85.04 A Very Unhappy Birthday

Posted on January 26, 2017

P. P. Patel1, E. Clark1, K. Cerasoli1, C. F. McNicoll1, C. W. Katona1, P. R. McGrew1, P. J. Chestovich1  1University Of Nevada,School Of Medicine,Las Vegas, NV, USA

Introduction:

Experience has shown the incidence of traumatic injuries spikes during the summer, holidays, and weekends.  Many epidemiology studies have demonstrated deviations from expected mortality rates with peaks on birthdays. We hypothesized that there was an increased incidence of traumatic injuries on one's birthday, which may be linked to risky behavior resulting in increased mortality

Methods:

We retrospectively reviewed all patients admitted to our Level 1 trauma center during a 10-year period from January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2015. Demographic and resuscitation data were obtained from our trauma registry.  A cohort of patients that were injured on their birthday were selected and further analyzed.  Data points included gender, mechanism of injury, and injury severity score (ISS).  Additional points linked to behavior assessed if the patient was visiting the city as tourist, if there was suspicion for alcohol or drug use, and if proper safety equipment was utilized. Patients entered as a Doe were excluded.

Results:
A total of 29,657 patients were seen during this 10 year span of which 339 (1.14%) patients were injured on their birthday.  Within this cohort, 248 (73%) patients were male, average ISS was 18, 91 (27%) cases were due to a penetrating mechanism and 103 (30%) died.  Tourists accounted for 10% of cases, while risky behavior as defined by suspicion of substance use or improper safety precautions was present in over two-thirds of cases (68%). Self-inflicted trauma resulted in 16 injuries.

Conclusion:

There is an increased incidence of traumatic injuries on birthdays.  The cause of this added injury burden is unclear, however our data shows that risky behavior is suspected in over half of these cases. Additional research could clarify the strength of that relationship, any potential causality, and the impact of behavioral interventions to prevent injury.