[Descriptive study of a series of deaths due to accidental falls in the elderly.].

OBJECTIVE

Accidental falls are a growing public health problem. The objective was to describe the characteristics of deaths due to accidental falls in people over 65 from the forensic source.

METHODS

Descriptive observational study of deceased at over 65 undergoing judicial autopsy in Tarragona between the years 2013-2017 whose basic cause of death was coded as accidental fall (W00-W19 of the International Classification of Diseases - 10th edition).

RESULTS

89 cases were identified (42.7% women). The mean age of the deceased females (82.9 years) was significantly higher than that of the males (77.6 years). The cause of death was a head injury in 77.5% of cases. 78.7% had previously been assisted in a hospital center. Falls from one level to another were significantly more lethal (60% vs 40%), and were associated with those corpses not coming from hospital. 82% had prescribed at least one drug (57.5% more than 5). 85.4% had a pathological history. Comorbidity was significantly higher in females and in corpses from hospital and lower in falls from one level to another.

CONCLUSIONS

The data, based on forensic sources, show the presence of risk factors associated with the fatality of accidental falls in ≥65 years of age. More studies are needed to understand its role in these injuries.