Date of Award

6-2002

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Sociology

First Advisor

Dr. Thomas Van Valey

Second Advisor

Dr. Subhash Sonnad

Third Advisor

Dr. David Hartmann

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

Previous sociological and public health studies were analyzed to determine the effects of age, gender, mechanism of injury (fall or motor vehicle crash accident), severity of the injury, length of stay and injuries sustained on three binary response variables of discharge disposition ( discharged home, expired, or transferred to a rehabilitation facility) of older adult trauma patients. Three multiple logistic regression models were analyzed to handle the multiple predictors for the three binary response variables of discharge disposition. Over one-half (56%) of respondents were discharged home, whereas one in four patients were transferred to a rehabilitative facility, while the remaining 19% expired. Findings from the logistic regression models generally supported the study hypotheses. For instance, hospital length of stay was inversely associated with mortality and being sent home, but positively associated with a transfer to rehabilitation. These and other findings are discussed with the relation and contribution to the sociological and public health literature. Implications of the findings for policy makers are also discussed.

Included in

Sociology Commons

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