PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “fall from height”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Falls from heights: a problem not just in the northeast.

BACKGROUND: Falls from windows and balconies have long been recognized as a health hazard facing children in large, eastern cities. No study has explored this problem in western and sunbelt states. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of children admitted to a large, west coast hospital for injuries sustained secondary to a fall from a building was conducted. The health care costs for injuries secondary to falls were estimated by reviewing Los Angeles County hospital discharge data over a 3-year period. Representative cities in western and sunbelt states were surveyed about their building code regulations for windows and balconies. RESULTS: Ninety-three children fell from windows and 58 from other structures (balconies, fire escapes, and roofs). The fall victims were more likely to be male (male-female ratio, 1.6:1), younger than 3 years old, and playing at the time of the fall. In more than 70% of the cases reviewed, the child fell from a second-story window. Morbidity was significant, with two thirds of children experiencing at least one fracture and more than 30% of the children requiring the intensive care unit. The mortality rate was low (0.7%); however, 10% were left neurologically impaired. The cost for hospitalization was approximately $5000 to $8000 per child. The survey revealed a lack of building code regulations for windows or window guards in western and sunbelt states. CONCLUSIONS: Falls from windows are a significant problem for children, not only in eastern cities, but throughout the nation. Morbidity is significant, even from less than three stories, and the health care cost is high. Preventive strategies are suboptimal.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed2006

Material properties of human infant skull and suture at high rates.

Clinicians are often faced with the challenging task of distinguishing between accidental and inflicted pediatric head trauma. There is currently a disparity in the anecdotal case study literature as to what kinds of injuries can occur in children from low height falls. There is also a paucity of material property data for pediatric skull and suture at rates similar to those expected in low height falls. We tested human infant (<1 year old) cranial bone and suture from 23 calveria in three-point bending and tension, respectively, at rates ranging from 1.2-2.8 m/sec. Donor age was found to have the largest influence on the elastic modulus and ultimate stress of cranial bone, with an increase in age increasing both material properties. In adults, cranial bone and suture have similar properties and the adult calveria deforms very little prior to fracture. In contrast, pediatric cranial bone is 35 times stiffer than pediatric cranial suture. In addition, pediatric cranial suture deforms 30 times more before failure than pediatric cranial bone and 243 times more than adult cranial bone. The large strains in the pediatric bone and suture result in a skullcase that can undergo dramatic shape changes before fracture, potentially causing substantial deformation in the brain. The sizeable difference between pediatric bone and suture material properties also underscores the crucial role that sutures play in the unique response of the pediatric head to impact in low height falls. These data provide necessary information to enhance our understanding of mechanisms of head injury in young children.

Aging↗
PubMed1983

Ten years of experience with falls from a height in children.

Falls from a height are a major cause of accidental death in urban children. The medical and social data on 61 children admitted over the last decade for falls of one or more stories were reviewed. Seventy-seven percent of the children survived. Of the children who fell three stories or less, all survived (100%). Fifty percent mortality occurred between the fifth and sixth floors. Seventy-seven percent of the falls were accidental and 23% of the children jumped or were pushed. The 96% decrease in accidental falls from windows since 1979 demonstrates that the "Children Can't Fly" program in New York City has almost eliminated accidental falls from windows in our hospital population.

Accidents, Home↗
PubMed2006

The influence of anchor devices on the performance of retractable type fall arresters protecting against falls from a height.

Retractable type fall arresters are part of the equipment used for protecting people against falls from a height. They are an intermediate part between full body harness worn by a man and the structural anchor at the worksite. The most important task of retractable type fall arresters is to arrest people's falls and to reduce their harmful consequences. Information received from users as well as laboratories testing protective equipment indicates that the performance of such equipment is incorrect under specific conditions. The paper is concerned with an analysis of the conditions in which retractable type fall arresters demonstrate intermittent performance and with an explanation of that phenomenon. The results of tests investigating anchor devices and the performance of retractable type fall arresters are presented. External and internal factors contributing to intermittent performance have been determined and guidelines for safer use of these devices have been developed.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Classification of falling from a height].

A classification of falling from a height is suggested; it involves different factors and conditions influencing the infliction of injuries: presence or absence of a preliminary acceleration and of possible obstacles in the body flight route; landing surface properties and a height of falling etc. A study and analysis of published data and author's independent observations provided a basis for the classification.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Airbag safety: deployment in an automobile crash with a fall from height.

