Abstract
Background: Although multiple risk factors for development of pneumonia in patients with trauma sustained in a motor vehicle accident have been studied, the effect of prehospital time on pneumonia incidence post-trauma is unknown. Research Question: Is prolonged prehospital time an independent risk factor for pneumonia? Study Design and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed prospectively collected clinical data from 806,012 motor vehicle accident trauma incidents from the roughly 750 trauma hospitals contributing data to the National Trauma Data Bank between 2010 and 2016. Results: Prehospital time was independently associated with development of pneumonia post-motor vehicle trauma (P <.001). This association was primarily driven by patients with low Glasgow Coma Scale scores. Post-trauma pneumonia was uncommon (1.5% incidence) but was associated with a significant increase in mortality (P <.001, 4.3% mortality without pneumonia vs 12.1% mortality with pneumonia). Other pneumonia risk factors included age, sex, race, primary payor, trauma center teaching status, bed size, geographic region, intoxication, comorbid lung disease, steroid use, lower Glasgow Coma Scale score, higher Injury Severity Scale score, blood product transfusion, chest trauma, and respiratory burns. Interpretation: Increased prehospital time is an independent risk factor for development of pneumonia and increased mortality in patients with trauma caused by a motor vehicle accident. Although prehospital time is often not modifiable, its recognition as a pneumonia risk factor is important, because prolonged prehospital time may need to be considered in subsequent decision-making.