Minor injuries can be major for elderly

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Nov. 4 (UPI) -- A U.S. researcher advises doctors and caregivers to take seemingly "short" falls seriously in adults age 70 and older.

Lead author Dr. Julius Cheng of University of Rochester Medical Center in New York warns falls where feet touched the ground prior to the fall -- traditionally considered "minor" -- can be deadly in those age 70 and older.

"There is the potential to minimize what people see as a relatively trivial issue, such as slipping and falling on a wet tile floor," Cheng says in a statement. "Our research shows that falls from low levels shouldn't be underestimated in terms of how bad they can be, especially in older patients."

The study, published in The Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection and Critical Care, finds injuries from ground level falls in adults age 70 and older are three times more likely than falls in those under age 70 to cause death.

Cheng and colleagues analyzed 57,302 trauma patients experiencing ground-level falls using information on demographics as well as injury type and severity from the National Trauma Data Bank.