Configurations and outcomes of acute hospital care for frail and older patients with moderate to major trauma: a systematic review

ObjectiveTo systematically review research on acute hospital care for frail or older adults experiencing moderate to major trauma.SettingElectronic databases (Medline, Embase, ASSIA, CINAHL Plus, SCOPUS, PsycINFO, EconLit, The Cochrane Library) were searched using index and key words, and reference lists and related articles hand-searched.Included articlesPeer-reviewed articles of any study design, published in English, 1999-2020 inclusive, referring to models of care for frail and/or older people in the acute hospital phase of care following traumatic injury defined as either moderate or major (mean or median Injury Severity Score >= 9). Excluded articles reported no empirical findings, were abstracts or literature reviews, or referred to frailty screening alone.MethodsScreening abstracts and full text, and completing data extractions and quality assessments using QualSyst was a blinded parallel process. A narrative synthesis, grouped by intervention type, was undertaken.Outcome measuresAny outcomes reported for patients, staff or care system.Results17 603 references were identified and 518 read in full; 22 were included-frailty and major trauma (n=0), frailty and moderate trauma (n=1), older people and major trauma (n=8), moderate or major trauma (n=7) 0r moderate trauma (n=6) . Studies were observational, heterogeneous in intervention and with variable methodological quality.Specific attention given to the care of older and/or frail people with moderate to major trauma in the North American context resulted in improvements to in-hospital processes and clinical outcomes, but highlights a relative paucity of evidence, particularly in relation to the first 48 hours post-injury.ConclusionsThis systematic review supports the need for, and further research into an intervention to address the care of frail and/or older patients with major trauma, and for the careful definition of age and frailty in relation to moderate or major trauma.International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO)CRD42016032895.