Journal of

Introduction and purpose: Trauma is the fifth leading cause of death in patients aged more than 65 years old. In addition, 12% of individuals who suffer from trauma are elderly while rate of elderly mortality among trauma cases has been reported up to 28%. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing frequency of trauma among elderly attending to Taleghani Hospital in Kermanshah.

Materials and Methods: This retrospective study used secondary data from medical record of elderly (more than 60 years) attending to the emergency ward of Taleghani hospital during the first six months of 2008.

Findings: The findings showed that 56.4% of trauma cases were male and 43.6% were female with mean age of 70.6 ± 9.1 years. The main cause of trauma was fall (58.7%), majority of traumas (60.9%) occurred at home and the upper extremity injuries (25.1%) was the most affected area. More than half (59.8%) of trauma cases require hospitalization and further treatment in which 41.9% of them were admitted to the orthopedic ward.

Conclusion: Although, the outcomes of trauma are deteriorated in elderly patients but, its mortality and morbidity can be reduced by continuous monitoring, special treatment and on top of that maintaining a safe environment for elderly patients.