Characteristics of unintentional fall-related injuries and the related factors among the elderly in Guangzhou from 2014 to 2016

Objective To explore the epidemiological characteristics of elderly unintentional fall-related injuries (EUFI) in Guangzhou and to provide evidence for scientific preventive strategies of EUFI. Methods Data on EUFI was collected from the first diagnosed cases in the injury surveillance hospitals in Guangzhou from 2014 to 2016 and demographic and characteristics of injuries were analyzed. Spearman's correlation was used to examine the associations between daily meteorological factors and the number of cases of EUFI. Logistic regression was performed to identify the risk factors for EUFI. Results A total of 4 451 EUFI cases were reported in Guangzhou from 2014 to 2016, accounting for 50.80% of all unintentional injuries in the elderly, with the sex ratio of male to female 1:1.67. Most EUFI occurred in autumn (27.68%). The most common place where falls occurred was at home (73.58%). The common injuries caused by fall were bruise (48.51%) and fractures (30.67%) respectively. Most of fall injuries were mild (62.39%). Daily wind speed, pressure and rainfall were positively correlated with the number of daily EUFI cases, while daily average temperature and sunshine hours were negatively correlated with daily EUFI (all P<0.05). The risk factors of EUFI were female, aged ≥ 70 years, immigrants, and cold temperature (all P<0.05). Conclusions Fall is the main cause of unintentional injuries in the elderly in Guangzhou. Cold temperature has adverse impact on EUFI, while the older women and immigrants are high-risk population. It is important to take targeted preventive measures and intervention to avoid EUFI.