Discharge destination and patient-reported outcomes after inpatient treatment for isolated lower limb fractures.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between discharge destination (home or inpatient rehabilitation) for adult patients treated in hospital for isolated lower limb fractures and patient-reported outcomes. DESIGN: Review of prospectively collected Victorian Orthopaedic Trauma Outcomes Registry (VOTOR) data. SETTING, PARTICIPANTS: Adults (18-64 years old) treated for isolated lower limb fractures at four Melbourne trauma hospitals that contribute data to the VOTOR, 1 March 2007 - 31 March 2016. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Return to work and functional recovery (assessed with the extended Glasgow Outcomes Scale, GOS-E); propensity score analysis of association between discharge destination and outcome. RESULTS: Of 7961 eligible patients, 1432 (18%) were discharged to inpatient rehabilitation, and 6775 (85%) were followed up 12 months after their injuries. After propensity score adjustment, the odds of better functional recovery were 56% lower for patients discharged to inpatient rehabilitation than for those discharged directly home (odds ratio, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.37-0.51); for the 5057 people working before their accident, the odds of return to work were reduced by 66% (odds ratio, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.26-0.46). Propensity score analysis improved matching of the discharge destination groups, but imbalances in funding source remained for both outcome analyses, and for also for site and cause of injury in the GOS-E analysis (standardised differences, 10-16%). CONCLUSIONS: Discharge to inpatient rehabilitation after treatment for isolated lower limb fractures was associated with poorer outcomes than discharge home. Factors that remained unbalanced after propensity score analysis could be assessed in controlled trials.

Pain, Anxiety, and Depression in the First Two Years Following Transport-Related Major Trauma: A Population-Based, Prospective Registry Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to characterize the population prevalence of pain and mental health problems postinjury and to identify risk factors that could improve service delivery to optimize recovery of at-risk patients. METHODS: This population-based registry cohort study included 5,350 adult survivors of transport-related major trauma injuries from the Victorian State Trauma Registry. Outcome profiles were generated separately for pain and mental health outcomes using the "pain or discomfort" and "anxiety or depression" items of the EuroQol Five Dimensions Three-Level questionnaire at six, 12, and 24 months postinjury. Profiles were "resilient" (no problems at every follow-up), "recovered" (problems at six- and/or 12-month follow-up that later resolved), "worsening" (problems at 12 and/or 24 months after no problems at six and/or 12 months), and "persistent" (problems at every follow-up). RESULTS: Most participants had persistent (pain/discomfort, N = 2,171, 39.7%; anxiety/depression, N = 1,428, 26.2%) and resilient profiles (pain/discomfort, N = 1,220, 22.3%; anxiety/depression, N = 2,055, 37.7%), followed by recovered (pain/discomfort, N = 1,116, 20.4%; anxiety/depression, N = 1,025, 18.8%) and worsening profiles (pain/discomfort, N = 956, 17.5%; anxiety/depression, N = 948, 17.4%). Adjusted multinomial logistic regressions showed increased risk of problems (persistent, worsening, or resolved) vs no problems (resilient) in relation to female sex, middle age, neighborhood disadvantage, pre-injury unemployment, pre-injury disability, and spinal cord injury. People living in rural areas, motorcyclists, pedal cyclists, and people with head, chest, and abdominal injuries had lower risk of problems. DISCUSSION: Targeted interventions delivered to people with the risk factors identified may help to attenuate the severity and impact of pain and mental health problems after transport injury.

Impact of comorbidity on health outcome after a transport-related injury.

