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The nature and the geography of elderly injuries in Sweden

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Abstract

This study assesses the nature and the geography of elderly injuries in Sweden. The most dominant types of accidents affecting the elderly in their homes and near environments are identified by using county-specific data from 2001 to 2010 followed by a correlation analysis of possible environmental factors underlying patterns of falls among the elderly. Geographical information systems are used to map rates by type. Slipping, tripping and stumbling are the causes of more than half of cases of elderly falls in Sweden, and is more typical in the Northern counties. Findings also show there has been a rise in rates of elderly falls since 2001 in most of the Southern counties, especially in Östergötland and Skåne Counties. Population age and gender affect the ecology of geography of fall rates and counties experiencing long cold winters tend to show higher rates of indoor falls than those with warmer temperature across the year. The article finalizes with a discussion of the results and implication for future research.

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Notes

  1. According to WHO (2008), the chronological age of 65 years has been accepted as a definition of ‘elderly’ or older persons in most of the developed world.

  2. http://www.scb.se/.

  3. http://www.smhi.se/.

  4. Fisher Exact Test.

  5. Spearman’s Rank Correlation.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to express our particular appreciation to Lars Erik Lundberg Scholarship Foundation for funding the study. We also thank Anders Jacobsson for his help with the fall data register.

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  1. KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

    Roya Bamzar & Vania Ceccato

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  1. Roya Bamzar
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Correspondence to Roya Bamzar.

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Bamzar, R., Ceccato, V. The nature and the geography of elderly injuries in Sweden. GeoJournal 80, 279–299 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-014-9552-z

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