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Book

Assessment and Management of Traumatic Injuries in Older Adults

Alison P. Southern, Richard A. Lopez  1 , Parth J. Patel  2 , Sharhabeel Jwayyed  3
In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan.
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Affiliations
Book

Assessment and Management of Traumatic Injuries in Older Adults

Alison P. Southern et al.

Excerpt

Assessing traumatic injuries in older adults requires a unique skill set. Many countries are seeing an increasing number of individuals aged 65 and older. For example, the United States Census Bureau estimated that there were 52.4 million people aged 65 and older in 2018 in the United States, and projections put that number up to 80.8 million by 2040 (Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics). As the aging population increases, the number of traumatic injuries in older adults also rises.

Age-related changes place older adults at greater risk of morbidity and mortality, which can make caring for them challenging. Older adults are more likely to have mild-to-severe cognitive impairment, cardiovascular disease, and multiorgan insufficiency that results in general frailty. These age-related physiologic changes often limit the older adult's response to traumatic injury and elevate their risk of complications and death compared to their younger counterparts.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Alison Southern declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Richard Lopez declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Parth Patel declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Sharhabeel Jwayyed declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

References

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