Falls and fall-related injuries among the elderly: a survey of residential-care facilities in a Swedish municipality.
Injurious falls among the elderly are an increasing public-health problem in Sweden. One group particularly vulnerable to falls consists of elderly people living in residential-care facilities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which falls lead to injury within a defined population of elderly people in institutionalized care. All the elderly persons living in residential-care facilities in an urban Swedish municipality during the year 1997 (n = 469 institutional places). Falls and fall-related injuries were registered over a one-year period. Data were gathered by personnel at the time of the falls, using a form specifically designed for surveillance purposes. Of the 865 falls reported during the study period, 375 were among men, with an average age of 82 years, and 490 among women, with an average age of 85 years. Men were subject to falling to a greater extent than women. The most common location was the individual's own bedroom. Injuries were incurred in approximately one in four falls, and the head was the body part most frequently injured. Only 24 falls (2.8%) resulted in a fracture, of which 18 were hip fractures. Although elderly people living in residential-care facilities fall fairly often, serious injuries, in the form of fractures, are incurred to a relatively limited extent.
Sadigh
Siv
S
Karolinska Institutet, Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Social Medicine, Norrbacka, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden. siv.sadigh@smd.sll.se
Reimers
Anne
A
Andersson
Ragnar
R
Laflamme
Lucie
L
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006620:Hip Fractures / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012112:Residential Facilities / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D013995:Time; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology*