Cost of fall-related hospitalizations among older adults: environmental comparisons from the 2011 Texas hospital inpatient discharge data.

In the United States, 30% of older adults suffer a fall annually with tremendous personal and societal burden. Although estimates of national-level costs are available, most of these often cited estimates are dated, and less has been published about statewide estimates. This article documents fall-related medical costs by age, sex, and different geographic regions based on admission status of 2,937,579 hospital discharges reported in 2011, with special attention to trends over time. There were 77,086 fall-related hospitalizations in 2011, of which 78.4% represent those aged 50 and older. Among this same age group, total fall-related costs rose to $3.1 billion in 2011, from $1.9 billion in 2007. Those aged 75 and older experienced the highest cost, while average cost was lower in nonmetropolitan areas. Understanding the distribution of fall-related burden across groups and rurality allows researchers to identify social and environmental circumstances of falls and identify community resources necessary to prevent falls.