Stage-specific Healthcare Burden of Fall-related Injuries Among Older Adults in Korea

Objectives: This study aimed to describe the distribution of fall-related injury burden across healthcare stages and age groups in Korea, with particular emphasis on differences between young-old adults (aged 65-74 years) and old-old adults (aged ≥75 years). Methods: Using the 14th Korea National Injury Statistics Report (2022), we analyzed data on fall-related injuries from 5 national sources: the 119 Emergency Medical Services Registry, the National Emergency Department Information System (NEDIS), the Hospital Discharge Injury Survey, the Severe Trauma Survey, and cause-of-death statistics. Five age groups (0-6, 7-18, 19-64, 65-74, and ≥75 years) were defined according to the original classifications used in the data sources. Age-specific crude rates were calculated using mid-year population denominators from Statistics Korea. Results: Emergency department (ED) visit rates were highest among children aged 0-6 years (2,312/100,000) and adults aged ≥75 years (2,121/100,000). Despite comparable ED visit rates, the within-NEDIS ED admission rate increased from 2.6% among children aged 0-6 years to 42.9% among adults aged ≥75 years. The hospitalization rate among adults aged ≥75 years (4,852/100,000) was 2.6 times higher than that among adults aged 65-74 years (1,832/100,000). Among adults aged ≥75 years, the mortality rate was 32.5/100,000, and this age group accounted for 45.4% of all fall-related deaths. Conclusions: Fall-related injury burden among adults aged ≥75 years was disproportionately concentrated at the hospitalization and mortality stages. These findings suggest that fall prevention strategies for aging populations should consider the downstream burden beyond ED visits.