Femoral Fracture in Elderly: An Avoidable Cause? | Insight Medical Publishing

Introduction: The frequency of femoral fractures has increased significantly in recent decades. It is known that this is closely related to geriatric population increase in our society, becoming a relevant public health problem. Objective: To identify the epidemiological profile of femoral fractures after an accidental fall among elderly people living in the city of S？o Paulo. Methods: This is a cross-sectional, quantitative, descriptive and retrospective study. We analyzed a total of 188 cases of fall among elderly (60 years old or more) diagnosed with femoral fractures, notified in The Information System for Violence and Accidents Surveillance (SIVVA), between January and October of 2017. Results: The main injury diagnoses among elderly who suffered from fall accidents were femoral neck fracture (28.7%) and pertrochanteric fracture (24.5%). In relation to age and gender, femoral fractures due to accidental fall were predominantly among elderly with 80 years old or more (51.1%) and females (62.8%). Femoral fractures due to falls were more frequent in white individuals (62.2%), main place of occurrence were in the elder residence and during daytime. Conclusion: Femoral fractures among elderly occurred predominantly in female, white individuals, playing a major role due to their high morbimortality, making public health policies for elderly direct a greater attention to this population.