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The Effect of 2019 Coronavirus Stay-at-Home Order on Geriatric Trauma Patients in Southern California

2023; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 89; Issue: 12 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/00031348221124329

1555-9823

Morgan Manasa, Eric O. Yeates, Areg Grigorian, Cristobal Barrios, Morgan Schellenberg, Natthida Owattanapanich, Galinos Barmparas, Daniel R. Margulies, Catherine Juillard, Kent Garber, Henry Cryer, Areti Tillou, Sigrid Burruss, Liz Penaloza-Villalobos, Ann Lin, Ryan Arthur Figueras, Raúl Coimbra, Megan Brenner, Todd W. Costantini, Jarrett Santorelli, Terry Curry, Diane Wintz, Walter L. Biffl, Kathryn B. Schaffer, Thomas K. Duncan, Casey Barbaro, Graal Diaz, Arianne Johnson, Erika Tay-Lasso, Justine Chinn, Ariana Naaseh, Amanda Leung, Christina Grabar, Jeffry Nahmias,

Emergency and Acute Care Studies

Background California issued stay-at-home (SAH) orders to mitigate COVID-19 spread. Previous studies demonstrated a shift in mechanisms of injuries (MOIs) and decreased length of stay (LOS) for the general trauma population after SAH orders. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of SAH orders on geriatric trauma patients (GTPs), hypothesizing decreased motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) and LOS. Methods A post-hoc analysis of GTPs (≥65 years old) from 11 level-I/II trauma centers was performed, stratifying patients into 3 groups: before SAH (1/1/2020-3/18/2020) (PRE), after SAH (3/19/2020-6/30/2020) (POST), and a historical control (3/19/2019-6/30/2019) (CONTROL). Bivariate comparisons were performed. Results 5486 GTPs were included (PRE-1756; POST-1706; CONTROL-2024). POST had a decreased rate of MVCs (7.6% vs 10.6%, P = .001; vs 11.9%, P < .001) and pedestrian struck (3.4% vs 5.8%, P = .001; vs 5.2%, P = .006) compared with PRE and CONTROL. Other mechanisms of injury, LOS, mortality, and operations performed were similar between cohorts. However, POST had a lower rate of discharge to skilled nursing facility (SNF) (20% vs 24.5%, P = .001; and 20% vs 24.4%, P = .001). Conclusion This retrospective multicenter study demonstrated lower rates of MVCs and pedestrian struck for GTPs, which may be explained by decreased population movement as a result of SAH orders. Contrary to previous studies on the generalized adult population, no differences in other MOIs and LOS were observed after SAH orders. However, there was a lower rate of discharge to SNF, which may be related to a lack of resources due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and thus potentially negatively impacted recovery of GTPs. Keywords