ScienceDaily (Aug. 9, 2007) — Socioeconomic status, and unemployment rates in particular, predict both the type of trauma seen in emergency rooms and the population groups more likely to be victims of trauma, according to Atul Madan  from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and his team. The researchers looked at the link between unemployment rates and the types of trauma admissions in New Orleans over six years. 

Unemployment rates were obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The trauma registry of the Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans (Charity Hospital) provided data on the trauma emergency room admissions, including patient demographics.

Between January 1994 and November 1999, there were over 24,000 trauma admissions. During that period, the higher the unemployment rate, the higher the number of admissions for penetrating trauma - injuries that occur primarily by an object piercing the skin or entering a tissue of the body, such as bullets and knives. 

The lower the unemployment rates, the higher the number of admissions for blunt trauma - physical trauma caused to a body part, either by impact, injury of physical attack which can result in contusions, abrasions, lacerations and bone fractures.  In this instance, the majority of blunt trauma was the result of motor vehicle collisions.  The authors suggest that a possible explanation for this surprising finding could be the fact that with higher incomes, more travel is likely, which in turn increases the likelihood of motor vehicle collisions.  Alternatively, more tourism to the area may have reduced unemployment but caused more road accidents.

The study also shows that as the socioeconomic status, measured here by unemployment rates, of the community changes, so do the demographics and mortality rates of the trauma population. There were more male patients, African American patients and deaths at times of high unemployment.  These results suggest that during times of economic hardship, certain population groups are at higher risk of life-threatening injuries.

The authors recommend that “injury prevention efforts targeted at economically disadvantaged populations and high-risk groups should be stressed when designing community trauma outreach programs, especially during times of economic hardships.”

These findings have just been published online in Springer’s World Journal of Surgery.

Reference: Madan A et al (2007).  Unemployment rates and trauma admissions.  World Journal of Surgery (DOI 10.1007/s00268-007-9190-4)

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