149655 Escalator-related injuries among older adults in the United States, 1991-2005

Monday, November 5, 2007

Joseph O'Neil, MD, MPH , Dept. of Public Health, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN
Gregory Steele, DrPH, MPH , Dept. of Public Health, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN
Carrie E. Huisingh, MPH , Division of Violence and Injury Prevention, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Boston, MA
Gary Smith, MD, DrPH , Center for Injury Research and Policy, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH
Escalators have become an important mechanism to assist people traveling between floors in a building. There are estimated 7300 escalator injuries annually. Falls among older adults may be particularly serious because of the risk of injury. This is the first study that describes the epidemiology of escalator-related injuries among older adults aged 65 and older in the United States between 1991 and 2005.

This is a retrospective analysis of data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Reported cases were used to project national estimates and rates of elevator-related injuries.

There were an estimated 39,850 elevator-related injuries, with no fatalities. The overall injury rate was 7.8 per 100,000 population. Over the study period, the rate of escalator-related falls increased. The mean age of the study population was 80.1 years (SD = 8.5y) with 73.3% female. The most frequent cause of injury was slipping, tripping or falling (85%), while the most frequently injured body parts were the lower extremities and the head. The leading type of injury was soft tissue injuries (54%) followed by lacerations (22%) and fractures (16%). The rate of head injury and the rate of hospitalization increased as age increased.

Injuries associated with escalators do occur fairly frequently and are associated with slip, trip or falls. Older adults should use caution when stepping on or off an escalator. Increased awareness of the risk of falls and the circumstances leading to the fall allows for better direction of intervention strategies.

Learning Objectives:
1. Recognize that fall-related injuries among older adults are fairly common and may be associated with serious injury. 2. Recognize that the most common cause of injury is a slip, trip or fall; often while stepping on or off an escalator. 3. Identify lower extremity injuries and head injuries are the most common type of escalator-related injury, and that the rate of head injuries increases with increasing age, while lower extremity injuries decrease. 5. Develop with the information presented interventions to educate older adults on the risk of injury associated with escalators

Keywords: Injury, Elderly

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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