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Each year approximately 10% of the elderly population (65+) will be treated by a medical doctor for an injury and approximately 100,000 older people in the EU27 and EEA countries will die from injury each year.
Falls are the dominant cause of injuries among elderly people, followed by traffic accidents, burns and fires, drowning, and poisoning. These injuries often lead to long- term physical disability, anxiety, depression, reduced confidence and social isolation among elders. The loss of life quality is huge. In addition to the human suffering, the cost of treatment and rehabilitation of older people consumes a large proportion of health care expenditures.
Injuries in elderly people can be largely prevented by:
- Awareness raising and attitude modification measures such as mass media campaigns;
- Behaviour modification measures such as training and exercise; and
- Structural modification measures such as environmental changes, regulations.
The strongest positive effects are often obtained by a combination of preventive. Some population-based interventions in European countries have reduced fall-related injuries in independent living elderly by up to 40%.
Regulation in the traffic area (seat belts, alcohol limit, bicycle helmets, etc.) and in the fire area (smoke alarms), although not aimed at older people specifically, has reduced fatalities for the entire population, included elderly people.
National policies and infrastructures for injury prevention should be more strongly targetted at safety for older people. Few countries in Europe have established concrete targets for prevention of injuries in elderly people and even fewer evaluate whether their targets are met.
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