AGE AND SEX INFLUENCES ON FALL CHARACTERISTICS

Objective-To investigate age and sex influences on fall characteristic s. Methods-A total of 1243 subjects (517 males and 726 females) aged 5 0 years and over and drawn from population based sampling frames were invited to complete an interviewer administered questionnaire concerni ng descriptive characteristics of falls experienced in the previous fo ur months. Information collected included details about the part of th e body to strike the ground, direction of the fall, level of trauma an d whether or not injury or fracture was sustained. Results-One hundred and seventy two subjects reported a fall in the previous four months. Restricting analysis to the 142 subjects who fell from a standing hei ght or less, females aged 50-64 years were more than twice as Likely t o fall onto their hand compared with older females (odds ratio (OR) = 2.2; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.8 to 6.2) and at all ages (50+) we re more than three times as likely to fall on their hip compared with males (OR = 3.4; 95% CI 1.0 to 11.5). Compared with older males, males aged 50-64 were more likely to fall sideways (OR = 5.1; 95% CI 1.5 to 17.4) and less likely to fall forwards (OR = 0.4; 95% CI 0.1 to 1.1). Conclusion-There is a potentially clinically important variation in f all type by age and sex. In particular, this variation might explain p atterns of occurrence of hip and Colles' fracture.