Is Psychiatric Illness Associated With the Clinical Decision to Treat Facial Fractures?

Underlying psychiatric conditions are thought to influence the presentation, management, and outcomes of facially injured patients. Our study sought to determine if psychiatric diagnoses were associated with the decision to repair facial fractures during the index hospitalization.

This was a cross-sectional review of the 2014 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample. All patients with the primary diagnosis of a facial fracture were included in the study. The primary study predictor was the presence of a documented psychiatric illness. Covariates included patient age, insurance, injury mechanism, primary fracture location, other concomitant injuries, and Injury Severity Score. The study outcome was facial fracture treatment status (reduction or no reduction). A multiple logistic regression model was created to identify and measure independent factor associations for fracture treatment.

The final sample included 59,378 patients of whom 10,485 (17.7%) had a documented psychiatric illness. Most of these diagnoses involved substance use (62.5%). Patients with psychiatric illness had significantly higher rates of extra-nasal primary fracture location (56.2 vs 47.1%, P < .01) and a greater mean Injury Severity Score (5.0 vs 3.8, P < .01). In the unadjusted analysis, patients with psychiatric illness had higher rates of fracture repair during their index hospitalization (RR = 2.42, P < .01). After adjusting for covariates in the multiple logistic regression model, psychiatric illness became negatively associated with fracture repair (OR = 0.82, P < .01).

Patients with psychiatric illness experienced higher rates of hospitalization and suffered more severe patterns of injury but had lower odds of fracture repair during their index hospitalization after controlling for injury characteristics.