Accessibility of Level III trauma centers for underserved populations: A cross-sectional study

By providing definitive care for many, and rapid assessment, resuscitation, stabilization, and transfer to Level I/II centers when needed, Level III trauma centers can augment capacity in high resource regions and extend the geographic reach to lower resource regions. We sought to (1) characterize populations served principally by Level III trauma centers, (2) estimate differences in time to care by trauma center level, and (3) update national estimates of trauma center access.

In a cross-sectional study (United States, 2019), we estimated travel time from census block groups to the nearest Level I/II trauma center and nearest Level III trauma center. Block groups were categorized based on the level of care accessible within 60 minutes, then distributions of population characteristics and differences in time to care were estimated.

An estimated 22.8% of the US population (N = 76,119,228) lacked access to any level of trauma center care within 60 minutes, and 8.8% (N = 29,422,523) were principally served by Level III centers. Black and American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) populations were disproportionately represented among those principally served by Level III centers (39.1% and 12.2%, respectively). White and AIAN populations were disproportionately represented among those without access to any trauma center care (26.2% and 40.8%, respectively). Time to Level III care was shorter than Level I/II for 27.9% of the population, with a mean reduction in time to care of 28.9 minutes (SD = 31.4).

Level III trauma centers are a potential source of trauma care for underserved populations. While Black and AIAN disproportionately rely on Level III centers for care, most with access to Level III centers also have access to Level I/II centers. The proportion of the US population with timely access to trauma care has not improved since 2010.

Prognostic/Epidemiological; Level IV.