FIPC Research: Falls and head injury - Queensland Stay On Your Feet®

The aim of this study was to identify risk for serious head injury when a person falls, using routinely reported clinical incident reporting data. A number of risk factors for serious fall-related head injuries were identified as follows:

  • women were at more risk than men
  • falls that occurred during altered consciousness (fainting) presented more risk
  • falls when a person is standing presented more risk.

Future research should be directed at identifying causal relationships and in developing interventions that target specific modifiable risk factors.

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Last updated: 2 October 2012