Accidental falls

Falling is the action of a person or animal losing stability and ending up in a lower position, often on the ground. It is the second-leading cause of accidental death worldwide and a major cause of personal injury, especially for the elderly. Falls in older adults are a major class of preventable injuries. Construction workers, electricians, miners, and painters are occupations with high rates of fall injuries.

Long-term exercise appears to decrease the rate of falls in older people. About 226 million cases of significant accidental falls occurred in 2015. These resulted in 527,000 deaths.

A report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) in 2018 said that falls were most common cause of hospitalised injury in over 65s.  Just over 100,000 people aged 65 and over were hospitalised due to a fall in 2014–15.  Women accounted for most of the fall injury cases for over 65s (74,186). The report also found that more Australians are being hospitalised for injuries, with falls (41 per cent) and transport crashes (12 per cent) the leading causes.  Overall, people aged 65 or over accounted for 30 per cent of injury cases, with the majority of these being for falls.  Injuries to the hip and thigh (24 per cent) and head (24 per cent) were the most common types of injury resulting from a fall, with the rates of injury to the head more than doubling over the period 2002–03 to 2014–15.  Falls were also responsible for 40 per cent of traumatic spinal cord injuries and 35 per cent of eye injuries.