Sex-specific differences in thoracic injury prevalence and causation:​ a CIREN database investigation

Devane, Karan S.; Armstrong, William; Hsu, Fang-Chi; Miller, Anna N.; Kiani, Bahram; Martin, R. Shayn; Stitzel, Joel D.; Weaver, Ashley A.

Affiliations

¹Center for Injury Biomechanics at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC, USA

²Department of Biostatistics and Data Science at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC, USA

³Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, MO, USA

⁴Department of Radiology at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC, USA

⁵Department of Trauma Surgery at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC, USA

Abstract and keywords

The objective of the study was to identify and quantify sex-specific disparities in thoracic injury patterns and causation among seriously injured first-row occupantsin frontal motor vehicle collisions (MVC) from the Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN) database, years 2005-2022. The sample comprised front-seat CIREN occupants (ages 16+; 54% female) with AIS 2+ thoracic injuries. Injuries were categorized into six types. The involved physical components (IPCs) were grouped for injury causation analysis into seven groups. Logistic regression analysis explored associations between injury types, IPC types, confounding variables, and sex. There were 1,952 AIS 2+ thoracic injuries sustained by the 966 occupants. Females had higher odds of heart injuries and lower odds of lung injuries. In females, the IPC attributed to the thoracic injury had higher odds of being the seatbelt and lower odds of being the instrument panel. The results of this study impact thoracic trauma prevention, emphasizing the need for detailed data on injury causation in MVCs. Identifying factors influencing thoracic injury outcomes can guide effective prevention and treatment strategies, stressing the importance of considering sex-specificity in vehicle safety system development and assessment.

Keywords: Injury outcome; injury causation; injury prevalence; sex-specific differences; crash data analysis

Links

URL: https://www.ircobi.org/wordpress/downloads/irc24/pdf-files/2442.pdf

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