INTRODUCTION: Understanding the impact of comorbidity on health outcomes is important given that comorbidities can affect survival, morbidity, service delivery costs and healthcare utilisation. However, little is known about the types of comorbidities affecting specific health outcomes after minor to moderate road trauma. METHODS: This study involved 1574 participants who claimed injury compensation following transport-related injury. Cross sectional data were collected. Health outcomes were assessed using the EQ-5D-3L specific domains and summary score. Twelve self-reported pre-existing chronic conditions were assessed using a multivariate logistic regression, adjusting for demographic and injury characteristics. RESULTS: Out of 1574 participants, only 17 (1%) participants reported no pre-existing comorbidities, 72% reported one, 13% reported two and 14% reported three or more comorbidities. Hypertension (15%), depression (14%) and anxiety (14%) were the most commonly reported comorbidities, followed by arthritis (13%), chronic pain (11%) and asthma (11%). Participants with a history of arthritis (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.90, 95% CI 1.24 to 2.91); chronic back pain (AOR 1.59, 95% CI, 1.04 to 2.43); other chronic pain (AOR 2.73, 95% CI 1.42 to 4.24); depression (AOR 2.55, 95% CI 1.60 to 4.05) and anxiety (AOR 2.08, 95% CI 1.32 to 3.26) were at increased risk of poorer health outcomes, after controlling for age, gender, type of injury and time since injury. CONCLUSION: This study found that comorbidities such as arthritis, chronic back pain, other chronic pain, depression and anxiety significantly increase the odds of poorer health postinjury, regardless of the time since injury. Regular screening of comorbid conditions may help identify people likely to have poorer outcomes, thereby enabling the implementation of interventions to optimise health despite the presence of comorbidities.

Patterns and Predictors of Return to Work After Major Trauma: A Prospective, Population-based Registry Study.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize patterns of engagement in work during the 4-year period after major traumatic injury, and to identify factors associated with those patterns. BACKGROUND: Employment is an important marker of functional recovery from injury. There are few population-based studies of long-term employment outcomes, and limited data on the patterns of return to work (RTW) after injury. METHODS: A population-based, prospective cohort study using the Victorian State Trauma Registry. A total of 1086 working age individuals, in paid employment or full-time education before injury, were followed-up through telephone interview at 6, 12, 24, 36, and 48 months post-injury. Responses to RTW questions were used to define 4 discrete patterns: early and sustained; delayed; failed; no RTW. Predictors of RTW patterns were assessed using multivariate multinomial logistic regression. RESULTS: Slightly more than half of respondents (51.6%) recorded early sustained RTW. A further 15.5% had delayed and 13.3% failed RTW. One in 5 (19.7%) did not RTW. Compared with early sustained RTW, predictors of delayed and no RTW included being in a manual occupation and injury in a motor vehicle accident. Older age and receiving compensation predicted both failed and no RTW patterns. Preinjury disability was an additional predictor of failed RTW. Presence of comorbidity was an additional predictor of no RTW. CONCLUSIONS: A range of personal, occupational, injury, health, and compensation system factors influence RTW patterns after serious injury. Early identification of people at risk for delayed, failed, or no RTW is needed so that targeted interventions can be delivered.

Comparison of the performance of mental health, drug and alcohol comorbidities based on ICD-10-AM and medical records for predicting 12-month outcomes in trauma patients.

BACKGROUND: Many outcome studies capture the presence of mental health, drug and alcohol comorbidities from administrative datasets and medical records. How these sources compare as predictors of patient outcomes has not been determined. The purpose of the present study was to compare mental health, drug and alcohol comorbidities based on ICD-10-AM coding and medical record documentation for predicting longer-term outcomes in injured patients. METHODS: A random sample of patients (n = 500) captured by the Victorian State Trauma Registry was selected for the study. Retrospective medical record reviews were conducted to collect data about documented mental health, drug and alcohol comorbidities while ICD-10-AM codes were obtained from routinely collected hospital data. Outcomes at 12-months post-injury were the Glasgow Outcome Scale - Extended (GOS-E), European Quality of Life Five Dimensions (EQ-5D-3L), and return to work. Linear and logistic regression models, adjusted for age and gender, using medical record derived comorbidity and ICD-10-AM were compared using measures of calibration (Hosmer-Lemeshow statistic) and discrimination (C-statistic and R2). RESULTS: There was no demonstrable difference in predictive performance between the medical record and ICD-10-AM models for predicting the GOS-E, EQ-5D-3L utility sore and EQ-5D-3L mobility, self-care, usual activities and pain/discomfort items. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUC) for models using medical record derived comorbidity (AUC 0.68, 95% CI: 0.63, 0.73) was higher than the model using ICD-10-AM data (AUC 0.62, 95% CI: 0.57, 0.67) for predicting the EQ-5D-3L anxiety/depression item. The discrimination of the model for predicting return to work was higher with inclusion of the medical record data (AUC 0.69, 95% CI: 0.63, 0.76) than the ICD-10-AM data (AUC 0.59, 95% CL: 0.52, 0.65). CONCLUSIONS: Mental health, drug and alcohol comorbidity information derived from medical record review was not clearly superior for predicting the majority of the outcomes assessed when compared to ICD-10-AM. While information available in medical records may be more comprehensive than in the ICD-10-AM, there appears to be little difference in the discriminative capacity of comorbidities coded in the two sources.

