Clin Exp Emerg Med.  2019 Sep;6(3):235-241. 10.15441/ceem.18.052.

Relationship between age and injury severity in traffic accidents involving elderly pedestrians

• Lee HH
• Cho JS
• Lim YS
• Hyun SY
• Woo JH
• Jang JH
• Yang HJ

• KMID: 2459802
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.15441/ceem.18.052

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to examine whether injury severity differs with respect to age among elderly pedestrians involved in traffic accidents and identify factors affecting injury severity.
METHODS
Using emergency department-based injury in-depth surveillance data, we analyzed the data of patients aged ≥60 years who were victims of pedestrian traffic accidents during 2011 to 2016. The pedestrians' ages were divided into 5-year age strata beginning at 60 years. In a multivariate analysis, injury severity was classified as severe to critical or mild to moderate.
RESULTS
The analysis included 10,449 patients. All age groups had a female predominance, and accidents most frequently occurred during the early morning. Multivariate analyses revealed that compared to the 60 to 64 years group, the odds ratios for incurring a severe injury were 1.18 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02 to 1.37) for the 65 to 69 years group, 1.42 (95% CI, 1.23 to 1.64) for the 70 to 74 years group, 1.70 (95% CI, 1.45 to 1.98) for the 75 to 79 years group, and 1.83 (95% CI, 1.56 to 2.15) for the ≥80 years group.
CONCLUSION
In this study of emergency department-based data, we found that injury severity increased with age among elderly victims of traffic accidents. Furthermore, injury severity varied with respect to sex, time and location of the accident, and type of vehicle involved. Therefore, measures intended to reduce and prevent traffic accidents involving elderly pedestrians should consider these findings.

Keyword

Aged; Pedestrians; Accidents; Traffic; Risk factors

MeSH Terms

Accidents, Traffic*
Aged*
Emergencies
Female
Humans
Multivariate Analysis
Odds Ratio
Pedestrians*
Risk Factors