Predicting Mortality of Korean Geriatric Trauma Patients: A Comparison between Geriatric Trauma Outcome Score and Trauma and Injury Severity Score

Purpose: The Geriatric Trauma Outcome Score (GTOS) is a new prognostic tool used to predict mortality of geriatric trauma patients. We aimed to apply this model to Korean geriatric trauma patients and compare it with the Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS) method. Materials and Methods: Patients aged >= 65 years who were admitted to a level 1 trauma center from 2014 to 2018 were included in this study. Data on age, Injury Severity Score (ISS), packed red blood cell transfusion within 24 h, TRISS, admission disposition, mortality, and discharge disposition were collected. We analyzed the validity of GTOS and TRISS by comparing the area under the survival curve. Subgroup analysis for age, admission disposition, and ISS was performed. Results: Among 2586 participants, the median age was 75 years (interquartile range: 70-81). The median ISS was 9 (interquartile range: 4-12), with a transfusion rate (within 24 h) of 15.9% and mortality rate of 6.1%. The areas under the curve (AUCs) were 0.832 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.817-0.846] and 0.800 (95% CI, 0.784-0.815) for GTOS and TRISS, respectively. On subgroup analysis, patients with ISS >= 9 showed a higher AUC of GTOS compared to the AUC of TRISS (p<0.05). Other subgroup analyses showed equally good power of discrimination for mortality. Conclusion: GTOS can be used to predict mortality of severely injured Korean geriatric patients, and also be helpful in deciding whether invasive or aggressive treatments should be administered to them.

Automated summary

The study demonstrated that the Geriatric Trauma Outcome Score (GTOS) can effectively predict the mortality of geriatric trauma patients in Korea, and it can also be helpful in determining whether to administer invasive or aggressive treatments.