Skip to main navigation Skip to main content

CEEM : Clinical and Experimental Emergency Medicine

OPEN ACCESS
ABOUT
BROWSE ARTICLES
FOR CONTRIBUTORS

Articles

Original Article
Trauma | Public Health & Policy

Characteristics of fall-from-height patients: a retrospective comparison of jumpers and fallers using a multi-institutional registry

Clinical and Experimental Emergency Medicine 2024;11(1):79-87.
Published online: November 29, 2023

1Department of Emergency Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

2Department of Emergency Medicine, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, Korea

3Department of Emergency Medicine, Chosun University College of Medicine, Gwangju, Korea

4Department of Emergency Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, Chuncheon, Korea

5Department of Emergency Medicine, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea

6Department of Emergency Medicine, Ewha Womans University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence to: Min Joung Kim Department of Emergency Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50-1 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, Korea Email: boringzzz@yuhs.ac
Co-correspondence to: Ju Young Hong Department of Emergency Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50-1 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, Korea Email: juyoungbaby@yuhs.ac
• Received: June 14, 2023   • Revised: September 4, 2023   • Accepted: September 11, 2023

© 2024 The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

  • 13,212 Views
  • 118 Download
  • 1 Web of Science
  • 1 Crossref
  • 1 Scopus
prev next

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by  Crossref logo
  • Criteria for Methods of Radio Frequency Scanning at Telecommunication Towers in Malaysia Based on Delphi-AHP Analysis
    Rosdin Abdul Kahar, Mohd Nizam Ab Rahman, Nizaroyani Saibani, Mohd Fais Mansor, Mirza Basyir Rodhuan
    Eng.2026; 7(1): 35.     CrossRef

Download Citation

Download a citation file in RIS format that can be imported by all major citation management software, including EndNote, ProCite, RefWorks, and Reference Manager.

Format:

Include:

Characteristics of fall-from-height patients: a retrospective comparison of jumpers and fallers using a multi-institutional registry
Clin Exp Emerg Med. 2024;11(1):79-87.   Published online November 29, 2023
Download Citation

Download a citation file in RIS format that can be imported by all major citation management software, including EndNote, ProCite, RefWorks, and Reference Manager.

Format:
Include:
Characteristics of fall-from-height patients: a retrospective comparison of jumpers and fallers using a multi-institutional registry
Clin Exp Emerg Med. 2024;11(1):79-87.   Published online November 29, 2023
Close

