Why are more seniors in the US dying after falls?

Death rates from fall injuries among Americans over age 65 have more than tripled in the past 30 years

- Paula Span

For a while, walking the dog felt hazardous.

Mr Earl Vickers was accustomed to taking his pet for strolls on the beach or around his neighbourhood in Seaside, California. A few years ago, though, he started to experience problems staying upright.

"If another dog came towards us, every single time, I'd end up on the ground," recalled Mr Vickers, a 69-year-old retired electrical engineer. "It seemed like I was falling every other month."

Most of those tumbles did no serious damage, though one time, he fell backwards and hit his head on a wall. "I don't think I had a concussion, but it's not something I want to do every day," he said. Another time, he broke two bones in his left hand while trying to break a fall.

So, in 2022, he told the oncologist who had been treating him for prostate cancer that he wanted to stop the cancer medication he had been taking, off and on, for four years: enzalutamide, or Xtandi.

Among its side effects are higher rates of falls and fractures among patients who took it, compared with those given a placebo. His doctor agreed that he could discontinue the medication, and "I haven't had a single fall since", Mr Vickers said.

PERILS OF FALLS

Public health experts have for decades warned of the perils of falls for older people. In 2023, the most recent year of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 41,000 Americans over age 65 died from falls, an article in Jama Health Forum pointed out in August.

More startling than that figure, though, was another statistic. Fall-related mortality among older adults has been climbing sharply.