Immunological effects among workers who handle engineered nanoparticles.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether exposure of workers handling engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) may result in increased inflammation and changes in lung function. METHODS: A prospective panel study compared changes in several markers of inflammation for ENP handling and non-ENP handling control workers. Nanoparticle exposure was measured during ENP handling and for controls. Lung function, fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), C-reactive protein (CRP), blood cell counts and several serum cytokines were measured at baseline, at the end of the shift and at the end of the working week. RESULTS: Nanoparticle exposure was not higher when ENPs were being handled; nanoparticle counts were higher in offices and in ambient air than in laboratories. There were no differences at baseline in lung function, FeNO, haemoglobin, platelet, white cell counts or CRP levels between those who handled nanoparticles and those who did not, with or without asthmatic participants. There were statistically significant increases in sCD40 and sTNFR2 over the working day for those who handled ENPs. The changes were larger and statistically significant over the working week and sCD62P also showed a statistically significant difference. The changes were slightly smaller and less likely to be statistically significant for atopic than for non-atopic participants. CONCLUSIONS: Even at low ENP exposure, increases in three cytokines were significant over the week for those who handled nanoparticles, compared with those who did not. However, exposure to low and transient levels of nanoparticles was insufficient, to trigger measurable changes in spirometry, FeNO, CRP or blood cell counts.

The prevalence of pre-existing mental health, drug and alcohol conditions in major trauma patients.

Objective Capturing information about mental health, drug and alcohol conditions in injury datasets is important for improving understanding of injury risk and outcome. This study describes the prevalence of pre-existing mental health, drug and alcohol conditions in major trauma patients based on routine discharge data coding. Methods Data were extracted from the population-based Victorian State Trauma Registry (July 2005 to June 2013, n=16096). Results Seventeen percent of major trauma patients had at least one mental health condition compared with the Australian population prevalence of 21%. The prevalence of mental health conditions was similar to the Australian population prevalence in men (19% v. 18%), but lower in women (14% v. 25%) and across all age groups. Mental health conditions were more prevalent in intentional self-harm cases (56.3%) compared with unintentional (13.8%) or other intentional (31.2%) cases. Substance use disorders were more prevalent in major trauma patients than the general population (15% v. 5%), higher in men than women (17% v. 10%) and was highest in young people aged 25-34 years (24%). Conclusions Under-reporting of mental health conditions in hospital discharge data appears likely, reducing the capacity to characterise the injury population. Further validation is needed. What is known about the topic? Medical record review, routine hospital discharge data and self-report have been used by studies previously to characterise mental health, drug and alcohol conditions in injured populations, with medical record review considered the most accurate and reliance on self-report measures being considered at risk of recall bias. The use of routinely collected data sources provides an efficient and standardised method of characterising pre-existing conditions, but may underestimate the true prevalence of conditions. What does this paper add? No study to date has explored the prevalence of Abbreviated Injury Scale and International Classification of Diseases and Health Related Problems, Tenth Revision, Australian Modification (ICD-10-a.m)-coded mental health, alcohol and drug conditions in seriously injured populations. The results of this study show the incidence of mental health conditions appeared to be under-reported in major trauma patients, suggesting limitations in the use of ICD-10-a.m. to measure mental health comorbidities. What are the implications for practitioners? In order to achieve improvements in measuring mental health, drug and alcohol comorbidities, we suggest the use of a series of different diagnostic systems to be used in conjunction with ICD-10-a.m., such as medical record review and self-reporting as well as linkage to other datasets. When applied simultaneously, diagnosis and outcomes of mental health may be compared and validated across diagnostic systems and deviations in diagnoses could be more readily accounted for.

