Diagnostic accuracy of prehospital triage tools for identifying major trauma in elderly injured patients: a systematic review.
Prehospital triage tools are used to differentiate between patients who need emergency care at a major trauma center (MTC) and those that may receive adequate care at a non-MTC. Accurate triage tools are necessary to ensure that patients are not over- or undertriaged. This review found high variability in sensitivity and specificity across geriatric triage tools indicating some patients may not be receiving the specialized trauma care they need. The authors highlight several future research targets including development of relevant reference standards and balancing the risk between over- and undertriage.