How severe are hospitalised injuries due to falls?

Four measures that may indicate the severity of a hospitalised injury are:

  • urgency of admission

  • average length of stay

  • percentage of cases with time in an intensive care unit (ICU)

  • percentage of cases involving continuous ventilator support (CVS).

In 2019–20, among hospitalisations due to a fall for those aged 65 and over (Table 12):

  • almost all (93%) were classified as an emergency in terms of urgency of admission

  • the average length of hospital stay was 9.5 days

  • 1.7% included time in an ICU

  • 0.4% involved CVS.

Comparing 5-year age groups among those aged 65 and over, the average length of stay was longest among people aged 85–89, while people aged 70–74 had the highest percentage of cases with time in ICU. People aged 65–69 had the highest percentage of cases with time spent on CVS, with that figure dropping as age increased.

In those aged 65 and over, the average length of stay due to a fall was 5.6 days longer than those aged 15–64 (Table 12).

Table 12: Severity of hospitalised falls, by age group, 2019–20

 

15–64

65 and over

Average number of days in hospital

3.9

9.5

Percentage (%) of cases with time in ICU

1.5

1.7

Percentage (%) of cases involving CVS

0.8

0.4

Note: Average number of days in hospital (length of stay) includes admissions that are transfers from 1 hospital to another or transfers from 1 admitted care type to another within the same hospital, except where care involves rehabilitation procedures.

Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.

For more detailed data, see Data tables A31–39 and C21–25.

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