Increase in admissions and hospital visits due to falls

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDJun 16 2011

According to the latest figures, women over the age of 80 are at the highest risk of falling and need home care. Figures released from the NHS Information Centre ahead of Falls Awareness Week revealed that women over the age of 80 accounted for 30.9 per cent of all fall-related admissions.

Michelle Mitchell, charity director at Age UK, said “deterioration in muscle strength and balance, failing vision and problems with medication” were among the reasons why the risk of falling increases with age. Mitchell said the high proportion of women over 80 falling over is partly down to demographics. “Women are still more likely to live longer than men and 70% of women over 65 live alone,” he said. “All older people at risk of falls should be given a comprehensive risk assessment which can be arranged by a GP. There are also a number of simple things older people can do themselves to prevent falling over, from taking regular eye tests to finding out how to do strength and balance exercises at an organized session or from the comfort of your own home.”

There were 460,000 hospital admissions due to falls between March 2010 and February 2011, according to the statistics. Over 20,000 of these were due to the individual falling out of bed and 12,000 were made up of people who had fallen from a chair.

Risky activities for falls included climbing a tree and using a ladder. Moreover, some 170 people had to be treated for falls from cliffs. The most common type of plunge was the “unspecified fall”, which accounted for 183,606 admissions, followed by “fall on same level from slipping, tripping and stumbling”, for which there were 88,630.

Falls Awareness Week is taking place between June 20th and 24th, with an aim to highlight the problem of falling, particularly among older people.

NHS Information Centre chief  executive Tim Straughan said, “Our figures show a rise in the number of hospital admissions for falls - from those who fall out of bed to people taking a tumble out of a tree. While falls are common and often minor, the report highlights the number of hospital admissions due to injuries from falls, particularly among women over 80, who represent nearly a third of all such admissions.”