Epidemiological conclusions Falls are a common and serious problem, particularly amongst older people. They place a significant burden on health and health services, and serious fall injuries, such as hip fracture, reduce quality of life dramatically. Based on the population structure, it is estimated that between 230,000 and 460,000 over 60 year olds fall in each year. Between 11,500 and 45,900 of these suffer serious injury. With predicted increases in the aging population, this will rise to between 12,400 and 49,400 by 2015. The biggest impact will be in Powys, which has the largest proportion of the population aged over 60. There are around 200 fall related deaths in each year and deaths increase with increasing age. Injury accounts for around 2.8% of all hospital admissions, with general falls accounting for around one third of these. There has been no change in numbers of fall related admissions over recent years. The majority of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) for falls are for women and over 60 year olds account for around 65% of fall FCEs. Lengths of stay following a fall are considerably longer than for other conditions; up to 6 day difference in the median in some cases. Based only upon bed days, it can be estimated that falls cost £89M per year in . Prevention will have some impact on the overall in-patient burden, but the obvious priority should be to reduce lengths of stay following a falls admission. Reduction in numbers of falls that result in injury and require admission is also important, but will have less of an impact on secondary care. There is a suggestion that targeting the most deprived should be a priority, but given the burden of falls, a universal approach is likely to be most useful and beneficial. The emergency department burden is difficult to quantify and the data presented here are likely to underestimate the problem. However, the burden will increase in the future with increases in the aging population.
Epidemiological conclusions Falls are a common and serious problem, particularly amongst older people. They place a significant burden on health and health services, and serious fall injuries, such as hip fracture, reduce quality of life dramatically. Based on the population structure, it is estimated that between 230,000 and 460,000 over 60 year olds fall in each year. Between 11,500 and 45,900 of these suffer serious injury. With predicted increases in the aging population, this will rise to between 12,400 and 49,400 by 2015. The biggest impact will be in Powys, which has the largest proportion of the population aged over 60. There are around 200 fall related deaths in each year and deaths increase with increasing age. Injury accounts for around 2.8% of all hospital admissions, with general falls accounting for around one third of these. There has been no change in numbers of fall related admissions over recent years. The majority of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) for falls are for women and over 60 year olds account for around 65% of fall FCEs. Lengths of stay following a fall are considerably longer than for other conditions; up to 6 day difference in the median in some cases. Based only upon bed days, it can be estimated that falls cost £89M per year in . Prevention will have some impact on the overall in-patient burden, but the obvious priority should be to reduce lengths of stay following a falls admission. Reduction in numbers of falls that result in injury and require admission is also important, but will have less of an impact on secondary care. There is a suggestion that targeting the most deprived should be a priority, but given the burden of falls, a universal approach is likely to be most useful and beneficial. The emergency department burden is difficult to quantify and the data presented here are likely to underestimate the problem. However, the burden will increase in the future with increases in the aging population.
Injury%20Prevention%20Guidance%201%20-%20Falls%20v4.docx