Elderly 'less likely' to be transported to trauma centers

Elderly patients appear to be less likely to receive transport to trauma centers than their younger counterparts, due to a possible unconscious "age bias" among emergency medical services personnel.

This is the assertion of a report in the August issue of Archives of Surgery, which states that an estimated 39 percent of all trauma patients will be older than 65 by 2050.

In news that may be of interest to anti-aging physicians, the authors of the study have written that evidence-based clinical practice guidelines "strongly recommend" that elderly trauma patients be treated as aggressively as non-elderly individuals, Eurekalert notes.

Ten years of data from the statewide Maryland Ambulance Information System was analyzed as part of the research and a survey was carried out on emergency medical services (EMS) and trauma center personnel.

David Chang and colleagues from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine found that being 65 years or older was associated with a 52 percent reduction in likelihood of being transported to a trauma center.

In related news, an article in the August 15th issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine suggests that older caregivers to people with dementia get poorer sleep than non-caregivers.