Return to Work and Functional Outcomes After Major Trauma: Who Recovers, When, and How Well?

OBJECTIVE: To describe the long-term outcomes of major trauma patients and factors associated with the rate of recovery. BACKGROUND: As injury-related mortality decreases, there is increased focus on improving the quality of survival and reducing nonfatal injury burden. METHODS: Adult major trauma survivors to discharge, injured between July 2007 and June 2012 in Victoria, Australia, were followed up at 6, 12, and 24 months after injury to measure function (Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended) and return to work/study. Random-effects regression models were fitted to identify predictors of outcome and differences in the rate of change in each outcome between patient subgroups. RESULTS: Among the 8844 survivors, 8128 (92%) were followed up. Also, 23% had achieved a good functional recovery, and 70% had returned to work/study at 24 months. The adjusted odds of reporting better function at 12 months was 27% (adjusted odds ratio 1.27, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.19-1.36) higher compared with 6 months, and 9% (adjusted odds ratio 1.09, 95% CI, 1.02-1.17) higher at 24 months compared with 12 months. The adjusted relative risk (RR) of returning to work was 14% higher at 12 months compared with 6 months (adjusted RR 1.14, 95% CI, 1.12-1.16) and 8% (adjusted RR 1.08, 95% CI, 1.06-1.10) higher at 24 months compared with 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: Improvement in outcomes over the study period was observed, although ongoing disability was common at 24 months. Recovery trajectories differed by patient characteristics, providing valuable information for informing prognostication and service planning, and improving our understanding of the burden of nonfatal injury.

Disability weights based on patient-reported data from a multinational injury cohort.

OBJECTIVE: To create patient-based disability weights for individual injury diagnosis codes and nature-of-injury classifications, for use, as an alternative to panel-based weights, in studies on the burden of disease. METHODS: Self-reported data based on the EQ-5D standardized measure of health status were collected from 29 770 participants in the Injury-VIBES injury cohort study, which covered Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America. The data were combined to calculate new disability weights for each common injury classification and for each type of diagnosis covered by the 10th revision of the International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems. Weights were calculated separately for hospital admissions and presentations confined to emergency departments. FINDINGS: There were 29 770 injury cases with at least one EQ-5D score. The mean age of the participants providing data was 51 years. Most participants were male and almost a third had road traffic injuries. The new disability weights were higher for admitted cases than for cases confined to emergency departments and higher than the corresponding weights used by the Global Burden of Disease 2013 study. Long-term disability was common in most categories of injuries. CONCLUSION: Injury is often a chronic disorder and burden of disease estimates should reflect this. Application of the new weights to burden studies would substantially increase estimates of disability-adjusted life-years and provide a more accurate reflection of the impact of injuries on peoples' lives.

Large Granular Lymphocytic Leukemia: A Tale of Two LGLs.

Large granular lymphocytic (LGL) leukemia is a fairly uncommon hematological malignancy, generally indolent in nature. Two patients with this entity receiving care at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center and Research Institute (HFGCCRI) are described, who together illustrate the great range of severity that can exist in this disease. One patient, SM, presented with life-threatening anemia, yet another patient, TD, presented merely with asymptomatic lymphocytosis. Management differed accordingly, comprising methotrexate therapy for SM and active surveillance for TD. Recognizing the full spectrum of this condition is key to formulating an appropriate management plan.

Written Asthma Action Plans (WAAPs) in Melbourne general practices: a sequential mixed methods study.

