OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to investigate the injury patterns of 
noncatastrophic accidents by individual age groups.
METHODS: Data were collected from the Korean In-Depth Accident Study database 
based on actual accident investigation. The noncatastrophic criteria were 
classified according to U.S. experts from the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention's recommendations for field triage guidelines of high-risk automobile 
crash criteria by vehicle intrusions more than 12 in. on occupant sites 
(including the roof) and more than 18 in. on any site. The Abbreviated Injury 
Scale (AIS) was used to determine injury patterns for each body region. Severely 
injured patients were classified as Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale (MAIS) 3 or 
higher.
RESULTS: In this study, the most significant injury regions were the head and 
neck, extremities, and thorax. In addition, the incidence of severe injury among 
elderly patients was nearly 1.6 times higher than that of non-elderly patients. 
According to age group, injured body regions among the elderly were the thorax, 
head and neck, and extremities, in that order. For the non-elderly groups, these 
were head and neck, extremities, and thorax. Severe injury rates were slightly 
different for the elderly group (head and neck, abdomen) and non-elderly group 
(thorax, head and neck).
CONCLUSIONS: In both age groups, the rate of severe injury is proportional to an 
increase in crush extent zone. Front airbag deployment may have a relatively 
significant relationship to severe injuries.