Ranging from the lower ambient temperature , the presence of snow cover , seasonal factors , and time of the day to location of fall , these factors have different levels of impact related to higher incidence or mortality of fall .
There existed systematic review on studies investigating the association between hip fractures and external risk factors including meteorological factors .
Albeit the fact that most serious common fall injury is a hip fracture , it can not account for all injuries forms of fall .
There was a lack of systematic review covering all fall-related injury or deaths to thoroughly summarise meteorological aspects of fall .
This study aim ed to systematic ally review epidemiological studies of fall and fall-related circumstances without restriction to hip fracture .
Geriatric trauma in the State of Illinois: substance use and injury patterns.
As the elderly population increases and they lead more active and healthy lifestyles , their exposure to the threats of injury multiply . Undoubtedly , the geriatric population will comprise a growing percentage of trauma patients . The role of alcohol and drug use in geriatric trauma has not been clearly defined . The purpose of this study is to determine the incidence of  alcohol  and illicit drug  use in association with mechanism of injury in all elderly trauma patients presenting to level I and II trauma centers in the State of Illinois over 3 years . A retrospective analysis was performed on 3 years of data ( January 1 , 1994 to December 31 , 1996 ) , provided by the Illinois Department of Public Health as the Illinois Trauma Registry , which describes consecutive trauma patients presenting to level I and II trauma facilities in the State of Illinois . During the study period , there were a total of 134,846 trauma patient entries . Of these 32,382 ( 24.0 % ) were for patients 65 years of age or older . In those patients 65 and older , 1699 ( 5.2 % ) were tested for the presence of alcohol and 845 ( 49.7 % ) tested positive . Of the elderly patients who tested positive for alcohol , 71.8 % were considered intoxicated ( BAC > 80 mg/dL ) .  Urine toxicology screens  were performed on 1785 ( 5.5 % ) elderly trauma patients , and 208 ( 11.6 % ) were positive . Besides alcohol , benzodiazipines and opiates were the most frequently detected drugs . For elderly patients under the influence of alcohol falls ( 49.5 % ) and motor vehicle crashes ( 36.7 % ) were the most common mechanism of injury . For geriatric patients testing negative for alcohol , motor vehicle crashes were a much more common mechanism of injury than falls ( 65.0 % v 25.1 % ) . Falls were a much more common cause of injury in elderly patients using alcohol than in those not using alcohol . Alcohol and substance abuse are possibly significant factors in geriatric trauma . Although only 5 % of elderly trauma patients were tested for alcohol , nearly half had alcohol present on presentation to a trauma center , and the majority of these patients were intoxicated . Prospect i ve studies are needed to determine the true incidence of alcohol use/abuse in the geriatric trauma population and the need for routine alcohol screening of these patients . Detection of alcohol abuse in elderly trauma patients could help identify individuals in need of counseling and rehabilitative treatment . It may also reduce future injuries in these patients
Ranging from the lower ambient temperature , the presence of snow cover , seasonal factors , and time of the day to location of fall , these factors have different levels of impact related to higher incidence or mortality of fall .
There existed systematic review on studies investigating the association between hip fractures and external risk factors including meteorological factors .
Albeit the fact that most serious common fall injury is a hip fracture , it can not account for all injuries forms of fall .
There was a lack of systematic review covering all fall-related injury or deaths to thoroughly summarise meteorological aspects of fall .
This study aim ed to systematic ally review epidemiological studies of fall and fall-related circumstances without restriction to hip fracture .