Falls and Injury Prevention

About every two minutes in Ontario, at least one older adult over the age of 65 visits an emergency department due to a fall.  In fact, falls are the leading cause of injury among older adults.^[1] In 2010, it was estimated that falls cost Canadians $8.7 billion making it costlier than any other injury.^[2] In 2017 in our community, fall-related injuries account for 33% of all injury-related emergency visits. The rate of hospitalization in Windsor Essex County was greater than the combined rate for the next five leading causes of injuries. Those hospitalized in Windsor-Essex from 2004-2013 for a fall-related injury will spend an average of 13.0 days in the hospital. In Windsor-Essex County, 20% of all injury-related mortalities are due to a fall.^[3]

The good news is that most falls are predictable and preventable.