Table 1 Baseline characteristics of study cohort with comparisons based on decision for withdrawal of life-supporting treatment

Patient-level characteristics

 Age (years)

0.72^a

  Mean (SD)

49.6 (20.1)

46.4 (19.2)

62.9 (18.0)

  Median [Min, Max]

52.0 [16.0, 89.0]

47.0 [16.0, 89.0]

67.0 [16.0, 89.0]

 Sex—n (%)

0.01

  Female

1005 (19.8%)

819 (19.9%)

186 (19.4%)

  Male

4065 (80.2%)

3291 (80.1%)

774 (80.6%)

 Race—n (%)

0.45^a

  White

3228 (63.7%)

2462 (59.9%)

766 (79.8%)

  Black

1267 (25.0%)

1142 (27.8%)

125 (13.0%)

  Asian

135 (2.7%)

119 (2.9%)

16 (1.7%)

  Other

440 (8.7%)

387 (9.4%)

53 (5.5%)

Insurance type—n (%)

0.62^a

  Private/Commercial Insurance

2001 (39.5%)

1708 (41.6%)

293 (30.5%)

  Medicaid

1090 (21.5%)

987 (24.0%)

103 (10.7%)

  Medicare

1154 (22.8%)

735 (17.9%)

419 (43.6%)

  Self-pay

519 (10.2%)

421 (10.2%)

98 (10.2%)

  Other

306 (6.0%)

259 (6.3%)

47 (4.9%)

 Comorbidities—n (%)

  Functionally dependent

180 (3.6%)

119 (2.9%)

61 (6.4%)

0.17^a

  Prior stroke

84 (1.7%)

58 (1.4%)

26 (2.7%)

0.09

  Dementia

85 (1.7%)

39 (1.0%)

46 (4.8%)

0.23^a

  Disseminated cancer

33 (0.7%)

21 (0.5%)

12 (1.3%)

0.08

  Chronic renal failure

51 (1.0%)

35 (0.9%)

16 (1.7%)

0.07

 Presenting Glasgow Coma Scale—n (%)

0.70^a

  15

2504 (49.4%)

2233 (54.3%)

271 (28.2%)

  13–14

651 (12.8%)

555 (13.5%)

96 (10.0%)

  9–12

428 (8.4%)

363 (8.8%)

65 (6.8%)

  3–8

1487 (29.3%)

959 (23.3%)

528 (55.0%)

 Shock in emergency department—n (%)

294 (5.8%)

211 (5.1%)

83 (8.6%)

0.14^a

 Pre-hospital cardiac arrest—n (%)

562 (11.1%)

288 (7.0%)

274 (28.5%)

0.59^a

 Mechanism of injury—n (%)

0.11^a

  Blunt

4590 (90.5%)

3697 (90.0%)

893 (93.0%)

  Penetrating

480 (9.5%)

413 (10.0%)

67 (7.0%)

 Spinal cord level of injury—n (%)

0.59^a

  C4 and below

3933 (77.6%)

3392 (82.5%)

541 (56.4%)

  C3 and above

1137 (22.4%)

718 (17.5%)

419 (43.6%)

 Severe non-spinal injuries (AIS ≥ 3)—n (%)

  Head

1004 (19.8%)

710 (17.3%)

294 (30.6%)

0.32^a

  Face

31 (0.6%)

22 (0.5%)

9 (0.9%)

0.05

  Neck

648 (12.8%)

511 (12.4%)

137 (14.3%)

0.05

  Thorax

986 (19.4%)

735 (17.9%)

251 (26.1%)

0.20^a

  Abdomen

185 (3.6%)

146 (3.6%)

39 (4.1%)

0.03

  Upper extremities

42 (0.8%)

34 (0.8%)

8 (0.8%)

 < 0.01

  Lower extremities

271 (5.3%)

200 (4.9%)

71 (7.4%)

0.11^a

Hospital-level characteristics

 Hospital size (Beds)—n (%)

0.11^a

  <  = 200

202 (4.0%)

165 (4.0%)

37 (3.9%)

  201–400

1214 (23.9%)

969 (23.6%)

245 (25.5%)

  401–600

1553 (30.6%)

1232 (30.0%)

321 (33.4%)

  > 600

2101 (41.4%)

1744 (42.4%)

357 (37.2%)

 Hospital teaching status—n (%)

0.05

  University

2835 (55.9%)

2316 (56.4%)

519 (54.1%)

  Non-teaching

521 (10.3%)

424 (10.3%)

97 (10.1%)

  Community

1714 (33.8%)

1370 (33.3%)

344 (35.8%)

 Year of injury—n (%)

0.08

  2017

1255 (24.8%)

996 (24.2%)

259 (27.0%)

  2018

1249 (24.6%)

1009 (24.5%)

240 (25.0%)

  2019

1230 (24.3%)

998 (24.3%)

232 (24.2%)

  2020

1336 (26.4%)

1107 (26.9%)

229 (23.9%)

 Number of treating hospitals

477 (100%)

469 (98.3%)

329 (69.0%)

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