# Longitudinal Characterization of the Older Adult Trauma Patient Experience

> **NIH NIH K23** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $187,812

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
This proposal presents a five-year research career development program focused on describing the
comprehensive long-term experience of trauma from the perspective of older adults and their family caregivers.
The candidate is currently an Assistant Professor of Surgery at Duke University and acute and critical care
trauma surgeon, with previous research experience in trauma-related outcomes and healthcare disparities, and
has now chosen to focus on aging research, qualitative analysis, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL)
research with a diverse mentoring committee of investigators with expertise in geriatrics, gerontology, surgery,
critical care, and qualitative research. The proposed experiments and didactic training will provide the candidate
with a unique set of skills that will help her transition to independence as a surgeon-scientist and enable her to
fill a significant “experience gap” in the field of research dedicated to the older adult trauma patient population.
Traumatic injury currently effects 5.4 million older adults each year in the United States representing 23% of all
trauma admissions, and these numbers are projected to climb as the population ages. The consequences
resulting from trauma to older adults are magnified when compared to younger age groups. Older adults have
an increased likelihood of death as a result of trauma, with one-third of patients with presenting with multisystem
trauma dying prior to leaving the hospital. Indeed, trauma is the 5th leading cause of death in older adult patients.
Recent research suggests that the impact of trauma on older patients, their family members, and health care
systems is dramatic. Despite these findings, very few high-quality studies have been conducted to describe the
long-term experience of trauma from the perspective of these patients and their respective caregivers. Indeed,
very little is known from the patient perspective regarding post-discharge trajectories through care facilities, the
impact of functional limitations, and what factors are associated with poor outcomes. Compounding this problem
is that it remains unknown which existing quality of life measurement instruments may be optimal for older adult
trauma patients. These gaps in knowledge regarding this patient population serve to make the process of
informed, shared decision making about goals of care challenging for older patients, their family caregivers, and
clinicians. This proposal will characterize the one-year patient healthcare experience of older adult trauma
patients and their family caregivers using a concurrent nested mixed-methods study design, using both
qualitative and quantitative methods consisting of a survey and concept elicitation interviews. Specifically, the
work of this proposal will 1) identify aspects of quality of life (QoL) among older adult trauma patients and how
these change over time, 2) characterize the caregivers experience over one year, and 3) identify a core se...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10054856
- **Project number:** 1K23AG065464-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Krista Haines
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $187,812
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-15 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10054856

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10054856, Longitudinal Characterization of the Older Adult Trauma Patient Experience (1K23AG065464-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10054856. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*