High social vulnerability predicts worse long-term outcomes after traumatic injury

Traumatic injuries, such as physical injuries resulting from a car accident, fall, shot or stab wound, are one of the most common causes of disability and disability worldwide. A team of researchers led by Juan P. Herrera-Escobar, MD, MSc, from the Brigham Center for Surgery and Public Health, found that living in an area with higher social vulnerability is strongly linked to worse mental and physical health outcomes after traumatic injury .

Areas with high social vulnerability are those that are poorer and unemployment rate, lower income, higher proportion of racial / ethnic minorities and people with English-speaking disabilities, more families without vehicles and overcrowding, among other factors. The team used data from the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a data-based tool used to decide on the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“These findings suggest that social factors at the community level play a significant role in recovery from injury,” Herrera-Escobar said. “SVI CDC can serve as an affiliate for injuries in determining referral to a standard set of post-discharge support and intervention services, such as mental health servicesassistance in returning to work, as well as rehabilitation services such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy.

The study is published in Annals of Surgery.