Student Presenter(s): Richard LaRocco, Scott Livitz, Stephanie De Mel, Taner Celebi, Dana Schulz
Faculty Mentor: Stephen DiRusso
Department: Clinical Sciences
School/College: College of Osteopathic Medicine, Long Island

Introduction: Co-morbidities significantly contribute to worsening population health in the US with heart disease being the number one cause of death. This study will attempt to examine the influences of cardiac-related co-morbidities on trauma outcomes.

Methods: St. Barnabas Hospital Trauma Registry data (2016–2019) was used. There were 2009 patients with co-morbidities included in this study. Patients under the age of 40 were excluded (low/no prevalence of Co-Morbidities). Risk factors included: hypertension, hyperlipidemia, cardiac pathologies, current smoking status, and diabetes. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the impact of co-morbidities while controlling for other factors such as age, race, ethnicity, gender, obesity, NISS and insurance. Dependent variables were: Mortality, Intubation, ICU Admission, Rehab vs Home and Length of Stay. Accuracy of predicting each outcome was determined using the Area Under the Receiver Curve (AuROC) and Odds Ratios were calculated. Cardiac risk factors with (p<.05) were determined to be significant contributors to the outcome.

Results: AuROCs for each model ranged from: 0.69 (LOS) to 0.85 (mortality). Models for each dependent variable demonstrated that patients with cardiac pathologies and current smokers were the major contributing factors in affecting patient outcomes.

Conclusions: Co-morbidities clearly affect trauma patient outcomes and need to be an important consideration in their care.