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Senior Fall Prevention
Statistics of Unintentional Falls
Among Seniors
Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (CDPHP) staff reviewed 2005 national data from the CDC concerning deaths and injuries to people 65 years and older.
- In 2005, 15,800 people 65 years and older died from an unintentional fall and 1.8 million seniors were treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms for non-fatal falls. Put another way, every hour 1.8 seniors died and every hour 205 were treated in emergency rooms for fall-related injuries.
- The financial impact of fall-related injuries is significant. The CDC reports that $19.2 billion annually is spent on treating the elderly for the adverse effects of falls: $12 billion for hospitalization, $4 billion for emergency department visits and $3 billion for outpatient care. Most of these expenses are paid by Medicare. It is projected that direct treatment costs will reach $43.8 billion annually in 2020, at which time the cost to Medicare would be $32.4 billion.
- The national 2005 death rate (per 100,000 people) from unintentional falls for people 65 and older was 42.96. Available data for Nevada from 2005 shows the unintentional fall death rate (per 100,000) was 37.90.
- Nevada state statistics from the Center for Health Data and Research showed 132 deaths in 2004 as a result of unintentional falls. Of the 132 deaths, 70 percent occurred in Clark County; 64 percent of those deaths were people 65 and older.
- Hospital discharge data collected by the Center for Health Data and Research for 2003 through 2005 showed that 10,035 people were admitted to Nevada hospitals as a result of an unintentional fall. This was 45 percent of all hospital admissions for accidental injuries during that three year period.
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