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. 2017 Nov 28;17(1):276.
doi: 10.1186/s12877-017-0670-6.

Mortality trends for accidental falls in older people in Spain, 2000-2015

Alicia Padrón-Monedero  1 , Javier Damián  2   3 , M Pilar Martin  4 , Rafael Fernández-Cuenca  1   5
Affiliations

Mortality trends for accidental falls in older people in Spain, 2000-2015

Alicia Padrón-Monedero et al. BMC Geriatr. .

Abstract

Background: Accidental falls in older people are a major public health problem but a relatively limited number of studies have analyzed the mortality trends from this cause. Effective public health interventions have been found to prevent the incidence of falls and their complications. Therefore, characterizing the mortality trends of falls for different subpopulations can help to identify their needs and contribute to develop more appropriate prevention programs for specific target groups.

Methods: This study was based on a longitudinal analysis of death rates from accidental falls (2000-2015) stratified by sex for the population ≥ 65 years and by age groups (65-74, 75-84, ≥85). A joinpoint regression model was used to identify trend inflection points. The Annual Percent Change (APC) was estimated for each trend.

Results: Mortality rates per 100,000 person-years increased from 20.6 to 30.1 for men and 13.8 to 20.8 for women between 2000 and 2015. Men presented a relevant trend increase between 2008 and 2015 (APC [95% CI] 7.2% [5.3;9.2]) and women between 2008 and 2013 (7.9% [4.1;11.8]) There were no trend differences between sexes. For 65-74 years old men we found a relevant increase in the last period (2011-2015) (7.8% [1.0;15.1]). Those aged 75-84 years showed a trend increase between 2007 and 2015 (6.4% [4.4;8.4]) and men ≥85 years presented a remarkably high trend between 2008 and 2015 (9.0% [5.2;13]). There were no relevant differences between age groups. Women aged 65-74 had no relevant trend through the period. Those aged 75-84 presented an uniform trend increase for the whole period, 2000-2015, (3.4% [2.3;4.4]) and women ≥85 had and important trend increase between 2008 and 2013 (11.1% [5.3;17.2]), that has reached an stable level in the last 2 years. There were no relevant differences between the 75-84 and ≥85 age groups.

Conclusions: Recent mortality trends from accidental falls increased in men ≥65 years and women ≥75 years. These results recommend the implementation of specific preventive programs.

Keywords: Aged; Falls; Mortality; Time series.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Carlos III Institute of Health.

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. For this type of study, formal consent is not required.

The data was de-identified prior to any of the authors to obtaining it for use in this study.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Adjusted mortality rates (per 100,000 person-years) by accidental falls in older people by sex. 2000-2015. aAnnual Percentage Change (APC) in older people by sex, corresponding to Table 1 (men) and Table 2 (women)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Crude mortality rates in older people by accidental falls by age group and sex. 2000-2015. aAnnual Percentage Change (APC) in older people, corresponding to Table 1 (men) and Table 2 (women) by age group and sex
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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