Evidence map›Paper›PMID 19924496›Full record

SynthesisOsteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA2010

Cost of falls in old age: a systematic review.

S Heinrich, K Rapp, U Rissmann, C Becker, H-H König

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 214 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
214citing papers in PubMed, 9 pooled it
31.5field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

214 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 582 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Physical exercise for bone health in men with prostate cancer receiving androgen deprivation therapy: a systematic review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2021
    Pooled it
  7. Guideline
  8. Pooled it
  9. Pooled it
  10. Trial
  11. Vestibular Rehabilitation Using Dynamic Posturography: Functional Stability and Fall Risk Outcomes From a Randomized Trial.Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery : official journal of American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery · 2025
    Trial
  12. Trial
  13. Trial
  14. Trial
  15. Trial
  16. Trial
  17. Trial
  18. Trial
  19. Trial
  20. Trial

154 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

S HeinrichHealth Economics Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Leipzig, Liebigstrasse 26, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. sven.heinrich@medizin.uni-leipzig.de
K Rapp
U Rissmann
C Becker
H-H König
Robert Bosch Hospital · DELeipzig University of Applied Sciences · DEUniversität Ulm · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

summaryThe purpose of this study was to review the evidence of the economic burden of falls in old age. This review showed that falls are a relevant economic burden. Efforts should be directed to fall-prevention programmes.

introductionFalls are a common mechanism of injury and a leading cause of costs of injury in the elderly. The purpose of this study was to review for the first time the evidence of the economic burden caused by falls in old age.

methodsA systematic review was conducted in the databases of PubMed, of the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination and in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews until June 2009. Studies were assessed for inclusion, classified and synthesised. Costs per inhabitant, the share of fall-related costs in total health care expenditures and in gross domestic products (GDP) were calculated. If appropriate, cost data were inflated to the year 2006 and converted to US Dollar (USD PPP).

resultsA total of 32 studies were included. National fall-related costs of prevalence-based studies were between 0.85% and 1.5% of the total health care expenditures, 0.07% to 0.20% of the GDP and ranged from 113 to 547 USD PPP per inhabitant. Direct costs occurred especially in higher age groups, in females, in hospitals and long-term care facilities and for fractures. Mean costs per fall victim, per fall and per fall-related hospitalisation ranged from 2,044 to 25,955; 1,059 to 10,913 and 5,654 to 42,840 USD PPP and depended on fall severity. A more detailed comparison is restricted by the limited number of studies.

conclusionFalls are a relevant economic burden to society. Efforts should be directed to economic evaluations of fall-prevention programmes aiming at reducing fall-related fractures, which contribute substantially to fall-related costs.

Indexed as

Cost of IllnessAccidental FallsAgedFemaleHealth ExpendituresHumansMaleMiddle AgedWounds and Injuries

Identifiers

PMID19924496
OpenAlexW2150797526

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.