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Incidence and Patterns of Product Related Accidents among the Elderly

Accidental deaths and injuries involving consumer products and environments represent a major health hazard and cost to the nation. Among persons of all ages, accidents are the leading cause of death. Previous research into the causes of accidents has generally not been age specific but the present study, recognizing that the elderly incur a high rate of accidental injuries and fatalities (a death rate more than twice that of the population at large), has selected and analyzed the available empirical data to substantiate the seriousness of product-related accidents for people over age 55. The data sources used in this study were provided by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). They included: computerized data on the number and severity of injuries (the National Electronic Surveillance System or NEISS); narrative detailed descriptions of accidents with selected products (the In-Depth Investigations or IDIs); and computerized death certificate data. Criteria for selection were developed and the 49 most hazardous products for people over 55 were identified using the NEISS data and ranked. Using five-year increments for age 55 and up, hazardous products were ranked again. Floors and flooring materials, for example, appeared as one of the two most hazardous product categories, both for all elderly people as well as individual five-year spans. The 49 products were then ranked by accident cost (developed from CPSC's Injury Cost Model). Again, from a national estimate for emergency room treated injuries, floors and flooring materials rank second in cost after stairs and steps followed by foods, lawn mowers, ladders, bathtubs and showers among other products. In order to understand the accidents' etiology, hazard patterns have been constructed, describing major patterns of accidents common to the elderly. In addition, for the highest priority cost or highest priority accidents, a more detailed human factors analysis has been performed in order to describe the causes of these accidents.