Fall injuries up as population ages: study An ageing population has seen the number of elderly people hospitalised after a fall increase by more than 5,000 in one year, with women accounting for the majority of the accidents, a report says. The latest study from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) shows 83,800 people aged over 65 were hospitalised in the 2009/10 financial year - an increase of 5,100 on the previous 12 months. The most common cause of injury was slipping, tripping or stumbling on level ground, rather than down steps or off furniture, the report released on Thursday said. About 70 per cent of falls occurred in a home or aged care facility, with a third of the injuries hip or thigh related, and a fifth to the head. "This condition is at advanced age - 75, 85, 95 - when people become very unstable on their feet and bones become weak in many cases," AIHW spokesman Professor James Harrison told AAP. The ageing population is another way of saying the proportion of people in the overall population that are in the at risk age group is increasing. The report found 69 per cent of cases involved women, which Professor Harrison attributed to the simple fact that women live longer. He said the average 15.5 days elderly patients spent in hospital after a fall, and the ageing population, made a "very strong public policy and budgetary" case for preventing accidents and trying to limit the seriousness of injury. He said falling could be managed and reduced by encouraging older people go keep fit to improve muscle strength and balance, while drugs could be used to make fragile bones stronger. High risk cases could also be equipped with the likes of hip pads, to reduce the likelihood of injury after a fall, Prof Harrison said. "There is quite strong imperatives to look for ways of reducing the risk to a person, even if you can only reduce the risk per person of falling and fracturing a little bit," Prof Harrison said.