Diversity in crisis: The impact of race and ethnicity on failure to rescue among geriatric trauma patients over the years

BACKGROUND: Failure to rescue (FTR) is an indicator of the quality of care provided by trauma centers. The aim of this study was to examine the trends of FTR incidence in geriatric trauma patients over the years and to determine whether race, ethnicity, and sex impact the FTR incidence. METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis of the American College of Surgeons Trauma Quality Improvement Program database over 4 years (2017–2020). All geriatric (≥60 years) trauma patients were included. Patients who died within 24 hours of admission or whose length of stay was ≤1 day were excluded. Trend analysis was performed. Patients were stratified based on race, ethnicity, and sex, and multivariable regression analyses were performed. RESULTS: Over the course of 4 years, 1,105,651 geriatric patients were identified, of whom 30,984 (2.8%) developed major complications and 10,684 (34.5% of those with complications) had FTR. The mean (SD) age was 75 (9) years, 46% were male, 86% were White, and 6% were Hispanic. The median (interquartile range) Injury Severity Score was 9 (4–10) with no change over the years (p = 0.364) and 96.8% sustained a blunt injury. Over the 4 years, the rate of FTR increased from 0.55% in 2017 to 1.04% in 2020 (p < 0.001). An analysis of trends in FTR patients revealed no significant difference in the proportion of males and females over the years (p = 0.482). However, there was a notable increase in the proportion of Black and Hispanic patients in comparison with White (p < 0.001) and non-Hispanic patients (p = 0.023), respectively. The odds of developing FTR have been increasing over the years, with Black race and Hispanic ethnicity identified as the independent risk factors for FTR. CONCLUSION: The risk-adjusted odds of developing FTR have been increasing over the years, with one in every three patients who developed complications not surviving to discharge. Our findings demonstrate that racial and ethnic factors significantly impact the incidence of FTR.