Hospitalisations due to falls by older people, Australia: 2009-10

This report is the sixth in a series on hospitalisations due to falls by Australians aged 65 and over, and focuses on 2009-10. The estimated number of hospitalised injury cases due to falls in older people was 83,800 - more than 5,100 extra cases than in 2008-09 - and about 70% of these falls happened in either the home or an aged care facility. One in every 10 days spent in hospital by a person aged 65 and older in 2009-10 was directly attributable to an injurious fall (1.3 million patient days over the year), and the average total length of stay per fall injury case was estimated to be 15.5 days.