J Korean Med Sci.  2022 Dec;37(50):e349. 10.3346/jkms.2022.37.e349.

National Follow-up Survey of Preventable Trauma Death Rate in Korea

• Kwon J
• Lee M
• Moon J
• Huh Y
• Song S
• Kim S
• Lee SJ
• Lim B
• Kim HJ
• Kim Y
• Kim Hi
• Yun JH
• Yu B
• Lee GJ
• Kim JH
• Kim OH
• Choi WJ
• Jung M
• Jung K

• KMID: 2537052
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2022.37.e349

Abstract

Background
The preventable trauma death rate survey is a basic tool for the quality management of trauma treatment because it is a method that can intuitively evaluate the level of national trauma treatment. We conducted this study as a national biennial follow-up survey project and report the results of the review of the 2019 trauma death data in Korea.
Methods
From January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019, of a total of 8,482 trauma deaths throughout the country, 1,692 were sampled from 279 emergency medical institutions in Korea. All cases were evaluated for preventability of death and opportunities for improvement using a multidisciplinary panel review approach.
Results
The preventable trauma death rate was estimated to be 15.7%. Of these, 3.1% were judged definitive preventable deaths, and 12.7% were potentially preventable deaths. The odds ratio for preventable traumatic death was 2.56 times higher in transferred patients compared to that of patients who visited the final hospital directly. The group that died 1 hour after the accident had a statistically significantly higher probability of preventable death than that of the group that died within 1 hour after the accident.
Conclusion
The preventable trauma death rate for trauma deaths in 2019 was 15.7%, which was 4.2%p lower than that in 2017. To improve the quality of trauma treatment, the transfer of severe trauma patients to trauma centers should be more focused.

Keyword

Injuries and Wounds; Trauma Centers; Mortality; Korea

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Formation of the preliminary investigators and the panel of experts and the review process.

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  Fig. 2 Study design and sampling.

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