Role of trauma team activation in poor outcomes of elderly patients

Abstract Introduction Elderly trauma patients suffer worse outcomes than younger patients. Trauma team activation (TTA) improves outcomes in younger patients. It is unclear whether decreased TTA effectiveness or under-activation in elderly patients could contribute to their poor outcomes. Material and methods This retrospective registry study examined all adult trauma patients admitted to a level 1 trauma center over 2 y. Analyses tested (1) whether age modifies the effect of TTA on poor outcomes, (2) whether elderly patients with severe injury were less likely to receive TTA than younger patients, and (3) which early variables were associated with poor outcomes among elderly patients who did not receive TTA. Results The study included 10,033 patients. The adjusted relative risk from TTA for all ages was 0.48 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.34–0.68, P