Falls prevention, especially in older persons, is a top Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT DPH) priority during the next five years. The number of hip fractures among older women has shown a downward trend from 2008 to 2017. After an injury related to a fall, older adults may require a year or more to recover from these injuries and may never be able to return to their homes. In Connecticut falls are the leading cause of emergency department visits for injuries, and cause nearly all hip fractures. The CT DPH objective is to reduce hip fractures in women 65 years of age and older by 10% between 2010 and 2020.

Note that numbers before 2015 cannot be directly compared to numbers from 2016 onwards due to a change in data classification that started in October 2015.

Data last updated June 2019.

Connecticut Department of Public Health; State Department on Aging; Connecticut Department of Social Services; Connecticut Department of Labor; State Department of Education; Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection; Commission on Children; Office of the Child Advocate; Local public health agencies; Injury prevention centers; Health care providers including nurses, physicians, physical therapists, pharmacists, emergency medical services, hospitals, home care agencies, and rehabilitation facilities; Health professional associations; Recreation associations and recreational providers; Child care providers and consultants; Schools; Coaches and athletic associations; State and local building inspectors; Organizations and coalitions focused on fall and injury prevention for youth, adult, and elderly populations; Community service providers for seniors, youth, and families; National and state philanthropic and medical research organizations; Academic institutions with geriatric programs; Others

Fall Injuries among Older Adults: “A Tool Kit to Prevent Senior Falls” (National Center for Injury Prevention Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1999) http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/toolkit/toolkit.h...

Potential Strategies

Develop and implement a public education campaign about the risks of using multiple medications (polypharmacy).

Promote implementation of evidence-based multi-faceted programs for community dwelling older adults that integrate fall risk reduction strategies.

Educate healthcare and other care providers on fall prevention.

Identify, access, and analyze potential alternative sources of data on causes of and locations of falls for specific age groups, including home- and recreational-related falls.

Develop procedures for improving the coding of data on causes and locations of falls.