Falls are the leading cause of death by accidental injury among people who are older than 65.
Falls are the most common cause of hospital admissions for trauma among older Americans.
The average health-care cost of a fall injury involving a person 72 or older was $19,440 in 1998.
The direct and indirect costs of fall injuries are expected to reach $43.8 billion a year by 2020.
The risk of serious injury increases with age. In 2001, people 85 or older were four to five times more likely to be injured in a fall than people 65 to 74.
More than a third of adults 65 and older fall annually.
Six in 10 falls occur in the home.
Women are 67 percent more likely to suffer a nonfatal injury from a fall than men, and the odds of fall-related fractures are more than twice as high for women.
Men are more likely to die from a fall. Adjusted for age, the fall fatality rate in 2004 was 49 percent higher for men than women.
Sources: New England Journal of Medicine; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons; National Institute on Aging