W ith the ageing of our population and increasing longevity, the incidence and complexity of trauma in older persons (65 years and older) is increasing. 1 Older persons are at greater risk of injury because of their diminishing faculties including vision, hearing, touch, and reaction times. 2,3 Compared with younger age groups, older persons also have higher mortality and morbidity rates because of increasing frailty ABSTRACT Injury among older persons is well recognized as a growing problem. We reviewed our level-1 trauma center trauma registry fi nding that the most frequent presentations among people aged older than 65 years were due to falls and motor vehicle crashes. We surveyed participants at two of our older person injury awareness seminars to identify risk factors. Participants at our out-reach programme have several injury risk factors including polypharmacy for which our programme content has been tailored. We discuss this in relation to the older person injury-prevention literature. Because implementing our out-reach seminars, older person trauma presentations to our trauma center have decreased slightly. and comorbidities. 4,5 The high rate of hospital presentation for morbidity results in high costs to the health care system because of increased lengths of stay and greater complexity of care. 6 In Australia, age-specifi c mortality rates for injury are relatively steady for both men and women from early adulthood through to the late 1960s, but rise rapidly from age 70 years onwards. 7 In 2004 to 2005, those aged 75 years and older accounted for 38% (n ϭ 3701) of all injury deaths in Australia with injury death rates highest for both sexes in this age group. 7 Age-specifi c injury hospitalization rates follow a similar pattern, although rates among males increase in the teens, peak in the early 20s, then decline until 70 years of age before increasing signifi cantly. 8 Similarly for females, hospitalization rates are relatively steady until around the age of 65 years when, due to mainly to the increasing rate of falls, they escalate signifi cantly. 8
FALLSFalls are the leading cause of injury-related mortality and hospitalized morbidity in older people in most developed countries. 4 In Australia, one in three people aged older than 65 years have at least one fall a year with 30% of these requiring medical attention. 9 Falls from standing are the only injury-related cause of death and hospitalization in which there is a signifi cantly greater number of females, compared to males. 9
ROAD TRAUMARoad trauma is also a signifi cant cause of injury-related mortality and hospitalized morbidity among older people. This is especially evident for pedestrians, with persons older than 60 years accounting for more than 30% of all pedestrian fatalities in Australia. 10 Fatality rates in older drivers are nearly double that of younger drivers. Those aged older than 85 years have nearly four times risk of being involved in a fatal crash when driving than their younger counterparts. 11 Furthermore, people aged older t...