@article{ref1,
title="Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of fall-related injuries: a retrospective study",
journal="BMC public health",
year="2020",
author="Mekkodathil, Ahammed and El-Menyar, Ayman and Kanbar, Ahad and Hakim, Suhail and Ahmed, Khalid and Siddiqui, Tariq and Al-Thani, Hassan",
volume="20",
number="1",
pages="e1186-e1186",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Fall-related injuries are important public health problem worldwide. We aimed to describe the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of fall-related injuries in a level 1 trauma center.   METHOD: A retrospective analysis of Qatar Trauma Registry data was conducted on patients admitted for fall-related injuries between 2010 and 2017. Comparative analyses of data by gender, age-groups and height of falls were performed to describe the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients, and in-hospital outcomes.   RESULTS: A total of 4040 patients with fall-related injuries were identified in the study duration which corresponds to the rate of 2.34 per 10,000 population. Although the rate of fall-related injuries decreased over the years, the average number of patients per year remained high accounting for 32% of the hospitalized patients with moderate to severe injuries. Most of the injuries affected the head (36%) followed by spines (29%) and chest (23%). Males were predominant (89%), more likely to fall at workplace, fall from a greater height and have polytrauma than females. The working age-group (20-59 years) constituted the majority of injured (73%) and were more likely to fall at workplace, and to fall from higher heights compared to the older adults who sustained more fall at home. Overall in-hospital mortality was 3%. Outcomes including longer hospital length of stay and mortality were generally correlated with the height of fall except for the fall at home.   CONCLUSION: Fall-related injuries remain as significant burden even in a level 1 trauma center. Variations in the pattern of injuries by age, gender and height of fall provide important information for targeted preventive measures.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1471-2458",
doi="10.1186/s12889-020-09268-2",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09268-2"
}