CIRCUMSTANCES OF INJURIOUS FALLS LEADING TO MEDICAL-CARE AMONG ELDERLY PEOPLE LIVING IN A RURAL-COMMUNITY

The objective of the present study is to describe the circumstances of injurious falls leading to medical care among the elderly living in a rural community, which have never been reported comprehensively. From 1992 to 1993, an interview survey on falls was carried out every 3 mo nths. Of the 1349 subjects aged 65 or more of Nakazato village in Japa n, 1317 persons responded to the survey by a door-by-door interview. T wo-hundred-and-fifty-six elderly people experienced a fall at least on ce during the 1-year period. One-hundred-and-twenty-four falls were re corded by 94 men and 215 falls were experienced by 162 women. In men, 16 (31.31/1000 person-year) injurious falls leading to medical care we re documented. In women, 58 (75.74/1000 person-year) falls were found to be injurious. The difference in the rate of injurious falls between the sexes was statistically significant (P < 0.01). In each sex, ther e was no increased rate of injurious falls with advancing age. Most of the injurious falls occurred in the daytime. As for the location of i njurious falls, outdoor falls were more frequent than indoor falls in the case of men. Half of the injurious falls in women occurred indoors . Extrinsic factors largely contributed to the occurrence of injurious falls compared with intrinsic ones. Women tended to be injured in the buttocks and hip in a greater proportion than men. This study reveals the circumstances of injurious falls leading to medical care and prov ides useful information on preventing injurious falls among the elderl y living in the community.