A Study on Consequences of Fall among Elderly People Referred to Emam Hossein Hospital in Tehran City during 2010-2011

Fall is one of the common reasons of older people referring to emergency rooms. Besides suffering, it exposes huge financial burden on the patient and the community health system, as well. It is important to know about risk factors, predictors, consequences and trauma scoring in elderly following the fall. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of TRISS (Trauma-Injury Severity) for predicting prognosis of fall among elderly people. This cross sectional study conducted among 118 elderly patients attended to Imam-Hossein Hospital in Tehran because of the fall. A check list was used to collect the data.Then, trauma scores were assessed by TRISS, ISS (Injury Severity Score) and RTS (Revised Trauma Score). The clinical value of the TRISS was also evaluated. The findings showed that sliding (67%) and syncope (33%) were the reasons of fall. Mortality rate was 22%, more than half of participants had morbidity (bone fracture) followed by 41% impaired functional ability. Means for ISS, RTS and TRISS were 12.06 ± 8.9, 6.54 ± 4.52 and. 45 ±. 33 respectively. There was a significant relationship between the mean scores and mortality and morbidity rates, which means all scores were higher among those with higher mortality and morbidity rate (P < 0.05). As a conclusion, due to the higher risk of unintentional injury in old age, applying some strategies to prevent and treat it seems essential.It is also vital to have an appropriate management plan for the condition to prevent other side effects to be happened.