Table 3.

Characteristics and Outcomes of Older Adult Assault Victims (aged ≥60) with Blunt vs. Penetrating Injuries Treated at U.S. Trauma Centers from 2008–2012

	Blunt Injuries (n=1,832)	Penetrating Injuries (n=1,180)	P value
Male gender	83%	84%	0.70
Age (years), mean ±SD	67 ± 7	67 ± 7	0.23
Race			<0.001
White	54%	46%
Black or African American	27%	38%
Other race	19%	16%
Drug and/or alcohol use	31%	29%	0.38
Any alcohol use	22%	22%	0.89
Any drug use	13%	13%	0.40
Functionally dependent health status	0.4%	0%	0.06
≥3 concomitant medical conditions	12%	9%	0.007
Injury severity score (ISS), median (IQR)	9 (5 – 17)	9 (2 – 14)	<0.001
Severe trauma (ISS≥16)	35%	31%	0.02
In-hospital mortality	5%	14%	<0.001
Hospital length of stay (days), median (IQR)	4 (2 – 7)	3 (1 – 7)	<0.001
ICU stay	40%	36%	0.04
ICU length of stay (days), median (IQR)	3 (2 – 6)	3 (2 – 8)	0.005
Number of injuries, median (IQR)	3 (2 – 5)	3 (1 – 4)	<0.001
Surgeries performed
Laparotomy	0.7%	17%	<0.001
Thoracotomy	0.3%	4%	<0.001
Craniotomy	1%	0.2%	0.01
Traumatic brain injury	50%	6%	<0.001
Body region(s) injured			<0.001
Head	34%	9%
Face	39%	11%
Neck	0.6%	6%
Thorax	6%	22%
Abdomen	1%	20%
Spine	3%	2%
Upper extremity	8%	15%
Lower extremity	4%	10%
Unspecified	2%	3%
≥3 body regions injured	64%	52%	<0.001
Trauma-associated diagnosis(es)			<0.001
Fractures	47%	18%
Internal organ	27%	31%
Open wounds	22%	41%

SD denotes standard deviation; IQR, interquartile range; ICU, intensive care unit.