Introduction:
According to the WHO, annually, an average of 30% of people aged 65 and above experience a type of fall and every 5th person needs medical care and treatment. Falls are a major concern for the health care system, but limited information is regarding hospitalization trends due to fall in Georgia in the senior population.

Objectives:
The aim of this epidemiologic study was to explore the characteristics of hospitalized patients due to fall-related injuries in patients aged 65 and above in Georgia during three years period (2019-2021). The period includes the COVID-19 pandemic when different restrictions where applied, and more time was spent at home.

Methods:
All patients aged 65 and older admitted to hospital settings due fall-related injury in the period 2019-2021 were identified from the Hospital Registry of the National Center of Disease Control and Public Health NCDC) of Georgia. Electronic hospital discharge reporting system was introduced in the country in 2014.

Results:
A total of 20,653 injured patients age 65 and above were admitted to hospitals in Georgia during 2019-2021, among them 66,5% (N=13,749) were hospitalized due to the falls. The highest incidence rate of falls among elderly per 100,000 population (925.9) was observed in 2019 and lowest (744.3) in 2020. The share of falls among all injury related hospitalization was highest in 2019 (n=5159; 17%) and lowest in 2020 (n=4206; 14%), while in 2021 was (n=4384; 15%). Females were more susceptible to falls injuries during all 3 years (69,6%). The higher proportion of cases was observed among patients aged 80-84 years. The hip and thigh and the head were the most common body regions injured during study period. The leading cause of fall-related hospitalization was fall on same level. Totally 362 patients died due to falls related injury (in 2019 n=136; in 2020 n=110; in 2021 n=116) with higher proportion of men (annually 3% of hospitalized patients).

Conclusion:
This study indicates that the falls related hospitalization decreased in 2020 followed next year by increased of hospitalization. It can be assumed that the decrease in hospitalizations was related to the Covid-19 pandemic and mobility restrictions. The upward trend again from 2021 indicates the need to strengthen fall prevention programs in the country.

Keywords: Injury, falls, elderly population, hospitalization

Tamar DOCHVIRI, Nato PITSKHELAURI - Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Faculty of Medicine, Georgia Corinne PEEK-ASA - University of California, San Diego, La Jolla California, United States of America Diana DULF - Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania