علت و پیامد نهایی حوادث قابل پیشگیری در سالمندان؛ یک مطالعه اپیدمیولوژیک

Introduction: With the growing population of the elderly in societies, the medical problems of this age range also increases. Preventable accidents are among these problems. More than 5 million people die as the result of these injuries each year. Therefore, the present study was done aiming to evaluate the causes and outcomes of preventable accidents in the elderly.Methods: The present study is a retrospective cross-sectional one, performed on elderly patients admitted to a hospital during 2 years. Required data were gathered using census method via a checklist consisting of demographic data, cause of the accident, length of hospital stay, number of times revisiting the hospital, and final outcome. Data were then descriptively analyzed using SPSS 16 statistical software.Results: 2336 patients with the mean age of 72.24 ± 9.02 years were evaluated (50.7% female). The most common causes of accidents were falling with 1033 (44.2%) cases, intentional poisoning with 382 (16.4%) cases, and unintentional poisoning with 360 (15.4%) cases, respectively. Mean length of hospital stay was 5 ± 7.7 days. 144 (6.2%) elderly patients died during the study period. Type of accident (p < 0.001) and final outcome (p < 0.001) were significantly different between the sexes.Conclusion: Based on the findings of the present study, falling, intentional poisoning and unintentional poisoning, respectively, were the most common causes of preventable accidents in the studied elderly population. Most cases were discharged after partial recovery and the 3 afore-mentioned causes had higher prevalence in women. The most frequent outcomes were complete recovery in poisoning, partial recovery in falling, and death in poisoning and burn.مقدمه: به موازات افزایش جمعیت سالمندان در جوامع، مشکلات پزشکی این گروه سنی نیز افزایش می‌یابد. از جمله این مشکلات می‌توان به حوادث قابل پیشگیری اشاره نمود. هر ساله بيش از 5 ميليون نفر در نتيجه این گونه آسيب‌ها جان خود را از دست می دهند. لذا مطالعه حاضر با هدف بررسی علل و پیامد حوادث قابل پیشگیری در سالمندان طراحی شده است. روش کار: پژوهش حاضر يک مطالعه مقطعي‎ گذشته نگر بر روی سالمندان بستری شده در بیمارستان طی دو سال می باشد. اطلاعات مورد نياز از طريق سرشماری و با استفاده از چک لیستی مشتمل بر  اطلاعات دموگرافیک، علت حادثه، طول مدت بستری، تعداد دفعات مراجعه و پیامد نهایی جمع آوری و با استفاده از نرم افزار آماری SPSS 16 مورد آنالیز توصیفی قرار گرفت. يافته ها: در مجموع اطلاعات 2336 بیمار با میانگین سنی 02/9 ± 24/72 سال مورد ارزیابی قرار گرفت (7/50 درصد زن). فراوان ترین علل حوادث به ترتیب عبارت بودند از سقوط 1033 (2/44 درصد) مورد، مسمومیت عمدی 382 (4/16درصد) مورد و مسمومیت تصادفی 360 (4/15 درصد) مورد. متوسط طول مدت بستری 70/7 ± 5 روز بود. تعداد سالمندان فوت شده در طی زمان مورد مطالعه 144 (2/6 درصد) نفر بود. از جهت نوع حادثه (001/0 > p) و پیامد نهایی (001/0 > p) تفاوت معنی داری بین دو جنس مشاهده گردید. نتيجه گيری: بر اساس یافته های مطالعه حاضر سقوط، مسمومیت عمدی و مسمومیت تصادفی به ترتیب شایعترین علل بروز حوادث قابل پیشگیری در سالمندان مورد مطالعه بودند. اکثریت موارد بعد از بهبودی نسبی از بیمارستان ترخیص شده بودند و سه عامل فوق الذکر شیوع بالاتری در زنان داشتند. بهبودی کامل درمسمومیت ها، عدم بهبودی کامل در موارد سقوط و فوت در مسمومیت‌ها و سوختگی بیشترین فراوانی ها را داشتند

Cause and Outcome of Preventable Accidents in the Elderly; an Epidemiologic Study

Introduction: With the growing population of the elderly in societies, the medical problems of this age range also increases. Preventable accidents are among these problems. More than 5 million people die as the result of these injuries each year. Therefore, the present study was done aiming to evaluate the causes and outcomes of preventable accidents in the elderly.Methods: The present study is a retrospective cross-sectional one, performed on elderly patients admitted to a hospital during 2 years. Required data were gathered using census method via a checklist consisting of demographic data, cause of the accident, length of hospital stay, number of times revisiting the hospital, and final outcome. Data were then descriptively analyzed using SPSS 16 statistical software.Results: 2336 patients with the mean age of 72.24 ± 9.02 years were evaluated (50.7% female). The most common causes of accidents were falling with 1033 (44.2%) cases, intentional poisoning with 382 (16.4%) cases, and unintentional poisoning with 360 (15.4%) cases, respectively. Mean length of hospital stay was 5 ± 7.7 days. 144 (6.2%) elderly patients died during the study period. Type of accident (p < 0.001) and final outcome (p < 0.001) were significantly different between the sexes.Conclusion: Based on the findings of the present study, falling, intentional poisoning and unintentional poisoning, respectively, were the most common causes of preventable accidents in the studied elderly population. Most cases were discharged after partial recovery and the 3 afore-mentioned causes had higher prevalence in women. The most frequent outcomes were complete recovery in poisoning, partial recovery in falling, and death in poisoning and burn