Table 1.
Characteristics of older adults with fall injury by emergency department (ED) visit and/or hospitalization status
| All 1840 (100%) |
No ED visit or hospitalization 875 (46.85%) |
ED visit only 612 (33.71%) |
Hospitalization 353 (19.44%) |
Oveall p |
ED only vs. hosp. p |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age group (yrs, %) | <.001 | <.001 | ||||
| 60–69 | 38.28 | 45.03 | 36.36 | 25.35 | ||
| 70–79 | 30.02 | 29.19 | 29.36 | 33.14 | ||
| 80+ | 31.70 | 25.78 | 34.28 | 41.51 | ||
| Female (%) | 65.59 | 64.87 | 68.02 | 63.08 | .389 | .204 |
| Race/ethnicity (%) | .296 | .726 | ||||
| Non-Hispanic White | 82.11 | 80.90 | 82.76 | 83.89 | ||
| Non-Hispanic Black | 7.69 | 7.80 | 7.59 | 7.58 | ||
| Hispanic | 6.83 | 6.73 | 7.58 | 5.77 | ||
| Other | 3.38 | 4.57 | 2.07 | 2.76 | ||
| Marital status (%) | .005 | .337 | ||||
| Married/cohabiting | 46.66 | 52.21 | 43.59 | 38.57 | ||
| Widowed | 30.25 | 25.85 | 31.66 | 38.42 | ||
| Divorced/separated | 17.31 | 16.45 | 18.19 | 17.87 | ||
| Never married | 5.78 | 5.49 | 6.56 | 5.14 | ||
| Living alone | 38.83 | 35.71 | 41.23 | 42.19 | <.001 | .806 |
| College degree | 27.86 | 31.47 | 25.98 | 22.42 | .012 | .292 |
| Worked for pay last year (%) | 18.69 | 24.59 | 15.51 | 10.00 | <.001 | .035 |
| Family income to poverty ratio (%) | .007 | .009 | ||||
| Under 2x poverty | 32.67 | 30.29 | 31.09 | 41.17 | ||
| 2–3.99x poverty | 26.03 | 27.01 | 24.59 | 26.11 | ||
| 4 + x poverty | 34.17 | 31.08 | 29.16 | 22.01 | ||
| Missing | 15.30 | 11.68 | 15.16 | 10.71 | ||
| Health insurance (%) | ||||||
| Medicare | 81.25 | 78.17 | 82.03 | 87.23 | .005 | .065 |
| Medicaid | 12.46 | 13.91 | 10.10 | 13.07 | .157 | .222 |
| VA/military insurance | 9.46 | 9.33 | 10.51 | 7.97 | .503 | .254 |
| Private health insurance | 50.70 | 53.47 | 50.88 | 43.72 | .031 | .071 |
| Number of chronic illnesses that caused limitations (M. SE) | 0.73 (0.03) | 0.75 (0.05) | 0.69 (0.05) | 0.77 (0.02) | .546 | .250 |
| Arthritis (%) | 21.42 | 21.81 | 21.96 | 19.54 | .729 | .472 |
| Cancer (%) | 4.43 | 4.90 | 3.81 | 4.37 | .708 | .727 |
| Diabetes (%) | 10.45 | 10.54 | 9.58 | 11.71 | .690 | .403 |
| High blood pressure (%) | 11.71 | 13.91 | 9.08 | 10.93 | .054 | .426 |
| Heart disease (%) | 12.51 | 12.14 | 11.46 | 15.22 | .295 | .125 |
| Lung disease (%) | 7.58 | 6.51 | 8.61 | 8.37 | .337 | .906 |
| Stroke (%) | 5.17 | 5.04 | 4.14 | 7.29 | .146 | .041 |
| Vision problem (%) | 7.42 | 8.25 | 7.37 | 5.52 | .376 | .361 |
| Hearing problem (%) | 5.80 | 5.88 | 5.30 | 6.47 | .817 | .549 |
| Memory problem (%) | 19.91 | 17.32 | 20.17 | 25.72 | .019 | .091 |
| Number of ADL impairments (M,SE) | 0.68 (0.04) | 0.48 (0.05) | 0.65 (0.07) | 1.21 (0.11) | <.001 | <.001 |
| Difficulty walking w/o equipment (%) | 44.36 | 36.63 | 43.92 | 63.79 | <.001 | <.001 |
| Depression/anxiety (%) | 7.08 | 6.80 | 7.23 | 7.47 | .926 | .903 |
| Past-year healthcare utilization (%) | ||||||
| Hospitalization | 36.01 | 22.26 | 22.21 | 93.08 | <.001 | <.001 |
| Homecare | 16.11 | 11.0 | 12.80 | 34.17 | <.001 | <.001 |
| 10+ times healthcare use | 38.64 | 37.61 | 35.29 | 46.93 | .008 | .004 |
| Healthcare for fall injury (%) | ||||||
| Call to medical professional | 36.92 | 38.18 | 31.89 | 42.60 | <.001 | .006 |
| Doctor’s office/clinic | 72.50 | 87.16 | 60.07 | 58.95 | <.001 | .735 |
| Emergency medical service (ambulance, fire truck) use | 31.46 | 11.19 | 37.57 | 69.70 | <.001 | <.001 |
| Emergency department visit | 51.82 | 0 | 100 | 93.14 | <.001 | <.001 |
| Hospitalization | 19.44 | 0 | 0 | 100 | ||
| Other place | 14.32 | 15.64 | 8.19 | 21.76 | <.001 | <.001 |