Prognosis of falls in old people at home.

One hundred and twenty-five people aged 65 and over in the Birmingham area who fell at home were followed up for one year after the fall had been reported by the general practitioner. They were compared with 125 control subjects matched for age and sex and drawn from the same doctors' lists. Two months after the fall, one control and 11 fallers had died. One year after the fall, eight controls and 32 fallers had died. The main factor associated with increased mortality was impaired mobility before the index fall.