Epidemiological characteristics on fatal injury among the elder in Guangdong Province,2004—2005

Objective To figure out the causes of fatal injury among the elder so as to bring forward prioritized injury intervention programs aimed at the elder as well as provide the scientific basis for policy-making.Methods Using proportionally stratified cluster sampling method,a representative sample of cases due to fatal injury from 2004 to 2005 was collected from 12 counties(districts) in Guangdong Province.Results There were 1 756 981 people aged 60 years or older,of whom,2 576 deaths caused by injury during 2004—2005,accounting for 2.58% of all deaths.The average mortality rate of injury was 146.6/100 000.By gender,mortality rate for males was 166.9/100 000 and 129.7/100 000 for females(P0.01).The mortality rate was 96.5/100 000 for the elderly in urban area,significantly less than that in rural area(168.1/100 000)(P0.01).The top five leading causes of the mortality were traffic accidents(45.3/100 000),accidental falls(42.5/100 000),self-inflicted injury(31.0/100 000),drowning(10.4/100 000),and poisoning(3.8/100 000) in turn.The deaths due to these top five leading causes accounted for 90.8% of the total injury deaths in this age group.Conclusion Injury among the elderly cannot be ignored and intervention towards traffic and fall injury should be prioritized to guarantee their life quality.