The global burden of falls: global, regional, and national estimates of morbidity and mortality from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Abstract 

Falls can lead to severe health loss including death. Past research has shown that falls are an important cause of death and disability worldwide. The Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 (GBD 2017) provides a comprehensive assessment of morbidity and mortality from falls.

Methods 

Estimates for mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were produced for 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2017 for all ages using the GBD 2017 framework. Distributions of the bodily injury (e.g., hip fracture) were estimated using hospital records.

Results 

Globally, the age-standardized incidence of falls was 2,238 (1,990–2,532) per 100,000 in 2017, representing a decline of 3.7% (7.4–0.3) from 1990 to 2017. Age-standardized prevalence was 5,186 (4,622–5,849) per 100,000 in 2017, representing a decline of 6.5% (7.6–5.4) from 1990 to 2017. Age-standardized mortality rate was 9.2 (8.5–9.8) per 100,000 which equated to 695,771 (644,927–741,720) deaths in 2017. Globally, falls resulted in 16,688,088 (15,101,897–17,636,830) YLLs, 19,252,699 (13,725,429–26,140,433) YLDs and 35,940,787 (30,185,695–42,903,289) DALYs across all ages. The most common injury sustained by fall victims is fracture of patella, tibia or fibula, or ankle. Globally, age-specific YLD rates increased with age.

Conclusions 

This study shows that the burden of falls is substantial. Investing in further research, fall prevention strategies, and access to care is critical.