Fall-Induced Deaths Among Elderly People

Abstract

Falls and fall-induced injuries in older people are a major public health problem in modern societies with aging populations. Injury is the fifth leading cause of death in older adults, and most of these fatal injuries are related to falls. We have assessed the nationwide trends in fall-induced deaths of older people in Finland for more than 3 decades (1971-2002), and the results showed that the number of fall-induced deaths among elderly Finns is clearly increasing, especially among men.