Home Fall Injuries in SouthWestern Nigeria

INTRODUCTION: Unintentional home injuries constitute significantly to the public health burden of injuries in all age groups especially in children and the elderly in developing countries. Fall-related injuries are among the most serious and most common medical problems experienced by older people. This study compared fall injuries among household members in rural and urban areas of south western Nigeria 

 METHODOLOGY: A community based cross sectional survey using a multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 4433 individuals from 1015 households. Information was obtained on socio-demographic characteristics and unintentional home injury events. Multivariate analysis was done to determine factors associated with unintentional home injuries.

 RESULTS: There were 2340 (52.8%) and 2093 (47.2%) respondents from the

rural and urban areas respectively. The urban fall incidence of 195 injuries/1000 persons per year was significantly higher than the 150 injuries/1000 persons per year in the rural population (p = 0.044).The incidence of fall related disability was 11.9/1000 persons per year.

Overall, children aged 0-4 years, 64 (13.2%) experienced falls injury compared to all age groups (p<0.001), with a higher proportion in the rural area 51 (16.2%) than urban (7.6%).In the rural area,those having some education (OR=0.4; 95% CI=0.27-0.59)and currently married (OR=0.39; 95% CI=0.15-0.97) were less likely to have fall injuries. In the urban area, age, and occupational grade of respondents were statistically significant with the occurrence of injury;  overall,180 (71.1%) people had falls that required treatment.

 CONCLUSION: Fall injury in the home environment is significant as it affects the youngest age group the most. Further studies are needed to provide evidence based public enlightenment and develop policies that will reduce the burden of fall injuries in the home.