Falls from ladders in New South Wales: A data-linkage study

Area of Science:

• Traumatology
• Public Health
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Ladder falls represent a significant, under-researched cause of injury and mortality.
• Large-scale data on ladder fall outcomes and trends are limited, necessitating further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the characteristics and severity of injuries sustained from ladder falls.
• To identify predictors of Injury Severity Score (ISS) and 6-month mortality following ladder falls.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the NSW Trauma Registry, Admitted Patient Data Collection, and Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages (2012-2019).
• Included patients aged 15+ with major trauma from ladder falls.
• Employed data linkage, descriptive statistics, and regression analyses to identify injury predictors.

Main Results:

• 963 patients (mean age 61.9 years, 91% male) were identified; 86.2% fell from 1-5 meters, 27.5% in residential settings.
• Common injuries affected the head (26.5%), spine (21.2%), and thorax (20.6%); median ISS was 17.
• Six-month mortality was 6.4%; increasing age and fall height >5m predicted higher ISS, while increasing age and ISS predicted mortality.

Conclusions:

• Ladder fall victims are predominantly older males injured in residential settings.
• Injury severity and mortality are significantly associated with increasing age and fall height.
• Findings underscore the importance of age- and height-related risk factors in ladder fall prevention.