Predictors of outcomes of pedestrian casualties in motor vehicle injuries managed in emergency department

Introduction: Pedestrian injury is a major health care concern. This study aims to identify predictors of mortality and severe injury in pedestrian casualties in motor vehicle injury managed in emergency department in the local setting.Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of a linked hospital and police trauma registry (2004 to 2008). All pedestrian casualties treated in the emergency department (ED) of two regional hospitals in Hong Kong were included. Logistic regression was performed for potential predictor variables (age >=65 years; injury patterns including head or face, thorax/abdomen/pelvis, neck/spine, extremities; existence of multiple injuries; heavy vehicles involved; body impact with the vehicles; injury at night and wet road surface) against mortality and severe injury, defined as Injury Severity Scale (ISS) >15.Results: A total of 1542 pedestrian casualties were analysed. Age >=65 was found to be an independent predictor of mortality in pedestrian casualties, with odds ratio (OR) of 5.15 (95% CI=2.21-12.00; p