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Trends in fall-related hospital admissions in older persons in the Netherlands.
Arch Intern Med. 2010 May 24;170(10):905-11
Authors: Hartholt KA, van der Velde N, Looman CW, van Lieshout EM, Panneman MJ, van Beeck EF, Patka P, van der Cammen TJ
BACKGROUND: Fall-related injuries, hospitalizations, and mortality among older persons represent a major public health problem. Owing to aging societies worldwide, a major impact on fall-related health care demand can be expected. We determined time trends in numbers and incidence of fall-related hospital admissions and in admission duration in older adults. METHODS: Secular trend analysis of fall-related hospital admissions in the older Dutch population from 1981 through 2008, using the National Hospital Discharge Registry. All fall-related hospital admissions in persons 65 years or older were extracted from this database. Outcome measures were the numbers, and the age-specific and age-adjusted incidence rates (per 10 000 persons) of fall-related hospital admissions in each year of the study. RESULTS: From 1981 through 2008, fall-related hospital admissions increased by 137%. The annual age-adjusted incidence growth was 1.3% for men vs 0.7% for women (P < .001). The overall incidence rate increased from 87.7 to 141.2 per 10 000 persons (an increase of 61%). Age-specific incidence increased in all age groups, in both men and women, especially in the oldest old (>75 years). Although the incidence of fall-related hospital admissions increased, the total number of fall-related hospital days was reduced by 20% owing to a reduction in admission duration. CONCLUSIONS: In the Netherlands, numbers of fall-related hospital admissions among older persons increased drastically from 1981 through 2008. The increasing fall-related health care demand has been compensated for by a reduced admission duration. These figures demonstrate the need for implementation of falls prevention programs to control for increases of fall-related health care consumption.
PMID: 20498419 [PubMed - in process]