Risk factors for ground-level falls differ by sex

BACKGROUND: The populations of many developed countries have been aging in recent years, resulting in increasing numbers of elderly-related injuries. Conventionally regarded as minor, injuries from ground-level falls are now associated with a higher risk of death for elderly people. METHODS: The subjects of this study were 15662 adult patients with injuries from ground-level falls who were registered in the Japan Trauma Data Bank between 2007 and 2013. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the effects of age, sex, Injury Severity Score, and Revised Trauma Score (RTS) on inhospital mortality. Patients aged 60 years or older were further categorized into 4 subgroups by age and sex, and the effect of the presence of injuries of Abbreviated Injury Scale greater than or equal to 3 in each region on inhospital mortality was analyzed. RESULTS: Logistic regression analysis for inhospital mortality showed significant interactions between sex and age and between sex and RTS, and subgroup analysis by sex was, therefore, performed. The odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for inhospital mortality compared with patients older than 60 years was 2.75 (1.90-3.96) for men aged 60 to 79 years and 5.44 (3.77-7.85) for men 80 years or older and 1.46 (0.83-2.58) for women aged 60 to 79 years and 2.32 (1.35-4.01) for women 80 years or older. The odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for RTS less than 7.840 was 6.89 (5.56-8.55) for men and 9.97 (7.59-13.10) for women. CONCLUSIONS: The effects of age and RTS on inhospital mortality of patients after ground-level falls differed by sex. Language: en