Falling is a serious health risk among senior adults. Each year, about one out of three Americans over 65 years of age experience a fall.
Not only are falls expensive to treat, but the pain and injury they cause can have negative effects on a person's quality of life and drastically reduce a senior adult's independence.
Falling is not a natural part of aging and it's important that senior adults, their families, caregivers and healthcare providers work together to prevent falls in senior adults.
The Facts About Falls
Statistics Overview for Hamilton County
- Falls are the leading cause of emergency department visits and hospitalizations due to injury among adults over 65.
- Falls are the third leading cause of injury-related deaths among senior adults over 65 in Hamilton County.
- Fourteen percent of Hamilton County's population is composed of adults over 65; this group accounts for 84 percent of all fall deaths and 68 percent of all fall hospitalizations. Source: Hamilton County Injury Surveillance System, 2005
- In a random survey, almost eight percent of Hamilton County residents could not identify the most common risk factors for falling and nearly twelve percent of those who were surveyed did not know how to reduce the risk of falling in senior adults. Source: Greater Cincinnati Survey, 2005
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