Figure

  • 0
  • 1
  • 2
Characteristics of fall-from-height patients: a retrospective comparison of jumpers and fallers using a multi-institutional registry
Image Image Image
Fig. 1. Flowchart of patient selection.
Fig. 2. Distribution according to the sex and age of (A) jumpers and (B) fallers.
Fig. 3. Distribution of emergency department arrival time of jumpers and fallers.
Characteristics of fall-from-height patients: a retrospective comparison of jumpers and fallers using a multi-institutional registry
Characteristic Total (n=39,419) Jumper (n=1,982) Faller (n=37,437) P-value
Sex <0.001
 Male 31,620 (80.2) 977 (49.3) 30,643 (81.9)
 Female 7,799 (19.8) 1,005 (50.7) 6,794 (18.1)
Age (yr) 48.0±18.0 38.7±19.5 48.5±17.8 <0.001
Height of fall (m) <0.001
 1–4 30,608 (77.6) 319 (16.1) 30,289 (80.9)
>4 8,811 (22.4) 1,663 (83.9) 7,148 (19.1)
Type of insurance <0.001
 National Health Insurance 32,343 (82.0) 1,476 (74.5) 30,867 (82.5)
 Medicaid 1,240 (3.1) 171 (8.6) 1,069 (2.9)
 Other 5,836 (14.8) 335 (16.9) 5,501 (14.7)
Mode of arrival <0.001
 Emergency medical service 16,224 (41.2) 1,445 (72.9) 14,779 (39.5)
 Private ambulance 9,341 (23.7) 463 (23.4) 8,878 (23.7)
 Other 13,854 (35.1) 74 (3.7) 13,780 (36.8)
Season 0.003
 Spring (March–May) 10,116 (25.7) 515 (26.0) 9,601 (25.6)
 Summer (June–August) 10,807 (27.4) 560 (28.3) 10,247 (27.4)
 Autumn (September–November) 11,534 (29.3) 514 (25.9) 11,020 (29.4)
 Winter (December–February) 6,962 (17.7) 393 (19.8) 6,569 (17.5)
Place <0.001
 Factory 12,405 (31.5) 4 (0.2) 12,401 (33.1)
 Residential area 9,586 (24.3) 1,587 (80.1) 7,999 (21.4)
 Nature 4,501 (11.4) 62 (3.1) 4,439 (11.9)
 Public or commercial area 4,498 (11.4) 124 (6.3) 4,374 (11.7)
 Road 3,362 (8.5) 111 (5.6) 3,251 (8.7)
 Farm 2,001 (5.1) 0 (0) 2,001 (5.3)
 Sports facility 1,011 (2.6) 0 (0) 1,011 (2.7)
 School 990 (2.5) 27 (1.4) 963 (2.6)
 Hospital 365 (0.9) 54 (2.7) 311 (0.8)
 Other 700 (1.8) 13 (0.7) 687 (1.8)
Alcohol consumption <0.001
 Yes 3,325 (8.4) 399 (20.1) 2,926 (7.8)
 No 33,643 (85.3) 1,256 (63.4) 32,387 (86.5)
 Unknown 2,451 (6.2) 327 (16.5) 2,124 (5.7)
Hospital admission 19,268 (48.9) 932 (47.0) 18,336 (49.0) 0.009
Intensive care unit admission 6,413 (16.3) 632 (31.9) 5,781 (15.4) <0.001
In-hospital mortality 2,100 (5.3) 832 (42.0) 1,268 (3.4) <0.001
Injured organ Jumper (n=1,982) Faller (n=37,437) P-value
Head
 Subdural hemorrhage 78 (3.9) 2,537 (6.8) <0.001
 Subarachnoid hemorrhage 69 (3.5) 1,391 (3.7) 0.591
 Epidural hemorrhage 33 (1.7) 1,117 (3.0) <0.001
 Intracranial hemorrhage 23 (1.2) 480 (1.3) 0.638
Chest
 Pneumothorax 277 (14.0) 1,429 (3.8) <0.001
 Hemothorax 240 (12.1) 1,655 (4.4) <0.001
 Flail chest 11 (0.6) 65 (0.2) <0.001
Abdomen
 Liver injury 88 (4.4) 393 (1.0) <0.001
 Spleen injury 28 (1.4) 227 (0.6) <0.001
 Kidney injury 25 (1.3) 203 (0.5) <0.001
 Hollow viscus organ injury 3 (0.2) 48 (0.1) 0.743
Aorta 15 (0.8) 35 (0.1) <0.001
Spine
 Cervical spine fracture 67 (3.4) 857 (2.3) 0.002
 Thoracic spine fracture 136 (6.9) 1,855 (5.0) <0.001
 Lumbar spine and pelvis fracture 699 (35.3) 5,927 (15.8) <0.001
Extremity
 Upper extremity fracture 266 (13.4) 5,789 (15.5) 0.014
 Lower extremity fracture 524 (26.4) 6,117 (16.3) <0.001
Variable Univariable
Multivariable
OR (95% CI) P-value OR (95% CI) P-value
Sex
 Male 1 (Reference) - 1 (Reference) -
 Female 1.559 (1.411–1.722) <0.001 0.775 (0.679–0.885) <0.001
Age (yr)
 10–19 1 (Reference) - 1 (Reference) -
 20–39 1.339 (1.091–1.644) 0.005 1.393 (1.093–1.777) 0.008
 40–64 1.427 (1.185–1.720) <0.001 2.920 (2.309–3.692) <0.001
 ≥65 2.559 (2.105–3.110) <0.001 6.335 (4.947–8.112) <0.001
Height of fall
 1–4 m 1 (Reference) - 1 (Reference) -
 ≥4 m 9.437 (8.568–10.394) <0.001 4.808 (4.286–5.394) <0.001
Type of insurance
 National Health Insurance 1 (Reference) - 1 (Reference) -
 Medicaid 1.985 (1.625–2.425) <0.001 1.014 (0.795–1.292) 0.913
 Other 1.583 (1.417–1.768) <0.001 1.178 (1.034–1.340) 0.014
Mode of arrival
 Emergency medical services 1 (Reference) - 1 (Reference) -
 Private ambulance 0.532 (0.479–0.590) <0.001 0.588 (0.524–0.661) <0.001
 Other 0.038 (0.029–0.050) <0.001 0.087 (0.066–0.115) <0.001
Season
 Spring (March–May) 1 (Reference) - 1 (Reference) -
 Summer (June–August) 1.022 (0.907–1.152) 0.722 1.000 (0.872–1.148) 0.998
 Autumn (September–November) 0.918 (0.814–1.036) 0.168 0.907 (0.790–1.040) 0.163
 Winter (December–February) 1.079 (0.945–1.232) 0.263 1.031 (0.884–1.202) 0.700
Place
 Residential area 1 (Reference) <0.001 1 (Reference) -
 Factory 0.331 (0.297–0.369) <0.001 0.644 (0.554–0.749) <0.001
 Nature 0.227 (0.188–0.274) <0.001 0.426 (0.345–0.526) <0.001
 Public or commercial area 0.231 (0.192–0.278) <0.001 0.581 (0.471–0.717) <0.001
 Road 0.284 (0.234–0.345) <0.001 0.604 (0.485–0.754) <0.001
 Farm 0.246 (0.189–0.320) <0.001 0.545 (0.411–0.724) <0.001
 Sports facility 0.023 (0.008–0.072) <0.001 0.193 (0.061–0.605) 0.005
 School 0.096 (0.054–0.170) <0.001 0.401 (0.215–0.750) 0.004
 Hospital 1.127 (0.822–1.546) 0.456 1.491 (1.009–2.203) 0.045
 Other 0.148 (0.085–0.257) <0.001 0.353 (0.198–0.627) <0.001
Alcohol consumption
 Yes 1 (Reference) - 1 (Reference) -
 No 1.110 (0.933–1.321) 0.238 2.296 (1.878–2.807) <0.001
 Unknown 3.460 (2.826–4.237) <0.001 4.435 (3.492–5.633) <0.001
Intent
 Faller 1 (Reference) - 1 (Reference) -
 Jumper 20.637 (18.574–22.929) <0.001 7.895 (6.746–9.240) <0.001
Table 1. Comparison of patient characteristics between the jumpers and fallers

Values are presented as number (%) or mean±standard deviation.

Table 2. Comparison of injured organs between the jumpers and fallers

Values are presented as number (%).

Table 3. Logistic regression analysis for in-hospital mortality in fall from height

OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.