A case control study of the psychiatric status of elderly versus younger trauma victims.

Abstract

There are very few studies which report on the outcome of older people following trauma, whether in a civil or military context. We previously reported on the elderly survivors of the Lockerbie disaster [1] and found that the elderly were no more adversely affected than younger survivors. We now report on a sample of 114 older people, assessed for medico-legal purposes following their initiation of a personal injury claim. The older subjects were matched on a case by case basis with a younger subject, also seen in a medico-legal context. They were matched in terms of the trauma experienced e.g. older road traffic accident victims with younger road traffic victims. The majority of the subjects were victims of road traffic accidents. Others had experienced work related accidents, civil disaster (a local factory explosion) and injuries sustained during conflict. We report here on the nature of the physical injuries sustained by the older subjects, their DSM IV psychiatric diagnoses, past and family psychiatric histories and the treatment they received.