Chest trauma is very prevalent and often results in hospital admission. Australia has an ageing population and increasingly lower impact mechanisms such as falls from standing height are resulting in chest trauma in older patients. Whilst age is often used to stratify outcomes, research suggests that frailty may be a better indicator. Therefore, the aim of this study was to retrospectively review patients with chest trauma admitted over a one-year period (April 2023- March 2024) to the trauma ward of a Level 1 Trauma Centre, and review the prevalence of frailty, and the association with patient outcomes and utilisation of resources. The Clinical Frailty Scale was used with patients scoring 5 or above indicating those with frailty.
Data was collected regarding length of stay and discharge destination, use of resources (ICU admission, need for regional analgesia, hospital acquired complications), functional mobility, quality of life by the EQ5D, and longer term outcomes, to compare frail and non frail patients with chest trauma. 134 (78 females, 56 males) of 930 patients with chest trauma were frail (14%). Of the frail patients, 48 (36%) had an ICU admission, and 43 (32%) had at least one hospital acquired complication. Only a third (n=50) of the frail patients discharged directly home, whilst four died during their admission. Long term data will also be reviewed. This local data will help inform trauma services about the relationship between frailty and outcomes in chest trauma, and guide opportunities to improve care delivery in the future.