AIM: To investigate ownership and perceived utility of written asthma action plans (WAAPs) in general practice. METHODS: Questionnaires were completed by 225 adults and 75 children with GP-diagnosed asthma from 31 practices. Regression models for WAAP ownership allowed for confounders and clustering by practice. Five audio-recorded focus groups were conducted before questionnaire implementation and, 12 months later, six focus groups and additional in-depth interviews with 29 patients and 16 doctors were conducted. Transcripts were submitted to content and thematic analyses. RESULTS: A total of 37% of adults and 47% of children had WAAPs. Adults reporting spontaneous shortness of breath, an emergency presentation in the previous 12 months, or frequent GP visits were more likely to have a WAAP. Qualitative data indicated that few acknowledged receipt or use of one. Those who remembered receiving a WAAP found it useful in asthma management in conjunction with verbal advice given by their GP. WAAPs were perceived by some patients as an indicator of doctor competence which, in turn, was viewed as signifying better management of asthma by the patient even if the WAAP was never actually used. CONCLUSIONS: Ownership of WAAPs is still low. Additional and more effective strategies are required to improve rates of GP prescription of WAAPs.

Outcomes of severe lower limb injury with Mangled Extremity Severity Score ≥ 7.

AIMS: Complex fractures of the femur and tibia with associated severe soft tissue injury are often devastating for the individual. The aim of this study was to describe the two-year patient-reported outcomes of patients in a civilian population who sustained a complex fracture of the femur or tibia with a Mangled Extremity Severity Score (MESS) of ≥ 7, whereby the score ranges from 2 (lowest severity) to 11 (highest severity). METHODS: Patients aged ≥ 16 years with a fractured femur or tibia and a MESS of ≥ 7 were extracted from the Victorian Orthopaedic Trauma Outcomes Registry (January 2007 to December 2018). Cases were grouped into surgical amputation or limb salvage. Descriptive analysis were used to examine return to work rates, three-level EuroQol five-dimension questionnaire (EQ-5D-3L), and Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOS-E) outcomes at 12 and 24 months post-injury. RESULTS: In all, 111 patients were included: 90 (81%) patients who underwent salvage and 21 (19%) patients with surgical amputation. The mean age of patients was 45.8 years (SD 15.8), 93 (84%) were male, 37 (33%) were involved in motor vehicle collisions, and the mean MESS score was 8.2 (SD 1.4). Two-year outcomes in the cohort were poor: six (7%) patients achieved a GOS-E good recovery, the mean EQ-5D-3L summary score was 0.52 (SD 0.27), and 17 (20%) patients had returned to work. CONCLUSION: A small proportion of patients with severe lower limb injury (MESS ≥ 7) achieved a good level of function 24 months post-injury. Further follow-up is needed to better understand the long-term trajectory of these patients, including delayed amputation, hospital readmissions, and healthcare utilization. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2021;103-B(4):769-774.

A randomized controlled trial of an interactive voice response telephone system and specialist nurse support for childhood asthma management.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effects of an automated interactive voice response system (IVR) and Specialist Nurse Support to reduce health care utilization and improve health-related quality of life in children with asthma. STUDY DESIGN: A randomized controlled trial in 121 children with doctor-diagnosed asthma and an acute presentation with asthma in the previous 12 months aged between 3 and 16 years. Children were randomized to one of three groups for a 6-month intervention receiving asthma education and management support from a Specialist Nurse by telephone or e-mail (N = 41), from IVR (N = 39), or receiving usual care (control group; N = 41). Outcomes included health care utilization and use of oral steroid rescue. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) data using the Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory were collected at baseline and at the end of the study. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant benefit identified for either the IVR or the Nurse Support interventions for health care utilization, use of oral steroid rescue, or HRQOL compared with controls. Relative to controls, the incremental costs were -A$225.73 (95% confidence interval [CI]: -A$840, A$391) per child for the Nurse Support intervention and -A$451.45 (-A$1075, A$173) per child for IVR. The results were most sensitive to the frequency of admissions to hospital. CONCLUSION: This study suggested that both IVR and Nurse Support interventions may be cost-saving from a health system perspective, with IVR providing the greatest benefit and this pilot study provides a strong basis for developing larger trials with longer follow-up.

Predictors of mobile telephone use and exposure analysis in Australian adolescents.

