Demographic Features of Fall-Related Trauma in Geriatric Population in the Emergency Department: 5 Years Experience

Year 2019, Volume: 13 Issue: 3, 295 - 299, 20.09.2019

Erdem Türkseven Can Öner Engin Ersin Şimşek

https://doi.org/10.21763/tjfmpc.609684

Abstract

Introduction: Life expectancy increases throughout the world and it
was estimated that in 2020 nearly 12% of the Turkish population will be
categorized as elderly. Trauma, especially falls are important cause of
admission to emergency departments for elderly. This study evaluates the
demographical profile of fall-related emergency admissions of elderly for 5
years. Method: This study is a
retrospective cross-sectional study, carried out in elderly patients (≥65
years) admitted to the emergency department between January 2013 to 31 December
2017. A fall is defined as a situation coded as E880-E888 in ICD9 and W00-W19
in ICD 10 in an electronic database. 460 admissions met these inclusion
criteria. All of the demographical data were obtained from hospital records. Results: The rate of emergency
admission due to fall related trauma was %1.3 and this rate increase up to
11.84% in older patients group. The mean age of the group was 74.8±7.5 years,
and most of the patients have at least one underlying disease. Most of the
falls take place outside from home, summer and daytime. Only 1 death occurred
due to falls. Conclusion: Falls and
related injuries are an important public health problem due to growing elderly
population. In conclusion, nearly 1 in 6 elderly admitted to the emergency
department due to falls, and this rate is expected to increase. Preventive
measures must be taken to reduce these falls and related injuries and
epidemiological data should be gathered regularly and methodologically. 

 Giriş: Yaşam beklentisi tüm dünyada
artmaktadır, 2020 yılında Türk toplumunda yaşlı oranının %12 civarında olacağı
tahmin edilmektedir. Travmalar özellikle düşmeler yaşlı bireylerin acil servise
başvuruları için önemli bir nedendir. Bu çalışmada 5 yıl boyunca acil servise
düşme nedenli olarak başvuran yaşlıların demografik özellikleri
değerlendirilmiştir. Yöntem: Mevcut
geriye dönük kesitsel çalışma Ocak 2013-Aralık 2017 tarihleri arasında acil
servise başvuran yaşlılar (≥65 yaş) ile yürütülmüştür. Çalışmada düşme
elektronik veri tabanına ICD 9 kodlarına göre E880-E888 ve ICD 10 kodlarına
göre W00-W19 arasında kodlanan tanılar olarak kabul edilmiştir. Veri tabanından
elde edilen 460 hasta çalışmanın örneklemini oluşturmuştur. Tüm demografik
veriler hastane kayıtlarından elde edilmiştir. Bulgular: Acil servise başvurular içinde sadece %1,3 yer tutan
travma olgularının oranı yaşlı hasta grubunda %11,84’e yükselmektedir. Grubun
yaş ortalaması 74,8±7,4 yıldır, hastaların çoğunda altta yatan bir hastalık
bulunmaktadır. Düşmelerin büyük çoğunluğu ev dışında, yaz mevsiminde ve gündüz
gerçekleşmiştir. Düşme nedenli sadece 1 ölüm gerçekleşmiştir. Sonuç: Düşme ve ilişkili yaralanmalar
artan yaşlı nüfus nedeni ile önemli bir halk sağlığı sorunu olarak karşımıza
çıkmaktadır. Sonuç olarak her 6 yaşlıdan 1’i düşme nedenli olarak acil servise
başvurmaktadır, bu oranların artacağı düşünülmektedir. Düşme oranlarını
azaltıcı önleyici önlemlerin alınması ve sistemli ve düzenli olarak
epidemiyolojik verilerin toplanması yararlıdır.

Keywords

Falls, trauma, elderly

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