PMID- 38468995
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20240313
IS  - 2168-8184 (Print)
IS  - 2168-8184 (Electronic)
IS  - 2168-8184 (Linking)
VI  - 16
IP  - 2
DP  - 2024 Feb
TI  - Injury Patterns in Vehicle Crashes: The Significance of Occupant Seating 
      Position.
PG  - e53730
LID - 10.7759/cureus.53730 [doi]
LID - e53730
AB  - OBJECTIVES:  Investigating patterns among the outcomes of patients involved in 
      motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) can provide information necessary to guide 
      targeted interventions to improve road traffic safety. Our purpose is to identify 
      any differences between passenger and driver injury severity and overall clinical 
      course after MVAs. METHODS:  We performed a retrospective review and analysis of 
      3,693 patients involved in MVAs from 2016 to 2021. We divided the data into two 
      groups, drivers and passengers, and compared the Injury Severity Score 
      (ISS), Revised Trauma Score (RTS) on admission, days in the Intensive Care Unit 
      (ICU), length of hospital stay (LOS), post Emergency Department (ED) disposition, 
      discharge (DC) disposition, and signs of life on arrival (SOLA) to the ED. We 
      compared mean ISS, New Injury Severity Score (NISS), RTS, length in ICU and LOS 
      using a student's T-test and SOLA, post-ED and DC disposition using 
      Chi-square analysis. RESULTS:  We did not find any statistically significant 
      difference in ISS, RTS, days in ICU, LOS, or SOLA between the drivers and 
      passengers. However, we did find a statistically significant difference in the 
      post-ED (X(2)= 113.743, p=<0.0001) and DC disposition (X(2)=41.172, p=<0.0001) of 
      drivers and passengers. After the ED and DC, more passengers were transferred to 
      a higher level of care than expected, while the inverse was true for drivers. The 
      number of drivers discharged to Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) was also higher 
      than expected, further contributing to the observed difference in DC 
      disposition.  Conclusion: Our study found no statistically significant difference 
      between driver and passenger injury severity, length of hospital stay, days in 
      ICU, and SOLA after an MVA. The clinical courses of the two groups were found to 
      be significantly different based on post-ED and DC disposition data. We 
      identified limitations, such as a relatively small sample size and insufficient 
      data on specific car seat locations for passengers, underscoring the need for a 
      more nuanced exploration. Future research must broaden its scope to encompass 
      diverse crash scenarios, vehicle design and safety technologies, seat belt 
      dynamics, and age- and gender-specific vulnerabilities.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2024, Taylor et al.
FAU - Taylor, Zachary
AU  - Taylor Z
AD  - Medicine, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific - Northwest, Western 
      University of Health Sciences, Lebanon, USA.
AD  - General Surgery, Desert Regional Medical Center, Palm Springs, USA.
FAU - Henken-Siefken, Austin
AU  - Henken-Siefken A
AD  - Surgery, Desert Regional Medical Center, Palm Springs, USA.
FAU - McCague, Andrew
AU  - McCague A
AD  - Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, Desert Regional Medical Center, Palm Springs, USA.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20240206
PL  - United States
TA  - Cureus
JT  - Cureus
JID - 101596737
PMC - PMC10927165
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - injury severity
OT  - motor vehicle accidents
OT  - motor vehicle drivers
OT  - motor vehicle passengers
OT  - road traffic safety
COIS- The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
EDAT- 2024/03/12 06:42
MHDA- 2024/03/12 06:43
PMCR- 2024/02/06
CRDT- 2024/03/12 03:48
PHST- 2023/11/30 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2024/02/06 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2024/03/12 06:43 [medline]
PHST- 2024/03/12 06:42 [pubmed]
PHST- 2024/03/12 03:48 [entrez]
PHST- 2024/02/06 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.7759/cureus.53730 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Cureus. 2024 Feb 6;16(2):e53730. doi: 10.7759/cureus.53730. eCollection 2024 Feb.