Abstract

Falls are one of the major causes of trauma in all countries and cause a typical injury pattern. It has different aetiologies in different populations. This review focuses on what is known about the major groups of falls; same-level falls, intentional high falls and unintentional high falls. There is evidence in the literature that these groups are different in many other ways than fall height and intentionality, including age, sex, pre-existing illnesses, drug abuse, injury pattern, treatment and long term outcome. There is also a lack of standards and definitions in fall research.