Multifaceted Analysis of the Environmental Factors in Severely Injured Trauma: A 30-Day Survival Analysis

(1) Background: Most factors that predict the in-hospital survival rate in patients with severe trauma are patient-related factors; environmental factors are not currently considered important. Predicting the severity of trauma using environmental factors could be a reliable and easy-to-use method. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether environmental factors affect the survival in patients with severe trauma. (2) Methods: Medical records of patients who activated trauma team in the single regional trauma center, from 2016 to 2020, were retrospectively analyzed. After exclusion of young patients (<19 years old), cases of mild trauma (ISS < 16), and non-preventable deaths (trauma and injury severity score <25%), a total of 1706 patients were included in the study. (3) Results: In the Cox proportional hazard regression analysis, older age, night compared with day, and high rainfall were identified as statistically significant environmental predictors of mortality due to severe trauma. The relationship between mortality and precipitation showed a linear relationship, while that between mortality and temperature showed an inverted U-shaped relationship. (4) Conclusions: Various environmental factors of trauma affect mortality in patients with severe trauma. In predicting the survival of patients with severe trauma, environmental factors are considered relatively less important, though they can be used effectively.

Automated summary

In this study, various environmental factors including age, time of injury, and precipitation were found to be significant predictors of mortality in patients with severe trauma.