Airbag restraint systems have demonstrated a significant reduction in mortality in motor vehicle crashes (MVCs). While airbag devices are effective primarily in frontal or near-frontal impacts, little is known about the efficacy of these devices in nonfrontal types of collisions. Moreover, there are reports of injuries specific to airbag deployment that have led some investigators to question the benefit of such devices. This article reports a rollover MVC with a considerable fall from height in which lap/shoulder belts were used in addition to airbag deployment that resulted in protection of the driver from injury. The outcome of this case continues to support the combination of belt and airbag restraint systems as the most effective occupant protection in both frontal and nonfrontal types of MVCs.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed2005

Shock attenuation of various protective devices for prevention of fall-related injuries of the forearm/hand complex.

BACKGROUND: Attenuation of the peak impact force is essential in any protective devices for prevention of fall-related injuries. HYPOTHESIS: Common wrist guards have limited effectiveness because of the multifaceted nature of wrist injury mechanisms, and other modalities may provide enhanced shock-absorbing functions. STUDY DESIGN: Controlled laboratory study. METHODS: A free-fall device was constructed using a mechanical surrogate to simulate falling impact. At 4 different falling heights, 5 different hand conditions were tested: bare hand, a generic-brand wrist guard, a Sorbothane glove, an air cell, and an air bladder condition. The impact force from the ground and the transmitted impact force to the forearm/hand complex were simultaneously measured. RESULTS: The falling height and hand condition significantly modulated the impact responses. The padded conditions always had significantly smaller peak impact forces compared with the bare-hand condition. The wrist guard became ineffective in impact force attenuation beyond the falling height of 51 cm. On the other hand, the air bladder condition maintained less than 45% of the peak impact force of the bare-hand condition and remained below the critical value, whereas other conditions were all ineffective. CONCLUSION: It was reconfirmed that common wrist guard design could provide limited impact force attenuation, whereas damped pneumatic springs would provide substantially enhanced shock-absorbing functions. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: A wrist guard incorporating volar padding with the pneumatic spring design principle might be more effective at preventing injuries than are currently available designs.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed1995

The medicolegal implications of bilateral cranial fractures in infants.

There is considerable debate about the possibility of serious injuries associated with skull fractures caused by short-height falls in early childhood. In order to elucidate the mechanism and nature of blunt head trauma from such falls, we have investigated the possible correlation between patterns of skull fractures and the dynamics inducing these injuries. In a 10-year survey of pediatric medicolegal autopsies conducted at the L. Greenberg Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv, Israel, we have observed that all victims of alleged falls from low heights exhibited unilateral skull fractures. Only in four instances were bilateral temporoparietal fractures detected. Thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding these four incidents, along with the evaluation of the forces exerted upon the cranium at the time of impact, suggest that symmetrical cranial fractures in infants are most likely the result of bilateral compression of the head between two surfaces, rather than the result of a localized impact.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed2000

Impact severity in self-initiated sits and falls associates with center-of-gravity excursion during descent.

Although the energy available during a fall from standing greatly exceeds that required to produce hip fracture, this occurs in only about 2% of falls in the elderly. This is thought to be due in part to one's ability to reduce the vertical impact velocity (nu(nu)) and kinetic energy (KE(nu)) of the body through energy absorption in the lower extremity muscles during descent. The present study tested the hypothesis that the magnitude and percent attenuation in nu(nu) and KE(nu) associate with the horizontal and vertical excursion of the body's center-of-gravity during descent. Measures were acquired of whole-body kinematics and lower extremity kinetics as young subjects underwent backward descents involving vertical drops of either thigh length (SIT) or lower extremity length (FALL), and horizontal pelvis excursions of either 33 or 66% of lower extremity length. In all trials, subjects attempted to "land as softly as possible." While attenuation in nu(nu) and KE(nu) (which averaged 62 and 92% respectively), did not associate with trial type, raw magnitudes of these parameters did, with nu(nu) averaging 2-fold greater, and KE(nu) averaging 6-fold greater, in 66% FALL than in 33% SIT or 66% SIT trials. This was due to a rapid increase in downward velocity accompanying the final stage of descent in 66% SIT and 66% FALL trials, which coincided with the knee moving posterior to the ankle. Accordingly, severe impacts likely accompany not only large fall heights, but also falls where the feet are thrown rapidly forward, as during a backward slip.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Biomechanical conditions of developing injuries sustained from falling from a height].