AIM: Australian adolescents are increasingly using mobile telephones (MP) while the debate on MP safety persists. This group is not generally engaged in full-time employment, suggesting that their MP use is not work related. We investigated possible predictors of MP use in young people. METHODS: We assessed exposure to radiofrequency energy from MP by means of a self-administered questionnaire adapted from INTERPHONE--an international case-control study of adult brain, head and neck tumours. We investigated possible determinants of MP use in adolescent Australians using self-reported number of incoming and outgoing voice calls as exposure metric. RESULTS: There is a high prevalence of MP use amongst Australian adolescents (94%). Males were significantly younger than females at age of first uptake of MP (P= 0.02). Participants without siblings were significantly younger at age of first uptake. Personality traits were associated with regular MP usage: higher psychoticism scores were associated with regular use (IRR = 1.06, P= 0.03); there was a tendency for students with higher extraversion scores to report more MP use. Parental socio-economic status was associated with MP use, but parents who expressed moderate/high level concerns about possible health risks of use were more likely to have children who used MP (OR = 4.06, P= 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Almost all adolescent Australians use MP, but regular exposure was associated with personality traits. Parental socio-economic status and perceived health risks of MP use were also associated with use of phones. Longitudinal studies are needed to assess the predictors of mobile phone use in the long term.

Biopsychosocial factors associated with poor health-related quality of life after minor to moderate transport-related injuries: Insights into the Victorian compensable population.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether a range of previously identified biopsychosocial risk factors were associated with poorer health-related quality of life after transport-related injuries. METHODS: This study involved 1,574 participants who sustained a transport-related injury, claimed compensation through the Victorian compensation scheme (in the Australian state of Victoria), and contributed to their cross-sectional outcome survey. Health-related quality of life was assessed using the EQ-5D-3L instrument. RESULTS: Of the 1,574 participants (mean age 44.8 (standard deviation 16.6) years, 61% reported poor recovery expectations, 55% reported high pain intensity, 54% reported poor satisfaction with care provided, and 41% reported no improvement in their recovery. Poor quality of life was defined as EQ-5D-3L summary score 0-0.70. Predictors of self-reported poor health-related quality of life included older age (65+ years) patients (adjusted odds ratios (aOR) = 1.73, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.04-2.87), higher pain intensity (aOR = 2.17, 95% CI 1.27-3.71), self-reported pre-injury chronic pain (aOR = 1.47, 95% CI 1.00-2.17), self-reported pre-injury mental health issues (aOR = 2.62, 95% CI 1.80-3.82), no improvement in recovery in the last 3 months (aOR = 1.54, 95% CI 1.15-2.06), longer hospital stay (>7 days) (aOR = 2.34, 95% CI 1.43-4.21) and no support from the family (aOR = 2.37, 95% CI 1.62-3.46). CONCLUSION: Biopsychosocial risk factors were associated with poorer health-related quality of life, regardless of the time since injury. Early assessment of these risk factors and tailored interventions will go some way towards improving outcomes among compensable patients with minor to moderate transport-related injuries. Key words: recovery; health outcomes; road trauma; non-catastrophic injuries; compensation.

Pre-injury health status of major trauma patients with orthopaedic injuries.

BACKGROUND: Pre-injury health status is an important determining factor of long-term outcomes after orthopaedic major trauma. Determining pre-injury health status of major trauma patients with orthopaedic injuries is also important for evaluating the change from pre to post-injury health status. OBJECTIVES: Describe pre-injury health statuses reported at three different time points (6, 12 and 24 months) after injury and compare these with Australian normative values; determine the agreement between pre-injury health status collected at multiple time points post-injury; and identify factors associated with reporting better pre-injury health status. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A registry-based cohort study was conducted. Major trauma patients with orthopaedic injuries captured by the Victorian State Trauma Registry with a date of injury from January 2009 to December 2016 were included. Pre-injury health status (measured using the EuroQol-Visual Analogue Scale (EQ-VAS)), reported 6, 12 and 24 months post-injury, was compared against Australian population normative values. The Bland-Altman method of comparison was used to determine the agreement between pre-injury EQ-VAS scores reported 6 to 12 and 6 to 24 months post-injury. Mixed effects ordinal logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with reporting better pre-injury health status. RESULTS: A total of 3,371 patients were eligible for the study. The median (IQR) pre-injury EQ-VAS score reported 6, 12 and 24 months post-injury was 90 (85-100) out of 100. Participants' pre-injury EQ-VAS scores reported 6, 12 and 24 months post-injury were significantly higher than Australian population normative values. Pre-injury EQ-VAS scores reported 6 months post-injury agreed with pre-injury EQ-VAS scores reported 12 and 24 months post-injury. A significant association exists between pre-injury health status and age, comorbidities, injury characteristics, socioeconomic status and pre-injury work status. CONCLUSIONS: People with orthopaedic major trauma have better pre-injury health compared to the general Australian population. Therefore, population-specific values should be used as baseline measures to evaluate orthopaedic trauma outcomes. Pre-injury health status values reported at three different post-injury time points were comparable. If conducting a retrospective pre-injury health evaluation, researchers need be aware of factors that influence self-reporting of pre-injury health status and the response shift that may happen due to encountering injury.

