Conflicting trends in fall-related injury hospitalizations among older people: variations by injury type

Despite advances in prevention, fall-related hospitalization rates among older people are still increasing. Rates between 1998/1999 and 2008/2009 for non-fracture-related injuries increased by 6.1% while fracture injuries declined by -0.4%. Varying trends in rates of different injury types makes it difficult to provide a definitive explanation for these changes. Despite advances in fall prevention research and practice, the rate of fall-related hospitalizations continues to increase. However, hip fracture rates appear to be declining. An examination of trends in types of injuries that contribute to the overall fall injury rate is required to establish which injuries are driving the falls admission rate. The aim of this paper is to examine trends in fall-related injury hospital admissions by injury type in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. A retrospective review of fall-related injury hospitalizations in NSW among individuals aged 65+years, by injury type, was conducted from 1 July 1998 to 30 June 2009. Direct age-standardized admission rates were calculated. Negative binomial regression was used to examine the statistical significance of changes in trend over time of different hospitalized fall-related injuries. The fall-related hospitalization rate increased by 1.7% each year (p