Recovery after musculoskeletal trauma in men and women.

BACKGROUND

Recent work has suggested that women are more at risk of impaired outcome after traumatic injuries. This would suggest that resources should be targeted at female trauma patients to optimize their outcomes. We wished to explore the physical and psychological outcomes of women treated in our trauma unit.

METHODS

The Grampian Trauma Outcomes Study recruited patients aged 16 to 70 years with musculoskeletal injuries. Patients with significant head injuries, alcohol intoxication, or low-energy osteoporotic fractures were excluded. Of 227 patients approached, 200 were recruited to the study. Patients were asked to complete physical and psychosocial (Short Form-36 and Musculoskeletal Function Assessment) and psychological (General Health Questionnaire) outcomes measures at initial assessment and at 2- and 6-month follow-up.

RESULTS

Of the 200 patients, 79% completed 2-month follow-up and 75% completed 6-month follow-up. There were no significant differences in the outcomes scores between male and female patients at either of the follow-up points.

CONCLUSION

From our study, women do not appear to have impaired recovery after trauma as compared with men. Larger scale studies are required to assess the need to target specific resources toward the treatment of female trauma victims.