Evaluation of the height from which human fell from his/her tissue and organ injuries is discussed. The authors of available publications paid the principal attention to estimation of the height from which the victim fell without consideration for the kinetic energy of the body, which depends not only on the height from which the victim fell, but on his/her body weight as well. Primary external and primary internal injuries are distinguished, which are determined by the area of contusion during landing; secondary contact injuries which form during inertial movement of the body after the first contusion, and injuries due to negative acceleration during contusion when landing (so-called signs of total body concussion) are also distinguished. The totality of all listed injuries helps estimate the total kinetic energy at the moment of contusion and determine the height of falling, with due consideration for anthropometric characteristics of the victim.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed2004

Falls from flat-roofed houses: a surgical experience of 1643 patients.

PURPOSE: High falls from flat-roofed houses are a common cause of death and disability in the south-east part of Turkey; the aim of this study was to describe our experience of such falls seen over a 4-year period in Diyarbakir. METHODS: One thousand six hundred and forty-three patients (570 females and 1073 males) who sustained injuries after an accidental fall from a flat-roofed house were entered into the study. RESULTS: The mean age was 18 (1-95) years; 49.4% of patients were under 10 years old; 81.5% were under 30 years old. The mean fall height was 4.5m (1-20 m). The mortality rate was 5.8% (96 patients). The mean fall height in children under the age of 15 years who died from the fall was 4m (67 patients) and in patients over the age of 15 years, 9m (29 patients). The most common injuries were to the head (45.1%) and 93.75% of those (n = 90) who died had a head injury. One hundred patients (6%) were followed because of abdominal bleeding: one of these had fallen from 2m, the reminder from 4 to 9 m; 12 were operated on and 88 treated conservatively. CONCLUSION: Craniocerebral trauma is the most common injury in fatal falls from flat roofs and blunt abdominal trauma is an uncommon injury after falling from less than 4m.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed2003

Development of a multidisciplinary method to determine risk factors for arm fracture in falls from playground equipment.

OBJECTIVES: To present the development of a novel multidisciplinary method to investigate physical risk factors for playground related arm fracture. RATIONALE: Previous playground injury research has been limited in its ability to determine risk factors for arm fractures, despite their common and costly occurrence. Biomechanical studies have focused exclusively on head injury. Few epidemiological studies have quantified surface impact attenuation and none have investigated specific injury outcomes such as arm fracture. DESIGN: An unmatched case-control study design was developed. An instrumented child dummy and rig were designed to simulate real playground falls in situ. Validated output from the dummy was used to quantify arm load. Other field measurements included equipment height, fall height, surface depth, headform deceleration, and head injury criterion. DISCUSSION: Validated methods of biomechanics and epidemiology were combined in a robust design. The principle strength of this method was the use of a multidisciplinary approach to identify and quantify risk and protective factors for arm fracture in falls from playground equipment. Application of this method will enable countermeasures for prevention of playground related arm fracture to be developed.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed1999

Can the distance fallen predict serious injury after a fall from a height?

BACKGROUND: After a fall, the distance fallen is sometimes used to predict the injury severity. We aimed to examine how distance fallen performs as a predictor of major injury. METHOD: A cohort of trauma victims attending our emergency department after having fallen from a height was identified retrospectively, and data were collected regarding the fall and injuries sustained. Performance of threshold heights, ranging from 2 meters (6.6 feet) to 10 meters (32.8 feet), as a diagnostic test for major injury was assessed. RESULTS: Height fallen performed poorly over the range of thresholds used. At low thresholds, sensitivity was inadequate to rule out major trauma, whereas the low prevalence meant that, despite impressive specificity at higher thresholds, positive predictive value was poor. At the optimal threshold of 5 meters (16.4 feet), the positive predictive value was 0.17 and sensitivity was 0.33. CONCLUSION: Height of fall is a poor predictor of major injury.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed1985

[Fatal occupational injuries due to falls from heights--from the viewpoint of causes of injuries and possibilities of prevention].

From a group of 2669 serious and 887 fatal work injuries in the North Moravian region in 1974-1983 injuries caused by fall from a high place were analyzed in more detail and in this group fatal injuries and severe injuries contracted during work of fitters. The authors deal in particular with the causes of 71 fatal and 243 severe injuries with regard to age, the time of the day, the time relation of the working shift, professiography and the effect of disease or alcohol. Obvious pathological causes were revealed in a minority of cases although in 69,7% of necropsies pathological changes were detected in the organism. The part played by alcohol is obvious only in 4.45%. Suggestions for a preventive orientation with emphasis on psychological factors are submitted.

Accidents, Occupational↗