Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of demographics, clinical factors, and injury types on the likelihood of survival.
Design: This cross-sectional analysis was restricted to persons younger than 18 years, treated in trauma centers in 1990.
Materials: A total of 3,540 individuals from the 1990 Virginia Statewide Trauma Registry was included in the analysis.
Methods and measurements: The outcome variable was the patient's survival likelihood after injury. The independent variables included Injury Severity Score (ISS), demographics (age, gender, and race), and injury types -- motor vehicle collision (MVC) or gunshot wound (GSW). Correlation coefficients were obtained from the study variables. Logistic regression evaluated the effect of injury severity, controlling for demographics and type of injury.
Main results: Three variables (ISS, GSW, and MVC) exerted significant effects of survival. Individuals with more severe injuries were more likely to die than their counterparts. Patients with gunshot wounds and motor vehicle injuries were more likely to die than those who had other injuries. After adjusting for demographics and injury type, injury severity (beta = -0.323) was found to be the most influential predictor of survival.
Conclusions: The overall findings suggest a need for hospitals to collect data routinely for calculating injury severity for the management and treatment of injured patients.