Hospital-Treated Falls and Comorbidities Among Older Adults in Minnesota, 2010-2014

Falls are a serious concern for older adults as they frequently result in injury, disability and even death. In older adults in Minnesota, the number and rate of hospital-treated falls have been increasing, for both males and females. The purpose of this study was to estimate trends in falls among older adults in Minnesota, and to examine whether there is an association between severe outcomes of falls and predictors. We investigated hospital-treated (both emergency department treatment and hospitalizations) falls among adults 65 years and older in Minnesota between 2010 and 2014, using hospital discharge data from the Minnesota Hospital Association. In total, 199,364 cases were identified; this represents a rate of 5,281.4/100,000 during the five-year period. We found the number of hospital-treated falls increased each year by 1,820 cases on average, for an average rate increase of 108.3/100,000 per year. The rate for falls with no comorbidities decreased, while the rate for falls with one or more comorbidities increased: Also, comorbidities were more likely among hospitalized and/ or fatal cases than among nonhospitalized and/or nonfatal cases. The most frequent principal injury diagnoses associated with falls included fractures (31.7% of total hospital-treated falls), superficial wounds/contusions (14.7%), open wounds (10.9%) and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) (3.9%). The most frequent type of fracture was hip fracture (29.1 %). Additional complications commonly occurring during hospital treatment of injury resulting from a fall included urinarytract infection (7.2%), pneumonia (2.2%), pressure ulcer (1.2%) and sepsis (0.9%). Among these, sepsis had the highest odds ratio of 9.9 for death. These data show the burden of falls is greatest among those who are 85 and older and/or who have one or more comorbidities.