INJURY MORTALITY OF THE ELDERLY IN DEVELO PED-COUNTRIES 1985-1989

A comparative analysis of injury mortality in 24 developed countries d uring the period 1985-1989 shows the importance of this cause of death among the elderly. One out of four men and one out of two women who d ies from injury is aged 65 and over. There is an over-representation o f the elderly among injury-related deaths and the risk of death is sti ll increasing after age 65. Some differences can be noted for the elde rly as compared to other age groups: a lower male excess mortality rat io and a much larger proportion of violent deaths related to accidenta l falls. Among developed countries, a wide scope of variations exists in age groups and cause-specific patterns. Hierarchical clustering is used to obtain different aggregations of countries, based on the level , the structure and the causes of violent mortality. Although the clas sification of countries varies according to a chosen criteria, we ofte n find aggregations of countries belonging to the geographical area.