Deaths and Injuries from Unintentional Falls: An Analysis of Nepal Police Records

Falls are a major cause of unintentional injury-related global mortality and morbidity. The actual mortality and morbidity from falls in Nepal have been overlooked and not systematically studied. This study, therefore, aims to present the national status of fall-related deaths and injuries. The study analyzed the fall incidents recorded by Nepal Police for five fiscal years (17 July 2014 to 16 July 2019). These incident recordings were in the form of narratives, and possible variables were extracted for the analysis. In five years, 4,714 people were injured or died from falls in Nepal. The average age of the fall victim was 35.6 years (SD=19.94); the mean age of the person who died from falls was slightly lower (30.9 years) than the injured person (40.4 years). The analysis showed that the fall cases were remarkably greater for males than females. This study found that Bagmati Province, where the capital city was located has the highest death and injury rates from falls, followed by Gandaki Province and Province 1. The study identified 11 different locations of falls. These findings revealed that Nepal has a considerable burden of fall deaths and injuries. However, the actual burden of fall injuries might be higher due to the under-reporting of the incidents through the Nepal Police data recording system.