Descriptive study of a series of deaths due to accidental falls in the elderly

Abstract

Background: Accidental falls are a growing public health problem. The objective was to describe the characteristics of deaths due to accidental falls in people over 65 from the forensic source.

Methods: Descriptive observational study of deceased at over 65 undergoing judicial autopsy in Tarragona between the years 2013-2017 whose basic cause of death was coded as accidental fall (W00-W19 of the International Classification of Diseases – 10th edition).

Results: 89 cases were identified (42.7% women). The mean age of the deceased females (82.9 years) was significantly higher than that of the males (77.6 years). The cause of death was a head injury in 77.5% of cases. 78.7% had previously been assisted in a hospital center. Falls from one level to another were significantly more lethal (60% vs 40%), and were associated with those corpses not coming from hospital. 82% had prescribed at least one drug (57.5% more than 5). 85.4% had a pathological history. Comorbidity was significantly higher in females and in corpses from hospital and lower in falls from one level to another.

Conclusions: The data, based on forensic sources, show the presence of risk factors associated with the fatality of accidental falls in ≥65 years of age. More studies are needed to understand its role in these injuries.