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Substance use and pre-hospital crash injury severity among U.S. older adults: A five-year national cross-sectional study.
- Source :
-
PLoS ONE . 10/25/2023, Vol. 18 Issue 10, p1-19. 19p. - Publication Year :
- 2023
-
Abstract
- Background: Alcohol and drug use (substance use) is a risk factor for crash involvement. Objectives: To assess the association between substance use and crash injury severity among older adults and how the relationship differs by rurality/urbanicity. Methods: We pooled 2017–2021 cross-sectional data from the United States National Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Information System. We measured injury severity (low acuity, emergent, critical, and fatal) predicted by substance use, defined as self-reported or officer-reported alcohol and/or drug use. We controlled for age, sex, race/ethnicity, road user type, anatomical injured region, roadway crash, rurality/urbanicity, time of the day, and EMS response time. We performed a partial proportional ordinal logistic regression and reported the odds of worse injury outcomes (emergent, critical, and fatal injuries) compared to low acuity injuries, and the predicted probabilities by rurality/urbanicity. Results: Our sample consisted of 252,790 older adults (65 years and older) road users. Approximately 67%, 25%, 6%, and 1% sustained low acuity, emergent, critical, and fatal injuries, respectively. Substance use was reported in approximately 3% of the population, and this proportion did not significantly differ by rurality/urbanicity. After controlling for patient, crash, and injury characteristics, substance use was associated with 36% increased odds of worse injury severity. Compared to urban areas, the predicted probabilities of emergent, critical, and fatal injuries were higher in rural and suburban areas. Conclusion: Substance use is associated with worse older adult crash injury severity and the injury severity is higher in rural and suburban areas compared to urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 18
- Issue :
- 10
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 173178350
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293138