Differences in fall-related emergency departments visits with and without an Injury, 2018

Falls, with or without an injury, often affect the health of older adults (65+).

We used the 2018 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project to describe older adults' fall-related ED visits. We defined fall-related ED visits as those with a fall external cause of morbidity code and fall-injury related ED visits as those with an injury diagnosis code and a fall external cause of morbidity code. Percentages of fall-related and fall-injury related ED visits were analyzed by select characteristics.

Over 86% of fall-related ED visits were fall-injury related. A higher percentage of females (87%) and rural (88%) older adults' fall-related ED visits were fall-injury related compared to males (85%) and urban older adults (86%). A higher percentage of fall-related ED visits without a coded injury (33%) were hospitalized compared to those with a coded injury (29%).

The majority of fall-related ED visits included an injury diagnosis.

Researchers can consider which method of measuring ED visits related to falls is most appropriate for their study. Limiting fall-related ED visits to only those where an injury diagnosis is also present may underestimate the number of fall-related ED visits but may be appropriate for researchers specifically interested in fall injuries.