Fall-related injuries for three ages groups - Analysis of Swedish registry data 1999-2013
Journal article, 2020

Introduction: The objective of this study was to analyze which factors (including factors pertaining to the individual, the household, and the local area) increase the risk of fall injuries for the three age groups with the highest risk for fall injuries in Sweden.
Method: The study combined longitudinal data covering the period 1999-2013 from several different official registries from Statistics Sweden as well as from the Swedish health care system and fitted the models to data using mixed model regressions.
Results: Three age groups had a markedly heightened risk for fall injuries: 1-3-year olds, 12-14 year olds, and the elderly (65+). The home was the most common location for fall injuries, as about 40% of all fall injuries occur in the home. Only for the elderly strong predictors for fall injuries were found, and these were: age, single household, and special housing.
Conclusions: There is preventive potential in the special residences for the elderly and disabled. People living in these special residences make up a strongly selected group that needs extra safe environments. Our findings indicate that their needs are currently not meet.

Socio-economic factors

Residence

Risk groups

Geographical differences

Fall injuries

Author

Hans Ekbrand

University of Gothenburg

Robert Ekman

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Building Design

Charlotta Thodelius

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Building Design

Michael Moller

University of Gothenburg

Journal of Safety Research

0022-4375 (ISSN)

Vol. 73 143-152

Subject Categories

Geriatrics

Gerontology, specialising in Medical and Health Sciences

DOI

10.1016/j.jsr.2020.02.016

PubMed

32563386

More information

Latest update

8/25/2020