State has the most fatal falls

More elderly die from falling than from vehicle wrecks in Washington

By Adam Wilson | The Olympian • Published May 08, 2008

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Falls are fatal more often for senior citizens in Washington than in most states, annual statistics show.

In 2006, the state's number of deaths because of falls, 537, was higher than its number of motor vehicle fatalities for the first time.

Gov. Chris Gregoire's Cabinet presented a report on the state's health Wednesday. Gregoire said the statistics surprised her and that she wanted more done to address the problem, but she also threatened to cut funding for a new fall-prevention program.

Deaths because of falls by people 65 and older are 40 percent higher in Washington than the national average, at 63 for every 100,000 people.

Seventy percent of the state's 12,500 people hospitalized for falls in 2006 were female. Hip fractures for women 65 and older also are higher than usual, at 912 per 100,000, compared with the national average of 886, the statistics show.

"We have a higher percentage of white women, Caucasians, who are over 65. We live longer; we do have an issue with osteoporosis," Health Secretary Mary Selecky told Gregoire, explaining why falls are so dangerous in Washington.

Even Western Washington's cloudiness might contribute by limiting natural production of the bone-strengthening vitamin D, Selecky said.

"You can't come up with a single cause," she added.

Selecky presented a plan that included expanding a fall-prevention program tested in Pierce County, where an exercise class reduced falls by 41 percent, she said. The Legislature included $400,000 to expand the program in the budget passed this year.

But Gregoire noted Selecky's strategy extended into the next budget cycle — when state spending is expected to outstrip its tax income by $2.4 billion.

"We're not going to be able to continue the falls-prevention program — straight out," Gregoire said.

She told Selecky to get maximum effect in the next year, while funding remains.

"Give me a plan that says there is no time. … I'm not saying I've made up my mind, but I am saying we ought to be more aggressive," Gregoire said.

The change was a concern to Gerald Reilly, a lobbyist for the Eldercare Alliance who pushed for the funding. He said the program was intended to save money over the long term, not the short term.

Falls are costly: The Department of Health reported each hip fracture cost $81,000 during the person's life, and there were $308 million in hospital charges for falls in Washington in 2006.

Gregoire urged Selecky to turn her agency toward prevention of hip fractures, targeting younger women and educating them about the dangers of poor nutrition leading to osteoporosis.

"I'm all for preventing falls. But this seems to me to be the preventable thing — to get the word out to women of a different age, say there will be a consequence," Gregoire said.