Introduction: The elderly population is more vulnerable to traumatic brain injury (TBI) compared with younger adults, and there is an increasing trend in TBI-related hospitalisations and deaths in the elderly due to the ageing global population. This is a thorough update to a previous meta-analysis on the mortality of elderly TBI patients. Our review will include more recent studies and provide a comprehensive analysis of risk factors.
Methods and analysis: The protocol of our systematic review and meta-analysis is reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols guidelines. We will search the following databases: PubMed, Cochrane Library and Embase from inception to 1 February 2023 reporting in-hospital mortality and/or risk factors predicting in-hospital mortality among elderly patients with TBI. We will perform a quantitative synthesis for in-hospital mortality data combined with meta-regression and subgroup analysis to determine whether there is a trend or source of heterogeneity. Pooled estimates for risk factors will be presented in the form of ORs and 95% CIs. Examples of risk factors include age, gender, cause of injury, severity of injury, neurosurgical intervention and preinjury antithrombotic therapy. Dose-response meta-analysis for age and risk of in-hospital mortality will be performed if sufficient studies are included. We will perform a narrative analysis if quantitative synthesis is not appropriate.
Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval is not required; we will publish findings from this study in a peer-reviewed journal and present results at national and international conferences. This study will promote a better understanding and management of elderly/geriatric TBI.
Prospero registration number: CRD42022323231.
Keywords: geriatric medicine; neurosurgery; trauma management.
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