidents occurred most frequently in the spring and summer time (p < 0.001). During winter months, the accidents occurred between 06.00 and 11.59 hours at most, but in other seasons they occurred between 12.00 and 17.59 hours more frequently (p < 0.001). Of the admitted patients, 4.4% (n = 9) lost their lives and 6.9% (n = 14) were hospitalized at the intensive care unit. While 56.4% (n = 115) of the patients were discharged from the emergency department by recovery, 43.6% (n = 89) of the patients were referred to 17 different clinics. Injuries were sustained to one or more parts of the body in 93.1% (n = 190) of the patients. The patients with head trauma had the highest mortality (p ˂ 0.001).

Conclusion: New strategies are needed to prevent traffic accidents and to treat geriatric patients more effectively after a traffic accident. Keywords : Accidents, Traffic; Health services for the Aged; Inpatient; Prognosis