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Falls facts

One in four people over the age of 60 have a fall each year, and one in three people over the age of 65 experience a fall each year.

One in four people over the age of 60 will experience a fall each year.

One in three people over the age of 65 will experience a fall each year.

The most common injuries from a fall are fractures to the hip and thigh, followed by injuries to the head.1

38% of injuries of falls occur to the hip and 20% occur to the head.

Falls cause more injury-related deaths in Australian than transport crash fatalities.1

Falls cause more injury-related deaths in Australian than transport crash fatalities.

In men and women over the age of 65, falls remain one of the leading reasons for older people being admitted to hospital at a rate of 38% compared to 13% for transport-related injuries.1

falls remain one of the leading reasons for older people being admitted to hospital at a rate of 38% compared to 13% for transport related injuries.

A Western Australia dies every 26 hours, is admitted to a hospital every 19 minutes and presents to a metropolitan emergency department every 12 minutes due to a falls-related incident.2

In WA in 2018, the leading cause of individuals presenting to a hospital due to a falls-related incident was due to a slip, trip or stumble.2

Slip, trip and stumble

In WA, the average length of time spent in hospital due to a falls-related injury in 2018 was 6.3 days per admission.2

References:

  1. AIHW: Bradley, C. (2013) Trends in Hospitalisations due to falls by older people, Australia 1999-00 to 2010-11, Injury Research and Statistics no. 84. cat. no. INJCAT 160. Canberra: AIHW. Retrieved from http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=60129543591
  2.  Sweeney, R., Meade, R. & Visser, M. 2020 Western Australian Falls Report. (2020). Available from: https://injurymatters.org.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2020/08/2020WAFallsReport.pdf

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