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Khurana B, Bayne HN, Prakash J, Loder RT. Injury patterns and demographics in older adult abuse and falls: A comparative study in emergency department settings. J Am Geriatr Soc 2024; 72:1011-1022. [PMID: 38376211 PMCID: PMC11127187 DOI: 10.1111/jgs.18801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2023] [Revised: 12/14/2023] [Accepted: 01/14/2024] [Indexed: 02/21/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Falls and interpersonal violence pose significant threats to older adults, leading to injuries, hospitalizations, and emergency department (ED) visits. This study investigates the demographics and injury patterns in older adults (aged 60 and above) who sought ED care due to assaults, comparing them with those who experienced falls to gain a deeper understanding of older adult abuse patterns. METHOD This study utilizes data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) All Injury Program (2005-2019) to examine injuries among older adults aged 60 years and above. Participants were categorized into two groups: older adult abuse and injuries due to falls. The differences between the groups by demographics, injury locations, patterns, and temporal trends were analyzed using statistical methods accounting for the weighted stratified nature of the data. Cosinor analysis and Joinpoint regression were used for temporal analysis. RESULTS Over 15 years, there were an estimated 307,237 ED visits for older adult abuse and 39,477,217 for falls. Older adults experiencing abuse were younger and had lower hospital admission rates compared to fall patients. Injuries associated with abuse included contusions/abrasions, penetrating injuries, and fractures to the head/neck, fingers, toes, ribs, and lower extremities. In contrast, fall patients had higher admission rates, with more fractures, including cervical spine and hip fractures. Temporal patterns showed a higher rate of assaults during the summer, whereas abuse demonstrated bimodal peaks in the summer and fall. CONCLUSIONS Injuries associated with abuse such as facial, upper trunk, and upper extremity fractures should raise suspicion even in the absence of severe symptoms. These findings emphasize the importance of early identification to connect older adults with support resources, as patients experiencing abuse often get discharged from the ED.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bharti Khurana
- Trauma Imaging Research and Innovation Center, Department of Radiology and Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 75 Francis St, Boston, MA 02115
- Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck St, Boston, MA 02115
| | - Haley N. Bayne
- Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont, 89 Beaumont Ave, Burlington, VT 05405
| | - Jaya Prakash
- Trauma Imaging Research and Innovation Center, Department of Radiology and Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 75 Francis St, Boston, MA 02115
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 75 Francis St, Boston MA 02115
| | - Randall T. Loder
- Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Riley Children’s Hospital, 705 Riley Hospital Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46202
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Badawy M, Solomon N, Elsayes KM, Soliman M, Diaz-Marchan P, Succi MD, Pourvaziri A, Lev MH, Mellnick VM, Gomez-Cintron A, Revzin MV. Nonaccidental Injury in the Elderly: What Radiologists Need to Know. Radiographics 2022; 42:1358-1376. [PMID: 35802501 DOI: 10.1148/rg.220017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Elder abuse may result in serious physical injuries and long-term psychological consequences and can be life threatening. Over the past decade, attention to elder abuse has increased owing to its high prevalence, with one in six people aged 60 years and older experiencing some form of abuse worldwide. Despite this, the detection and reporting rates remain relatively low. While diagnostic imaging is considered critical in detection of child abuse, it is relatively underused in elder abuse. The authors discuss barriers to use of imaging for investigation and diagnosis of elder abuse, including lack of training, comorbidities present in this vulnerable population, and lack of communication among the intra- and interdisciplinary care providers. Moreover, imaging features that should raise clinical concern for elder abuse are reviewed, including certain types of fractures (eg, posterior rib), characteristic soft-tissue and organ injuries (eg, shoulder dislocation), and cases in which the reported mechanism of injury is inconsistent with the imaging findings. As most findings suggesting elder abuse are initially discovered at radiography and CT, the authors focus mainly on use of those modalities. This review also compares and contrasts elder abuse with child abuse. Empowered with knowledge of elderly victims' risk factors, classic perpetrator characteristics, and correlative imaging findings, radiologists should be able to identify potential abuse in elderly patients presenting for medical attention. Future recommendations for research studies and clinical workflow to increase radiologists' awareness of and participation in elder abuse detection are also presented. An invited commentary by Jubanyik and Gettel is available online. Online supplemental material is available for this article. ©RSNA, 2022.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohamed Badawy
- From the Department of Diagnostic Imaging, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1400 Pressler St, Houston, TX 77030 (M.B., K.M.E.); Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale University, New Haven, Conn (N.S., M.V.R.); Department of Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill (M.S.); Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex (P.D.M.); Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass (M.D.S., A.P., M.H.L.); Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Mo (V.M.M.); and Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Tex (A.G.C.)
