Temporal and regional variations in accidental deaths of elderly people in Japan

To ascertain the characteristics of accidental deaths of elderly people in urban and rural areas, we analyzed the deaths of elderly people over the 10-year period from 2000 to 2009, in three geographic areas: nationwide, in the 23 wards of the metropolis of Tokyo, and in Saga prefecture. In addition, to assess the regional variation in accidental deaths of the elderly, we aggregated the numbers of accidental deaths of elderly people for each of Japan’s prefectures in the year 2009 and categorized the deaths by accident type. The results showed that nationwide, deaths due to threats to breathing, falls, and drowning and submersion are increasing, while deaths due to transport accidents are decreasing, indicating a need for measures to prevent deaths from accidents other than transport accidents. In the urban areas of Tokyo’s 23 wards, there is an increasing incidence of deaths due to falls, which is likely due to the high number of structures such as buildings and railway stations that elderly people need to negotiate. In urban areas, measures to reduce the incidence of accidental deaths need to focus on improving the physical environment to help prevent falls. In the rural locality of Saga prefecture, increasing numbers of elderly people are dying by drowning and submersion. The results of analysis of accidents in all prefectures of Japan by accident type show that the causes of accidental deaths of elderly people vary regionally, suggesting that accident prevention measures for elderly people need to consider the characteristics of the locality.