DR ELAINE COLE
Director of research and innovation for the London Trauma System
OUR population is ageing, we are living longer and there are a greater proportion of older people alive in the UK than ever before.
Age UK reports that 10 per cent of people aged 65 and over are frail, living with multiple physical problems, and this rises to 20-50 per cent in those aged over 85.
However, there are also a large proportion of people aged 65 or more who are active and well.
This is in part due to healthier lifestyles, with older people choosing activities such as cycling, walking, gardening and sport to maintain fitness and muscle and bone strength. Modern medicine has also improved the treatment of long-term conditions like heart disease or lung problems, which in the past may have resulted in earlier deaths. Therefore as older people remain active, some still working in later life, then the risk of traumatic injury increases.
Trauma is the fourth leading cause of death and disability worldwide. The types of trauma affecting active older people include road-traffic collisions, pedestrians being struck by vehicles, cycling incidents and falls from a height, during DIY for example. These incidents can result in very severe injuries, including haemorrhage, damage to the brain and major fractures.
About 25-40 per cent of older patients with these injuries will require admission to an intensive care unit for specialist treatment.
They appear to have worse outcomes compared to younger counterparts, but we don’t fully understand why this is. Common problems for these patients include organ failure, abnormal clotting and severe infection.
In the UK there is very little research into why older people don’t recover as well after severe trauma. This study aims to investigate death and dysfunction after trauma in older people and which factors increase the risks of problems and the affect they have on recovery and quality of life.