Cost Implications of Falls Injury Hospitalizations in Older Residents in Saskatchewan, Canada

Purpose This study was carried out to assess the direct cost of falls injury hospitalizations in older residents aged 65+ years (seniors) and their implications on health care delivery in the growing seniors population in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Methods We performed descriptive and statistical analyses on hospital discharge data for seniors hospitalized with fall injury diagnoses from 1995/96 to 2004/05. We derived the direct cost using length of stay (LOS), resource intensity weight (RIW), and average cost of acute care (COST) for each year. Results A total of 26,834 seniors were identified with hospitalized fall injuries. There were 69.8% males and 30.2% females distributed in the following age groups: 65–74 years (21.5%): 75–84 years (40.4%) and 85+ years (38.1%). These senior patients were responsible for 30,757 falls injury admissions recorded over the 10-year period. The average (±SE) 10-year RIW, LOS and COST were 2.13 (± 0.02), 13.66 (± 0.23) days, and $6,088 (±61.88), respectively. We observed statistically significant differences (p<0.01) in the RIW and COST of hospitalizations across the 10 years, both sexes, age groups and 13 health regions in the province. All of these factors except sex were significant (p<0.01) for the LOS. Males had slightly higher LOS and COST than females, while both LOS and COST increased with advancing age. Despite significant decline in LOS, COST rose over the 10-year period. Both LOS and COST in the cases who died in hospital were more than double the values in those who survived. The COST was higher in large urban and Northern areas of the province as compared to other urban and rural areas. Conclusion An increasing trend in burden of direct health care costs associated with falls injury hospitalization among Saskatchewan senior residents is evident. This would have implications in planning and budgeting for future health care needs of the growing population of seniors in the province and particularly in the heavily impacted regions and areas.