More than one third of adults 65 and older fall each year in the United States. Falling is the leading cause of injury deaths among the elderly and is also the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma. In 2000 alone, these falls accounted for $179 million dollars in direct medical costs for fatal falls and $19 billion for nonfatal fall injuries. These amounts are staggering and we hope to make people aware the risks and problems caused by falls.

Falls are a major concern in the home, especially to older adults. The risk of being seriously injured in a fall increases with age. This is due mostly to health reasons. To prove this point, the rates of fall injuries for adults 85 and older were four to five times that of adults 65 to 74. In addition, nearly 85% of deaths from falls in 2003 were among people 75 and older.

It has been found that men are more likely to die from a fall. In 2003 the fall fatality rate was 49% higher for men than for women. However women are much more likely to have nonfatal fall injuries and have rates of fall-related fractures twice as high as men. In 2003, about 72% of older adults admitted to the hospital for hip fractures were women.

Labels: falls, seniors