Recreational injuries among older Americans, 2001.

Title

Recreational injuries among older Americans, 2001.

Creator

Gerson L W; Stevens J A

Publisher

Injury Prevention (1353-8047)

Date

2004
2004-06

Description

OBJECTIVE: To describe the epidemiology of non-fatal recreational injuries among older adults treated in United States emergency departments including national estimates of the number of injuries, types of recreational activities, and diagnoses. METHODS: Injury data were provided by the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-All Injury Program (NEISS-AIP), a nationally representative subsample of 66 out of 100 NEISS hospitals. Potential cases were identified using the NEISS-AIP definition of a sport and recreation injury. The authors then reviewed the two line narrative to identify injuries related to participation in a sport or recreational activity among men and women more than 64 years old. RESULTS: In 2001, an estimated 62 164 (95% confidence interval 35 570 to 88 758) persons \textgreater/=65 years old were treated in emergency departments for injuries sustained while participating in sport or recreational activities. The overall injury rate was 177.3/100 000 population with higher rates for men (242.5/100 000) than for women (151.3/100 000). Exercising caused 30% of injuries among women and bicycling caused 17% of injuries among men. Twenty seven percent of all treated injuries were fractures and women (34%) were more likely than men (21%) to suffer fractures. CONCLUSIONS: Recreational activities were a frequent cause of injuries among older adults. Fractures were common. Many of these injuries are potentially preventable. As more persons engage in recreational activities, applying known injury prevention strategies will help to reduce the incidence of these injuries.

Subject

Female; Male; Aged; United States; Confidence Intervals; Human; Descriptive Statistics; Emergency Service; Disease Surveillance; Gerontologic Care; 80 and Over; Cycling – In Old Age; Exercise – In Old Age; Injury Pattern – Evaluation – In Old Age; Recreation – In Old Age – United States; Sex Factors – In Old Age; Sports – In Old Age; Wounds and Injuries – Epidemiology – In Old Age

Rights

Article information provided for research and reference use only. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).

Pages

134–138

Issue

3

Volume

10

Citation

Gerson L W; Stevens J A, “Recreational injuries among older Americans, 2001.,” NEOMED Bibliography Database, accessed March 19, 2024, https://neomed.omeka.net/items/show/6244.