Twelve month mortality rates and independent living in people aged 65 years or older after isolated hip fracture: A prospective registry-based study.

INTRODUCTION: This study investigated which patient and injury characteristics are associated with 12-month mortality rates and living independently after isolated hip fracture. METHODS: Older adults aged ≥65 years were included if they had an isolated hip fracture, were admitted to hospital between July 2009 and June 2016, inclusive, and were registered to the Victorian Orthopaedic Trauma Outcomes Registry. Mortality up to 12 months (365 days) post-injury, and functional outcomes (Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended; GOS-E) at 12 months post-injury were examined. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs), and multivariable logistic regression was used to identify predictors of living independently compared with severe disability or death on the GOS-E. RESULTS: 4,912 patients were included, of whom 28% died, 46% had moderate-severe disability, and 26% were living independently 12 months post-injury. Mortality rates were lower in women (aHR=0.56, 95%CI: 0.50, 0.63), and in people injured in a high fall vs low fall (aHR=0.47, 95%CI: 0.31, 0.72). Mortality rates were higher in people in the older age groups (75-84 years: aHR=1.53, 95%CI: 1.21, 1.93; 95+ years: aHR=3.58, 95%CI: 2.68, 4.77), living in areas with the highest level of socioeconomic disadvantage (aHR=1.25, 95%CI: 1.01, 1.55), with a Charlson Comorbidity Index weighting of one (aHR=1.60, 95%CI: 1.36, 1.88) or more than one (aHR=2.21, 95%CI: 1.94, 2.53), whose injury occurred in a residential institution versus at home (aHR=2.63, 95%CI: 1.97, 3.52), that resulted in intensive care unit admission (aHR=1.68, 95%CI: 1.21, 2.32), and in people who did not have surgery versus people who had internal fixation (aHR=1.65, 95%CI: 1.33, 2.04). Independent living was inversely associated with most of the same characteristics; however, people also had lower odds of living independently if they were from metropolitan residential areas versus rural areas (aOR=0.77, 95%CI: 0.62, 0.96), or had mild to moderate (aOR=0.33, 95%CI: 0.27, 0.39) or marked to severe (aOR=0.13, 95%CI: 0.09, 0.20) preinjury disability vs no preinjury disability. CONCLUSIONS: Characteristics that are associated with social disadvantage, frailty, poor health and reduced independence before injury were associated with increased rates of death and reduced odds of living independently 12 months after isolated hip fracture.

Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior 6 Months After Musculoskeletal Trauma: What Factors Predict Recovery?

