title: End of the spectacular decrease in fall-related mortality rate: men are catching up.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We determined time trends in numbers and rates of fall-related mortality in an aging population, for men and women.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed secular trend analysis of fall-related deaths in the older Dutch population (persons aged 65 years or older) from 1969 to 2008, using the national Official-Cause-of-Death-Statistics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Between 1969 and 2008, the age-adjusted fall-related mortality rate decreased from 202.1 to 66.7 per 100,000 older persons (decrease of 67%). However, the annual percentage change (change per year) in mortality rates was not constant, and could be divided into 3 phases: (1) a rapid decrease until the mid-1980s (men -4.1%; 95% confidence interval [CI] = -4.9, -3.2; women -6.5%; 95% CI, -7.1, -5.9), (2) flattening of the decrease until the mid-1990s (men -1.4%; 95% CI = -2.4, -0.4; women -2.0%; 95% CI = -3.4, -0.6), and (3) stable mortality rates for women (0.0%; 95% CI = -1.2, 1.3) and rising rates for men (1.9%; 95% CI = 0.6, 3.2) over the last decade.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The spectacular decrease in fall-related mortality ended in the mid-1990s and is currently increasing in older men at similar rates to those seen in women. Because of the aging society, absolute numbers in fall-related deaths are increasing rapidly.
authors.affiliation: Section of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Klaas A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Hartholt
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Polinder
authors.forename: Ed F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: van Beeck
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: van der Velde
authors.forename: Esther M M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: van Lieshout
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Patka
authors.forename: Tischa J M
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: van der Cammen
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000401:mortality*; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002423:Cause of Death / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D054526:Men's Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000401:mortality*