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In 2023, the unintentional-fall death rate for U.S. adults aged 65 years and older was 69.9 per 100,000, with those over age 85 seeing the highest increases in fall mortality over the previous 10 years, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). From 2003 to 2023, death rates for men 65 and older increased sharply from 14.3 per 100,000 population in 2003 to 24.7 in 2023, and the rate for women increased from 8.3 to 14.2 in the same time period. White non-Hispanic adults consistently had the highest fall death rates, while Black non-Hispanic adults had the lowest. State-level variation ranged from a low of 29.5 per 100,000 population in Alabama to 158.4 in Wisconsin (more than 5 times higher than Alabama) in 2023. Wintry weather conditions with slippery snow and ice outdoors may partly explain why fatal falls were more common in states in the upper Midwest and New England, including Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Maine.
Common occurrence: Older adults who fall may present to urgent care for treatment more frequently as the occurrence of falls increases and as the total population of older adults increases nationwide. Nearly 29 million falls occurred among U.S. adults 65 years and older, and 28.7% of older adults reported falling at least once in the preceding 12 months, in 2014, according to CDC. Frailty is a major factor contributing to falls in elderly people.