Title: Use of hospice for discharge in geriatric trauma patients<br/>
Author: Robert Flint<br/>
<a href='mailto:rflint@som.umaryland.edu'>[Click to email author]</a><hr/>
Link: <a href='https://umem.org/educational_pearls/4453/'>https://umem.org/educational_pearls/4453/</a><hr/><p>This was a database study of nearly 2 million trauma patients over age 65 who were discharged looking at all levels of trauma centers. The authors found:</p>
<p>“Dominance analysis showed that <em>proportion of patients with Injury Severity Score of >15</em> contributed most to explaining hospice utilization rates (3.2%) followed by <em>trauma center level</em> (2.3%), <em>proportion White</em>(1.9%), <em>proportion female</em> (1.5%), and <em>urban/rural setting</em> (1.4%).”</p>
<p> Level one centers had the lowest level of discharge to hospice. The authors felt: “As the population ages, accurate assessment of geriatric trauma outcomes becomes more critical. Further studies are needed to evaluate the optimal utilization of hospice in end-of-life decision making for geriatric trauma.”</p>
<fieldset><legend>References</legend><h2>Variation in hospice use among trauma centers may impact analysis of geriatric trauma outcomes: An analysis of 1,961,228 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services hospitalizations from 2,317 facilities</h2>
<p>Fakhry, Samir M. MD, FACS; Shen, Yan PhD; Wyse, Ransom J. MPH; Garland, Jeneva M. PharmD; Watts, Dorraine D. PhD</p>
<p><em>Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery</em> <a href="https://journals.lww.com/jtrauma/toc/2023/04000">94(4):p 554-561, April 2023.</a> | <em>DOI:</em> 10.1097/TA.0000000000003883</p>
</fieldset>