Characteristics of trauma cases at rural hospitals and urban TCs
| Characteristics | Rural EDs n=3388 | Transfers* n=3827 | P value† | Urban TCs n=72 742 | P value‡ |
| Demographics§ | |||||
| Age, mean (SD) | 63.3 (24.6) | 50.0 (24.4) | <0.001 | 59.1 (26.3) | <0.001 |
| Male, n (%) | 1624 (48) | 2322 (61) | <0.001 | 35 031 (48) | 0.80 |
| ISS, n (%) | |||||
| 1–9 | 2823 (83) | 2907 (76) | <0.001 | 56 815 (78) | <0.001 |
| 10–15 | 229 (7) | 281 (7) | 0.335 | 7635 (11) | <0.001 |
| 16–24 | 227 (7) | 312 (8) | 0.019 | 4659 (6) | 0.496 |
| ≥25 | 109 (3) | 327 (9) | <0.001 | 3633 (5) | <0.001 |
| Injury mechanism, n (%) | |||||
| Fall | 2252 (66) | 2113 (55) | <0.001 | 50 462 (69) | <0.001 |
| MVC | 628 (19) | 971 (25) | <0.001 | 10 812 (15) | <0.001 |
| Other | 508 (15) | 743 (20) | <0.001 | 11 468 (16) | 0.23 |
| Scene of injury, n (%) | |||||
| Home | 1616 (47) | 645 (17) | <0.001 | 22 550 (31) | <0.001 |
| Street/Road | 497 (15) | 624 (16) | 0.06 | 11 908 (16) | 0.009 |
| Other | 1275 (38) | 2558 (67) | <0.001 | 38 284 (53) | <0.001 |
| Injury type¶, n (%) | |||||
| Head | 643 (19) | 661 (17) | 12 188 (17) | ||
| Face | 321 (9) | 534 (14) | 9187 (13) | ||
| Neck | 37 (1) | 40 (1) | 977 (1) | ||
| Thorax | 709 (21) | 430 (11) | 10 586 (15) | ||
| Abdominal | 195 (6) | 198 (5) | 4260 (6) | ||
| Spinal | 521 (15) | 449 (12) | 7906 (11) | ||
| Upper limb | 784 (23) | 1182 (31) | 21 659 (30) | ||
| Lower limb | 1355 (40) | 2069 (54) | 40 032 (55) | ||
| Presence of craniocerebral trauma | 345 (10) | 437 (11) | 7977 (11) | ||
| Undetermined | 176 (5) | 104 (3) | 2146 (3) | ||
| Transport, n (%) | |||||
| Ambulance | 2524 (74) | 1749 (46) | <0.001 | 54 745 (75) | 0.32 |
| Air | 1 (<1) | 5 (<1) | 0.2237 | 61 (<1) | 0.984 |
| Other | 424 (13) | 252 (6) | <0.001 | 2757 (4) | <0.001 |
| Unknown | 439 (13) | 1821 (48) | <0.001 | 15 179 (21) | <0.001 |
*Patients transferred from rural EDs to urban TCs.
†Significance for difference in characteristics between trauma patients admitted to rural EDs and trauma patients transferred from rural EDs to urban centres.
‡Significance for difference in characteristics between trauma patients admitted to rural EDs and trauma patients transported directly to urban centres.
§Data were unavailable for 258 patients.
¶Some patients had >1 injury type.
ED, emergency department; ISS, Injury Severity Score; MVC, motor vehicle collision; TC, trauma centre.