%0 Journal Article
%T Epidemiology of accidents in a cohort of adults over 64 years old in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country
%J Revista Espanola de Geriatria y Gerontologia
%D 2015
%A de Castro, Visitación
%A Mokoroa, Olatz
%A Artieda, Juncal
%A Muniozguren, Nerea
%A Etxebarriarteun, Larraitz
%A Alvarez, Lorea
%A Garcia Calabuig, Miguel Angel
%V 50
%N 6
%P 281-284
%X INTRODUCTION: Accidents represent a significant health problem for elderly people. The objective of this study was to assess the incidence of accidents in over-64-year-olds in the Basque Country population, and to describe the clinical-epidemiological features leading to them. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study of 15,192 non-institutionalised individuals over 64 years of age, conducted under the auspices of the Basque Sentinel Practice Network (Red Vigía) over one year. A questionnaire was completed for each accident. The rates and risks of accidents were calculated by sex and age group of the individuals who had the accidents. <br><br>RESULTS: The rates of accidents were 46.52 and 81.87 per 1000 men and women, respectively. The most common type of accident was a fall (92%), and the most severe injuries were fractures (17%), with the risk of an accident being significantly higher in women and in the over-75-year-olds. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: These data reflect the scale of accidents in over-64-year-olds in the Basque Country. The most frequent accident was the fall, which represents a dramatic event among the elderly, being one of the main causes of injury, disability and institutionalisation among this population group.<p /> <p>Language: es</p>
%G es
%I Elsevier Publishing
%@ 0211-139X
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.regg.2014.11.009