Especially the elderly die from an accidental fall: 15 percent of the deceased from a fall were between 70 and 80 years old, 45 percent were between 80 and 90 years old, and 36 percent were ninety years or older.
More men aged 70 to 80 died from a fall than women. Women make up the majority in the age groups above 80 years: among the deceased from an accidental fall, 61 percent of octogenarians were women, and among nonagenarians, this was 76 percent. In 2024, the average age of men at death from an accidental fall was 83 years and for women 87 years.
Of the 7,300 people who died in 2024 from an accidental fall, 5,000 received care under the Long-Term Care Act (Wlz). The vast majority of these lived in a care facility (85 percent).
In 2024, an accidental fall was the cause of death in 7.7 percent of deaths in a Wlz care facility. In 2015, this was 3.1 percent. Among people who lived at home and received Wlz care, this increase was smaller, from 3.1 percent in 2015 to 5.3 percent in 2024.
78 percent of those who died from an accidental fall received Wlz care due to dementia or another psychogeriatric condition.
This message appears in the fall prevention week, an initiative of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and VeiligheidNL. This organization publishes new figures today about people who come to the emergency room after a fall.
Community centers and neighborhood centers in North Brabant can register for a free newspaper until October 12.
