Factors associated with external causes in elderly attended by the mobile emergency care service

Factores asociados a causas externas en ancianos atendidos por el servicio de atención móvil de urgencia

ABSTRACT

Objective:   To analyze the prevalence and factors associated with external causes in elderly people attended by the mobile emergency care service.

Method:   Cross-sectional study with 1,972 pre-hospital care records of elderly victims of external causes from 2019 to 2020. A descriptive and bivariate analysis was performed, with a significance level of 5% (p<0.05).

Results:   The prevalence of external causes in elderly people attended by the mobile emergency service was 12.2%. Falling was the most frequent occurrence. The associations of the occurrence of falls with age from 90 years old (OR=29.31; p<0.001) and female gender (OR=5.38; p<0.001) stood out, as well as the suspicion of ingestion of alcoholic beverages with occurrence of violence (OR=4.17; p<0.001) and traffic accidents (OR=1.97; p<0.001).

Conclusion:   The study showed factors associated with injuries due to external causes in theelderly and may support the formulation of coping strategies for this problem.

Descriptors: Emergency medical services; Aged; External causes; Cross-sectional studies; Nursing