Association Between Frailty and Head Impact Location After Ground-Level Fall in Older Adults.

J Emerg Med

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec, Université Laval Research Center, Axe Santé des Populations et Pratiques Optimales en Santé, D'Estimauville, Québec, Québec, Canada; Université Laval, Québec, Québec, Canada.

Published: May 2024

Background: Mild traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are highly prevalent in older adults, and ground-level falls are the most frequent mechanism of injury.

Objective: This study aimed to assess whether frailty was associated with head impact location among older patients who sustained a ground-level fall-related, mild TBI. The secondary objective was to measure the association between frailty and intracranial hemorrhages.

Methods: We conducted a planned sub-analysis of a prospective observational study in two urban university-affiliated emergency departments (EDs). Patients 65 years and older who sustained a ground-level fall-related, mild TBI were included if they consulted in the ED between January 2019 and June 2019. Frailty was assessed using the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS). Patients were stratified into the following three groups: robust (CFS score 1-3), vulnerable-frail (CFS score 4-6), and severely frail (CFS score 7-9).

Results: A total of 335 patients were included; mean ± SD age was 86.9 ± 8.1 years. In multivariable analysis, frontal impact was significantly increased in severely frail patients compared with robust patients (odds ratio [OR] 4.8 [95% CI 1.4-16.8]; p = 0.01). Intracranial hemorrhages were found in 6.2%, 7.5%, and 13.3% of robust, vulnerable-frail, and severely frail patients, respectively. The OR of intracranial hemorrhages was 1.24 (95% CI 0.44-3.45; p = 0.68) in vulnerable-frail patients and 2.34 (95% CI 0.41-13.6; p = 0.34) in those considered severely frail.

Conclusions: This study found an association between the level of frailty and the head impact location in older patients who sustained a ground-level fall. Our results suggest that head impact location after a fall can help physicians identify frail patients. Although not statistically significant, the prevalence of intracranial hemorrhage seems to increase with the level of frailty.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jemermed.2024.01.005DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

head impact
16
impact location
16
sustained ground-level
12
cfs score
12
severely frail
12
frail patients
12
patients
10
association frailty
8
frailty head
8
ground-level fall
8

Similar Publications

Public expenditure for the improvement of maternal health is crucial in addressing the major social and demographic challenges in developing countries like India. Accordingly, the Government of India initiated the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) in 2005 as a flagship conditional cash transfer scheme to encourage institutional delivery in the country. While the provisions under the JSY remain uniform throughout the country, there are apprehensions that the impact would differ across the states as well as between the rural and urban setups depending on varied socio-economic conditions and local level dynamics.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aim: Adherence to post-cardiac arrest care (PCAC) recommendations is associated with improved outcomes for adults. We aimed to describe the survival impact of meeting American Heart Association (AHA) PCAC guidelines in children after cardiac arrest.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study using Get With The Guidelines® Resuscitation's (GWTG®-R) registry to describe the PCAC of patients ≤ 18 years old who suffered an in-hospital or out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA or OHCA).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Remote symptom monitoring (RSM) is an evidence-based strategy shown to mitigate postoperative morbidity; however, platform engagement is required to benefit from RSM. Patients who report current smoking are at high risk for postoperative complications, but it is unknown whether smoking status influences engagement with RSM, symptom severity, or unanticipated acute care visits.

Methods: This observational case-control study was conducted in patients undergoing ambulatory oncologic surgery at a large cancer center.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Endoscopic techniques allow for improved visualization and tumor debulking of pituitary adenomas. More thorough tumor resection, however, can be associated with higher rates of CSF leaks. We set out to determine if CSF leaks influenced patient perceived quality of life outcomes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Toward a Consistent Framework for Describing the Free Vibration Modes of the Brain.

J Biomech Eng

January 2025

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, USA.

Frequency-domain analysis of brain tissue motion has received increased focus in recent years as an approach to describing the response of the brain to impact or vibration sources in the built environment. While researchers in many experimental and numerical studies have sought to identify natural resonant frequencies of the brain, limited description of the associated vibration modes limits comparison of results between studies. We performed a modal analysis to extract the natural frequencies and associated mode shapes of a finite element model of the head.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!