# Health Impacts of Prehospital Pain Management for Injured Older Adults

> **NIH NIH K01** · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · 2020 · $130,950

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Traumatic injury is a leading cause of death and disability for older adults in the United States. Due to the physiological
and psychosocial processes of aging, older adults have unique trauma care needs. Unfortunately, current guidelines for
trauma care and emergency medical services (EMS) to not adequately address these needs. The impact of prehospital
care on health outcomes represents a substantial gap in the literature for the treatment of injured older adults.
Approximately 10% of injured older adults receive opioid analgesia for pain management during the prehospital interval,
or the time from the onset of injury until hospital arrival. Little is known about the consequences of these interventions.
Prehospital opioid analgesia could decrease risk of delirium by managing severity of acute pain, and thereby reducing
the accumulation of factors disrupting normal brain activity and improving health outcomes. Conversely, opioid pain
medications are neuroactive drugs that can disrupt brain activity, increasing risk of delirium and worsening health
outcomes. By either pathway, prehospital administration of opioid analgesia has profound implications for short- and
long-term health and functional status of injured older adults. This application for a National Institute on Aging
Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01) seeks support for Dr. Molly Jarman, a new Instructor of Surgery
at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Center for Surgery and Public Health who aspires to a career focused on
improving the quality, effectiveness, and accessibility of prehospital EMS and trauma care systems for the older adult
population in the United States. Dr. Jarman’s prior research has focused on geographic determinants of injury mortality
and access to trauma center care. To extend the impact and practical application of this research, Dr. Jarman proposes
to move her research toward geriatric trauma outcomes, addressing the emerging need for trauma care optimized for
the aging United States population. Accordingly, the K01 training is focused on gaining knowledge in geriatric trauma
care and prehospital trauma care services, as well as statistical methods for causal inference and economic analysis. The
proposed research will employ advanced analytic methods to closely examine the impact of prehospital pain
management interventions. Research aims will include (1) an assessment of factors influencing EMS use of prehospital
opioid analgesia for injured older adults, (2) short- and long-term health outcomes associated with prehospital opioid
analgesia, and (3) estimation of Medicare expenditures during the first year following injury for patients with and
without prehospital pain management. The practical application of this work will be to inform efforts by national, state,
and local EMS leaders seeking to provide appropriate care for injured older adults during the prehospital interval,
including changes to practice guidelines and investment...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9869756
- **Project number:** 1K01AG065414-01
- **Recipient organization:** BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Molly Price Jarman
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $130,950
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-04-01 → 2025-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9869756

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9869756, Health Impacts of Prehospital Pain Management for Injured Older Adults (1K01AG065414-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9869756. Licensed CC0.

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