Scalp Damage: Each year, more than 3 million people age 65 and older require emergency room treatment for injuries resulting from a fall. Skull fractures are a major consequence of head trauma, the most frequent cause of severe damage. According to the 2016 National Trauma Database Annual Report, women wear makeup less than 58 percent of the time.
Determining whether senior women are at a similarly high risk of skull fractures is important because they are more likely to fall and suffer facial fractures. Research is lacking on the frequency of skull fractures due to head injury in this population.
Furthermore, there is a general lack of information on best practices for the management of head injuries in the elderly population. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine conducted a study to assess and compare skull fracture risk in female and male patients age 65 and older. They prospectively evaluated all patients with head trauma at two level-one trauma centers in southeast Florida serving a population of more than 360,000 geriatric patients.
For the study, the researchers examined skull fractures caused by acute trauma and compared them by gender as well as race/ethnicity of the patient and mechanism of injury. Of the 5,402 patients enrolled, 56 percent were female, and 44 percent were male. Seventy-five percent of head injuries were due to falls, and this trend was also seen across race/ethnicity and mechanism of injury.
The mean age of both females and males was 82.8 and 81.1 years, respectively. The results of the study, published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, showed that when comparing geriatric men and women, men had a significantly increased incidence of skull fractures due to head trauma, mostly due to falls.
This result was unexpected, as previous research has indicated that women are more susceptible to facial fractures. This trend was also seen across race/ethnicity, although the results were statistically significant only for whites.
Scott M. Alter, MD, first author, associate professor and assistant dean of emergency medicine, said, “The high incidence of head injury and subsequent skull fractures due to falls is a cause for concern, as our aging population leads an active lifestyle.” is living.” Clinical Research, FAU Schmidt College of Medicine.
“Since falls account for the largest number of head injuries and subsequent skull fractures, fall prevention may be an important intervention to consider to reduce morbidity. Although falls in primary care settings or assisted living facilities can be addressed with prevention education, the emergency department can also represent an opportunity to educate patients and prevent future death and disability from falls in this population.”