| | - Nadia Solomon
- From the Department of Diagnostic Imaging, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1400 Pressler St, Houston, TX 77030 (M.B., K.M.E.); Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale University, New Haven, Conn (N.S., M.V.R.); Department of Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill (M.S.); Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex (P.D.M.); Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass (M.D.S., A.P., M.H.L.); Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Mo (V.M.M.); and Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Tex (A.G.C.)
| | - Khaled M Elsayes
- From the Department of Diagnostic Imaging, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1400 Pressler St, Houston, TX 77030 (M.B., K.M.E.); Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale University, New Haven, Conn (N.S., M.V.R.); Department of Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill (M.S.); Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex (P.D.M.); Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass (M.D.S., A.P., M.H.L.); Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Mo (V.M.M.); and Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Tex (A.G.C.)
| | - Moataz Soliman
- From the Department of Diagnostic Imaging, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1400 Pressler St, Houston, TX 77030 (M.B., K.M.E.); Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale University, New Haven, Conn (N.S., M.V.R.); Department of Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill (M.S.); Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex (P.D.M.); Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass (M.D.S., A.P., M.H.L.); Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Mo (V.M.M.); and Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Tex (A.G.C.)
| | - Pedro Diaz-Marchan
- From the Department of Diagnostic Imaging, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1400 Pressler St, Houston, TX 77030 (M.B., K.M.E.); Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale University, New Haven, Conn (N.S., M.V.R.); Department of Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill (M.S.); Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex (P.D.M.); Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass (M.D.S., A.P., M.H.L.); Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Mo (V.M.M.); and Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Tex (A.G.C.)
| | - Marc D Succi
- From the Department of Diagnostic Imaging, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1400 Pressler St, Houston, TX 77030 (M.B., K.M.E.); Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale University, New Haven, Conn (N.S., M.V.R.); Department of Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill (M.S.); Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex (P.D.M.); Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass (M.D.S., A.P., M.H.L.); Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Mo (V.M.M.); and Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Tex (A.G.C.)
| | - Ali Pourvaziri
- From the Department of Diagnostic Imaging, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1400 Pressler St, Houston, TX 77030 (M.B., K.M.E.); Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale University, New Haven, Conn (N.S., M.V.R.); Department of Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill (M.S.); Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex (P.D.M.); Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass (M.D.S., A.P., M.H.L.); Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Mo (V.M.M.); and Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Tex (A.G.C.)
| | - Michael H Lev
- From the Department of Diagnostic Imaging, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1400 Pressler St, Houston, TX 77030 (M.B., K.M.E.); Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale University, New Haven, Conn (N.S., M.V.R.); Department of Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill (M.S.); Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex (P.D.M.); Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass (M.D.S., A.P., M.H.L.); Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Mo (V.M.M.); and Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Tex (A.G.C.)
| | - Vincent M Mellnick
- From the Department of Diagnostic Imaging, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1400 Pressler St, Houston, TX 77030 (M.B., K.M.E.); Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale University, New Haven, Conn (N.S., M.V.R.); Department of Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill (M.S.); Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex (P.D.M.); Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass (M.D.S., A.P., M.H.L.); Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Mo (V.M.M.); and Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Tex (A.G.C.)
| | - Angel Gomez-Cintron
- From the Department of Diagnostic Imaging, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1400 Pressler St, Houston, TX 77030 (M.B., K.M.E.); Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale University, New Haven, Conn (N.S., M.V.R.); Department of Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill (M.S.); Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex (P.D.M.); Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass (M.D.S., A.P., M.H.L.); Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Mo (V.M.M.); and Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Tex (A.G.C.)
| | - Margarita V Revzin
- From the Department of Diagnostic Imaging, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1400 Pressler St, Houston, TX 77030 (M.B., K.M.E.); Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale University, New Haven, Conn (N.S., M.V.R.); Department of Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill (M.S.); Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex (P.D.M.); Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass (M.D.S., A.P., M.H.L.); Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Mo (V.M.M.); and Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Tex (A.G.C.)
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