Highlights
- •To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine long-term nationwide age- and sex-specific trends in falls mortality in more than one country.
- •Reported fall-related deaths increased from 2006 to 2016 in Australia and the UK. There were distinct age and sex differences in mortality trends.
- •Death rates from falls increased with age. People aged ≥ 95 years had the highest mortality rate from falls.
- •Fall-related mortality rates declined in younger people and increased in older people over the study period in both countries.
- •Mortality from falls was higher in men, but it increased at a faster rate in women.
Abstract
Objectives
To characterise changes in nationwide fall-related mortality rates in Australia and
the United Kingdom (UK) between 2006 and 2016 by age group and sex.
Study design
Trend analysis of falls mortality data from World Health Organization (WHO) Mortality
Database for the Australian and UK population.
Main outcome measures
We assessed age-specific, sex-specific and age-adjusted mortality rates. Mortality
trends were assessed via the annual percentage change (APC) using joinpoint regression.
Results
The annual average age-adjusted falls mortality rate was 38.63 per 1,000,000 population
in Australia, and 34.12 per 1,000,000 population in the UK. From 2006 to 2016, age-adjusted
mortality rate due to falls increased in Australia and the UK by an average annual
rate of 3.77% (95% CI 2.91% to 4.64%; p<0.01) and 2.11% (95% CI 1.43% to 2.80%; p<0.01)
respectively. Death rates from falls increased with age. People aged ≥95 years had
the highest mortality rate from falls in Australia and the UK. Men had a higher annual
average age-adjusted mortality rate from falls than women (1.6 times higher in Australia
and 1.7 times higher in the UK). Women had a larger annual percentage increase in
falls mortality rate compared to men over the study period.
Conclusions
There was a major increase in reported fall-related deaths in Australia and the UK
between 2006 and 2016, especially in the very elderly. Men had a higher mortality
rate from falls than women. Factors contributing to the apparent increases in fall-related
mortality may include reduced cancer and cardiovascular mortality and better ascertainment
of cause of death.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 26, 2020
Accepted:
July 22,
2020
Received in revised form:
July 20,
2020
Received:
April 26,
2020
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
