| Group; no. (%) of patients* | ||
|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | Participants n = 1382 | Lost to follow-up n = 92 |
| Demographic | ||
| Age, yr, mean ± SD | 52.5 ± 16.7 | 44.8 ± 17.9 |
| No. aged ≥ 65 yr | 341 (24.7) | 13 (14.1) |
| Sex, male | 868 (62.8) | 60 (65.2) |
| Mechanism of injury† | ||
| Simple fall | 482 (35.0) | 36 (39.1) |
| Fall above ground level | 314 (22.8) | 14 (15.2) |
| Motor vehicle crash | 339 (24.6) | 16 (17.4) |
| Pedestrian v. car | 14 (1.0) | 1 (1.1) |
| Cyclist v. car | 10 (0.7) | 1 (1.1) |
| Direct hit | 142 (10.3) | 20 (21.7) |
| Other | 78 (5.7) | 4 (4.3) |
| ≥ 1 pre-existing comorbidity | 333 (24.1) | 16 (17.4) |
| Smoking status‡ | ||
| Former smoker | 297 (25.3) | 4 (9.8) |
| Current smoker | 353 (30.1) | 25 (61.0) |
| Never smoker | 522 (44.5) | 12 (29.3) |
| Alcohol intoxication | 92 (6.7) | 4 (4.3) |
| Pre-injury antiplatelet/anticoagulant medication | ||
| ASA | 229 (16.6) | 7 (7.6) |
| Clopidogrel | 21 (1.5) | 1 (1.1) |
| Warfarin | 51 (3.7) | 5 (5.4) |
| Any | 278 (20.1) | 12 (13.0) |
| Triage vital signs, mean ± SD or median (IQR) | ||
| Heart rate, beats/min | 80.8 ± 14.1 | 81.3 ± 14.0 |
| Oxygen saturation, % | 97.7 ± 1.9 | 97.6 ± 2.1 |
| Systolic blood pressure, mm Hg | 140.5 ± 20.7 | 136.6 ± 19.1 |
| Respiratory rate, breaths/min | 16 (16-20) | 16 (16-20) |
| No. of rib fractures§¶ | ||
| None | 914 (67.0) | 75 (81.5) |
| 1 | 203 (14.9) | 10 (10.9) |
| 2 | 130 (9.5) | 4 (4.3) |
| ≥ 3 | 117 (8.6) | 3 (3.3) |
| Atelectasis¶ | 129 (9.3) | 2 (2.2) |
Note: ASA = acetylsalicylic acid, IQR = interquartile range, SD = standard deviation.
*Except where indicated otherwise.
†For mechanism of injury, data were available for 1379 of the participants.
‡For smoking status, data were available for 1172 of the participants and 41 of those lost to follow-up.
§For number of rib fractures, data were available for 1364 of the participants.
¶Confirmed by initial radiography.