Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30629015›Full record

ArticleThe journal of trauma and acute care surgery2019

Comorbidities, anticoagulants, and geriatric-specific physiology for the field triage of injured older adults.

Craig D Newgard, Amber Lin, Elizabeth Eckstrom, Aaron Caughey, Susan Malveau, Denise Griffiths, Dana Zive, Eileen Bulger

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The journal of trauma and acute care surgery, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Substantial heterogeneity in trauma triage tool characteristic operationalization for identification of major trauma: a hybrid systematic review.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Mechanism of injury and special considerations as predictive of serious injury: A systematic review.Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine · 2022
    Pooled it
  3. Guideline
  4. Pooled it
  5. Evaluation of elderly specific pre-hospital trauma triage criteria: a systematic review.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2021
    Pooled it
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Undertriage in geriatric trauma: insights from a multicentre cohort study.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2025
    Observational
  10. Review
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Observational
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Trauma-team-activation in Germany: how do emergency service professionals use the activation due to trauma mechanism? Results from a nationwide survey.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2022
    Article
  18. Towards improving prehospital triage for older trauma patients.Zeitschrift fur Gerontologie und Geriatrie · 2021
    Review
  19. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Craig D NewgardFrom the Center for Policy and Research in Emergency Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine (C.D.N., A.L., S.M., D.G., D.Z.), Division of Geriatrics, Department of Internal Medicine (E.E.), and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon (A.C.); and Department of Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (E.B.), Washington.
Amber Lin
Elizabeth Eckstrom
Aaron Caughey
Susan Malveau
Denise Griffiths
Dana Zive
Eileen Bulger

Funding

The Value of Emergency Care For Injured Older AdultsR01HS023796 · AHRQ · OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY · PI NEWGARD, CRAIG D. · 2015 to 2018
$884k
AHRQ HHS R01 HS023796
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundComorbid conditions and anticoagulants have been considered as field triage criteria to raise the sensitivity for identifying seriously injured older adults, but research is sparse. We evaluated the utility of comorbidities, anticoagulant use, and geriatric-specific physiologic measures to improve the sensitivity of the field triage guidelines for high-risk older adults in the out-of-hospital setting.

methodsThis was a cohort study of injured adults 65 years or older transported by 44 emergency medical services agencies to 51 trauma and nontrauma hospitals in seven Oregon and Washington counties from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2011. Out-of-hospital predictors included current field triage criteria, 13 comorbidities, preinjury anticoagulant use, and previously developed geriatric specific physiologic measures. The primary outcome (high-risk patients) was Injury Severity Score of 16 or greater or need for major nonorthopedic surgical intervention. We used binary recursive partitioning to develop a clinical decision rule with a target sensitivity of 95% or greater.

resultsThere were 5,021 older adults, of which 320 (6.4%) had Injury Severity Score of 16 or greater or required major nonorthopedic surgery. Of the 2,639 patients with preinjury medication history available, 400 (15.2%) were taking an anticoagulant. Current field triage practices were 36.6% sensitive (95% confidence interval [CI], 31.2%-42.0%) and 90.1% specific (95% CI, 89.2%-91.0%) for high-risk patients. Recursive partitioning identified (in order): any current field triage criteria, Glasgow Coma Scale score of 14 or less, geriatric-specific vital signs, and comorbidity count of 2 or more. Anticoagulant use was not identified as a predictor variable. The new criteria were 90.3% sensitive (95% CI, 86.8%-93.7%) and 17.0% specific (95% CI, 15.8%-18.1%).

conclusionsThe current field triage guidelines have poor sensitivity for high-risk older adults. Adding comorbidity information and geriatric-specific physiologic measures improved sensitivity, with a decrement in specificity. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic/Epidemiologic, level II.

Indexed as

Clinical Decision RulesAgedAged, 80 and overAnticoagulantsEmergency Medical ServicesFemaleGeriatric AssessmentHumansInjury Severity ScoreMaleOregonRetrospective StudiesSensitivity and SpecificityTriageWashingtonWounds and InjuriesAnticoagulants

Identifiers

PMID30629015
PMCPMC6370024

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.