Forensic Admissions of Geriatric Patients to the Emergency Department and Short-Term Mortality Rates

Abstract

Objective: The increasing number of geriatric admissions to emergency departments (EDs) necessitates a separate study of geriatric admissions for forensic reasons. This study investigated the reasons for geriatric forensic cases presented to the ED, the one-month mortality rates of these cases, and the factors affecting mortality. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study. All patients 65 years old and older who were reported as forensic cases and presented to the ED of a tertiary care hospital between June 2018 and April 2021 were included. Forensic diagnoses, type of injury, age, gender, Glasgow Coma Scale score, consultation details, outcomes, and 1-month mortality status were recorded. Results: Among the 10.128 adult forensic presentations, 396 (3.9%) geriatric patient presentations were included in the study. The most common forensic diagnoses were motor vehicle accidents (24.2%) and pedestrian accidents (24.2%). Soft tissue injuries were the most common type of injury, followed by extremity fractures. Logistic regression analysis showed that age [odds ratio (OR): 1.095; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.027-1.169], GCS (OR: 0.655; 95% CI: 0.560-0.765), number of consultations (OR: 1.840; 95% CI: 1.312-2.581), and pedestrian accidents (OR: 0.052; 95% CI: 0.006-0.460) were significantly associated with 1-month mortality. Conclusion: Traffic accidents, including motor vehicle and pedestrian accidents, were the most common type of forensic cases in this group of patients. One-month mortality increased with age, number of consultations, low GCS, and absence of pedestrian accident.

Keywords

• geriatrics
• forensic medicine
• emergency medicine
• mortality