BACKGROUND: Physical activity is increasingly recognized as an important marker of functional recovery following fracture. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to measure sedentary behavior and physical activity 2 weeks and 6 months following fracture and to determine associated demographic and injury factors. DESIGN: This was an observational study. METHODS: Two weeks and 6 months following fracture, 83 adults who were 18 to 69 years old and had upper limb (UL) or lower limb (LL) fractures wore an accelerometer and an inclinometer for 10 days. We calculated sitting time, steps, moderate-intensity physical activity (MPA), and vigorous-intensity physical activity and conducted linear mixed-effects multivariable regression analyses to determine factors associated with temporal changes in activity. RESULTS: At 6 months versus 2 weeks after fracture, participants sat less, took more steps, and engaged in more MPA. Participants with LL fractures sat 2 hours more, took 66% fewer steps, and engaged in 77% less MPA than participants with UL fractures. Greater reductions in sitting time were observed for participants in the youngest age group and with LL fractures, participants with high preinjury activity, and participants who were overweight or obese. For steps, greater improvement was observed for participants in the youngest and middle-aged groups and those with LL fractures. For MPA, greater improvement was observed for middle-aged participants and those with LL fractures. LIMITATIONS: Although this study was sufficiently powered for the analysis of major categories, a convenience sample that may not be representative of all people with musculoskeletal trauma was used. CONCLUSIONS: Working-age adults with LL fractures had lower levels of physical activity 6 months after fracture than those with UL fractures. Older adults showed less improvement over time, suggesting that they are an important target group for interventions aimed at regaining preinjury activity levels.

Level of agreement between medical record and ICD-10-AM coding of mental health, alcohol and drug conditions in trauma patients.

BACKGROUND: Despite the reliance on administrative data in epidemiological studies, there is little information on the completeness of co-morbidities in administrative data coded from medical records. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to quantify the agreement between the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM) administrative coding of mental health, drug and alcohol co-morbidities and medical records in a severely injured patient population. METHOD: A random sample of patients (n = 500) captured by the Victorian State Trauma Registry and definitively managed at the state's adult major trauma services was selected for the study. Retrospective medical record review was conducted to collect data about documented co-morbidities. The agreement between ICD-10-AM data generated from routine hospital coding and medical record-based co-morbidities was determined using Cohen's κ and prevalence-adjusted bias-adjusted kappa (PABAK) statistics. RESULTS: The percentage of agreement between the medical record and ICD-10-AM coding for mental health, drug and alcohol co-morbidities was 72.8%, and the PABAK showed moderate agreement (PABAK = 0.46; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.37, 0.54). There was no difference in agreement between unintentional injury patients (PABAK = 0.52; 95% CI: 0.42, 0.62) compared with intentional injury patients (PABAK = 0.36, 95% CI: 0.23, 0.49), and no change in agreement for patients admitted before (PABAK = 0.40; 95% CI: 0.30, 0.50) and after the introduction of mandatory co-morbidity coding (PABAK = 0.46; 95% CI: 0.37, 0.54). CONCLUSION: Despite documentation in the medical record, a large proportion of mental health, drug and alcohol conditions were not coded in ICD-10-AM. Acknowledgement of these limitations is needed when using ICD-10-AM coded co-morbidities in research studies and health policy development. IMPLICATIONS: This work has implications for researchers of drug and alcohol abuse; mental health; accidents and injuries; workers' compensation; health workforce; health services; and policy decisions for healthcare, emergency services, insurance industry, national productivity and welfare costings reliant on those research outcomes.

Agreement between medical record and administrative coding of common comorbidities in orthopaedic trauma patients.

OBJECTIVE: To i) quantify the agreement between comorbidities documented within medical records and an orthopaedic trauma dataset; and ii) compare agreement between these sources before and after the introduction of new comorbidity coding rules in Australian hospitals. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: A random sample of adult (≥ 16 years) orthopaedic trauma patients (n = 400) were extracted from the Victorian Orthopaedic Trauma Outcomes Registry (VOTOR). Diagnoses of obesity, arthritis, diabetes and cardiac conditions documented within patients' medical records were compared to ICD-10-AM comorbidity codes (provided by hospitals) for the same admission. Agreement was calculated (Cohen's kappa) before and after the introduction of new coding rules. RESULTS: All comorbidities had the same or higher prevalence in medical record data compared to coded data. Kappa values ranged from <0.001 (poor agreement) for coronary artery disease to 0.94 (excellent agreement) for type 2 diabetes. There was improvement in agreement between sources for most conditions following the introduction of new coding rules. CONCLUSION: There has been improvement in the coding of certain comorbidities since the introduction of new coding rules, suggesting that, since 2015, administrative data has improved capacity to capture patients' comorbidity profiles. Consideration must be taken when using the ICD-10-AM data due to its limitations.