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FALLS (W00-W19)

Falls (W00-W19) accounted for 1,348 deaths registered in 2008. This represented 0.9% of all registered deaths in 2008, and 15% of all External causes of death. Falls have increased by 54% when compared to five years ago (873 in 2004).

Falls was one of the few categories within External causes in 2008 with more females than males (703 females, compared with 645 males). This trend can also be observed in preceding years. The median age at death for Falls was 85.5 years, which was considerably higher than the median age at death of 52.3 for all External causes. Of all deaths due to Falls, 87% were of people aged 70 years or more.

4.20 SELECTED UNDERLYING CAUSES(a), Falls (W00-W19) - 2008(b)(c)(d)
		Males	Females	Persons	Proportion of all deaths
Cause of Death and ICD Code		no.	no.	no.	%
Falls (W00-W19)		645	703	1 348	0.9
	Fall on same level from slipping, tripping and stumbling (W01)	151	165	316	0.2
	Fall involving bed (W06)	11	18	29	-
	Fall involving chair (W07)	11	10	21	-
	Fall on and from stairs and steps (W10)	28	24	52	-
	Fall on and from ladder (W11)	22	1	26	-
	Fall from, out of or through building or structure (W13)	31	1	35	-
	Other fall on same level (W18)	15	18	33	-
	Unspecified fall (W19)	346	446	792	0.6
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Causes selected are those with 20 or more deaths at the 3 digit level of ICD-10.
(b) 2008 data have been subject to process improvements which have increased the quality of these data. See Technical Note 1: 2008 COD Collection - Process Improvements for further information.
(c) Causes of death data for 2008 are preliminary and subject to a revisions process. See Technical Note 2: Causes of Death - Revisions Process.
(d) Data cells with small values have been randomly assigned to protect the confidentiality of individuals. As a result, some totals will not equal the sum of their components. Cells with a zero value have not been affected by confidentialisation.