Analysis of Factors Affecting Length of Hospital Stay in Severe Trauma Patients

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Severe trauma is indicative of poor patient prognosis and higher mortality rates. Moreover, severe trauma may be related with higher hospital costs. Our recent study showed that severe trauma costs significantly more per patient than general trauma. Length of hospital stay was shown to be an independent factor contributing to higher cost in the study. We assessed factors affecting length of hospital stay in severe trauma patients. METHODS: Data from the severe trauma registry was collected prospectively and retrospectively reviewed. Time of emergency department (ED) registration, mechanism of injury, initial vital signs, revised trauma score (RTS), injury severity scale (ISS), specialty consultation time, time to admission decision, ED length of stay, and overall hospital length of stay (LOS) were evaluated. All factors listed above were put into a univariate, Cox proportional hazard analysis. LOS and other factors resulting in p-values under 0.20 were included in the multivariate analysis. RESULTS: A total of 249 patients were enrolled to the study. There were significant univariate analysis results for RTS and ISS (p=0.001, 0.006, respectively). The only significant multivariate analysis result was for RTS (p=0.025, hazard ratio=1.167). CONCLUSION: Higher RTS score is an independent factor leading to earlier discharge from the hospital in severe trauma patients.