Fall-related hospitalisations among older people: sociocultural and regional aspects

Clare Bradley
and
James E Harrison

May 2007
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
Canberra
AIHW cat. no. INJCAT 97

The ageing of the Australian population has enlarged the population at high risk of fall-related injury and population projections imply substantial increase in years to come. A large proportion of Australia?s older population were born overseas and changing migration patterns following the Second World War have resulted in an older population which is becoming highly culturally and linguistically diverse. This report examines fall-related hospitalisations for people aged 65 and older for the years 2000-03 according to country of birth and place of usual residence.

The rates of falls in the older Australian population over the study period conform to the 'healthy migrant' hypothesis: rates of falls are highest in the Australian-born and lowest in older people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. While current rates of falls in migrant groups are lower than that of the Australian-born population these rates of hospitalisation are still substantial and contribute to an important proportion of the nation's health care burden. The changing age- and cultural- structure of the migrant population will ensure that this burden will increase considerably in the near future, requiring preventative approaches which are inclusive of diverse migrant groups. Regional analyses also suggest that local socio-cultural population profiles should be taken into account in future falls prevention planning.

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